
            The film starts with a man named Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) hovering in space. His brain, represented by a rocky planet visible through his head, hovers behind him. On the rocky planet's desolate surface, there is an overhead view of a building with a large hole in the roof. In the building sitting by a window with broken glass there is a Man in the Planet (Jack Fisk) who pulls levers to control Henry's functions which represents his central nervous system. This scene is going to represent Henry having sexual intercourse with a woman named Mary X (Charlotte Stewart). Henry's mouth opens and a spermatozoon slides its way out, then rests erect at Henry's side. The Man in the Planet pulls several levers and launches the sperm into a water hole which represents the vagina of Mary X. Some time passes and a creature is born in the depths of blackness and rises to the surface.The next scene starts with Henry looking at the camera. He then proceeds to walk home to his apartment through a slum in an industrial wasteland carrying a small brown paper bag. Henry stumbles past factories with heavy machinery roaring. There is carnival music heard in the distance, but there are no people or automobiles around anywhere. The sounds of a steam whistle, as well as a horn of a cargo ship are heard among the loud sounds of the machinery.When Henry gets to the lobby, he checks the mail and finds there is none. He then takes the elevator up to his apartment which is Room 26. Before he gets inside, the Beautiful Girl Across the Hall (Judith Anna Roberts), who lives in Room 27, informs him that Mary X called from the payphone in the hallway and invited him to dinner. While in his apartment, Henry turns on some lights, sets down the brown paper bag containing paper-wrapped groceries, puts on light jazz music from a record player, takes off his shoes and puts one of his socks on the radiator since it was wet from stepping in a puddle while walking home. While sitting on his bed, he then stares at the hissing radiator which represents thoughts of suicide. We see that there are electrical wires around the radiator. He glances out at the only window in his one-room apartment which only has a view of a brick wall of another building across the alleyway, symbolizing his claustrophobic, prison-like setting. In the background is a small picture of a mushroom cloud which shows the setting to be a post-apocalyptic future. He then throws a stone in a pot of water in his dresser which is meant to be a superstitious gesture, and looks at a torn picture of Mary.That evening after dark, Henry walks over to Mary's house through the industrial wasteland and through a railroad yard to meet her family and have dinner. Before he goes in, they mention Henry and Mary's strained relationship. While Henry is talking with Mrs. X (Jeanne Bates) in the living room, it's revealed that Henry works as printer at LaPell's Factory, but is "on vacation". Henry meeting the family is portrayed as very awkward throughout the scene. While Henry and Mary wait in the living room, Mary's father (Allen Joseph) works on cooking artificial chickens baking in the oven, while Mary's mother fixes a salad. An elderly woman, the Grandmother (Jean Lange), sits motionless in the kitchen. The family attempt to eat the artificial chickens and salad but everything goes wrong when the chickens start twitching and bleeding when Henry tries to carve them. After dinner, Mrs. X interrogates Henry about whether or not he had pre-marital sexual intercourse with Mary. He confirms that they did and it's revealed that Mary had a deformed, premature baby. Mrs. X orders that they must get married as soon as possible and pick up the baby from the hospital.The next scene cuts to sometime later after they get married and get the mutated, alien baby home. Henry goes down to the lobby and checks the mail to find a small worm in a stylish black box. Henry hides this from Mary first in his pocket and later in a cupboard next to the bed. He gets home and contemplates suicide again, this time more seriously.During the night, as Henry and Mary sleep, the baby cries continually. The sounds of a raging thunderstorm is heard from outside as well as sounds of more factory machinery and rumblings of a freight train are heard. Mary can't stand it and tells Henry that she is going back home, leaving Henry to deal with the baby.The Beautiful Girl Across the Hall is seen returning to her apartment in a disheveled state after an apparently bad date. (It is implied that she may be a prostitute).Over the next few days, Henry has trouble sleeping and hears the baby stop crying. He gets out of bed to check its temperature and after the temperature reads fine he looks back at the baby seeing that it is covered in sores and apparently sick. After he sets up a vaporizer, the Beautiful Girl Across the Hall comes over and seduces him and they literally melt into the bed. The Girl sees the mutated baby nearby crying.The lady in the radiator (Laurel Near) appears again on a stage singing "in Heaven everything is fine" while mutated worms (symbolizing sperm) fall from the ceiling and she steps on them. Henry goes on stage and a dead tree in some dirt is wheeled out which makes him appear uneasy and he steps to the side of the stage where he acts agitated. As he plays with a railing staring off into space, his head pops off and the crying mutated baby takes its place. His head forms a pool of blood and eventually falls into it, re-appearing out of the sky and landing in an alley in the industrial wasteland.A little boy (Thomas Coulson) sees Henry's severed head on the ground and takes it away with him to an eraser factory. When the boy arrives, Paul, (Darwin Joston), the taciturn mechanic working at the front counter, buzzes his ill-tempered Boss (Neil Moran) to the front where the Boss takes the little boy with Henry's severed head through another door and to a pencil machine operator (Hal Landon Jr.) in another back room where Henry's head is made into erasers for pencils.Upon waking up from the nightmare, Henry hears something outside his apartment. He then sees the Beautiful Girl Across the Hall being intimate with a man named Mr. Roundheels (Raymond Walsh). When he gets back inside his apartment, the baby makes strange cackling sounds as though it's laughing at Henry. Henry, apparently agitated moves over to the baby and begins to cut off the bandages covering its body causing the baby to breathe heavily. To Henry's horror, the baby's body splits open as it was either too fragile or Henry had cut into it. Henry decides to stab into the baby's heart with the scissors and collapses on the other side of the room. The baby's innards flow over the electrical wires which then produce sparks and short-circuit the lights. He sees the baby's head hovering about on a now very long neck, as the lights flicker in and out the baby's head becomes gigantic and it engulfs the camera.The man in the planet is seen pulling a lever and apparently being electrocuted. In the final shot, we see Henry standing in some kinds of white afterlife and embrace the woman in the radiator.================================================================================Alternate synopsis and possible reason for the weirdness:It is an alternate world in the early 1970's. The United States was attacked by either the Japanese or Russians in the late 1940's or early 1950's; the Japanese having revenge for what we did in World War 2 or the Russians fulfilling our Cold War paranoia. As a result, over 95% of the population was wiped out. Little or no attempt was made to rebuild America and technology was halted to a standstill. It would appear that all electricity seems to be run on steam generators and factories are self-running. Henry lives in a 1940's era apartment with a 1978 record player and iron frame bed. And the X home looks like a relic of that era as well.It is set in a small industrial town on the outskirts of Philadelphia or a small town in Pennsylvania in the early 1970's. The population of the town is probably no more than 100 people. Henry Spencer was a child when the atomic war happened. As a result of radiation poisoning and the trauma of the attack, he was socially awkward, prone to frequent hallucinations and fantasy worlds, and with autistic traits. The X family has many forms of mental illness. Mr. X is manic depressive/bipolar, Mrs. X is schizophrenic, Mary with epileptic fits and clinical depression, and Mrs. X's mother with dementia that became catatonia.Because nearly all animal life was wiped out, nearly all food is synthetic or genetically modified.As for the baby, 20 plus years of radiation poisoning had modified Mary's reproductive system. Bringing a child into the world has been discouraged for the past 20 years.The lady in the radiator, man in the planet, and his head being made into erasers are all illusions Henry has for his miserable existence. At the end, he kills the baby, then presumably kills himself, but to him, it appeared the baby ate him and he ended up in heaven with the woman of his dreams.
    

Eraserhead


            At a satanic ceremony, a baby named Jonathan Graves is about to be sacrificed by his glowing-eyed father, Malcolm (Michael Des Barres). Jonathan's mother, Anastasia (Victoria Catlin), rescues the child and puts an amulet around his neck that produces an electric shock when Malcolm touches the boy. Malcolm orders a participant named Wolfgang (Jack Nance) to take the child away, and sacrifices Anastasia instead.Many years later, Jonathan (Peter Liapai), who was raised by Wolfgang, inherits his unknown father's estate. Wolfgang believes the evil curse has died along with Malcolm, and reveals nothing to Jonathan about his parents. While Jonathan and his girl friend Rebecca (Lisa Pelikan) tour the grounds, they stumble upon Malcolm's grave, and Jonathan introduces Rebecca to the mysterious Wolfgang. In the house, Rebecca finds several books on magic and discovers a basement full of occult paraphernalia.Later, the couple throws a party in their new home, and invites their wild friends. For fun, Jonathan recruits his friends to perform a ritual, and he instinctively draws an occult diagram, and recites a conjuring spell from a book. When nothing happens, everyone leaves the basement to search for their missing friend, Robin. Elsewhere, Wolfgang awakens in alarm, as a mysterious creature materializes in the basement. Robin is later found roaming the grounds, and strange things begin occurring throughout the estate.Soon after the party ends, Jonathan tells Rebecca of his decision to quit college and work on the estate instead, and Rebecca expresses her concern. Jonathan begins fixing up the house, and is soon lured by the spirit of his evil father to perform satanic rituals. He later forges a gold medallion, and gives the "talisman" to Rebecca for protection. When Jonathan refuses to eat, explaining that he is fasting, Rebecca's concern grows.After performing another conjuring spell, Jonathan brings forth several evil creatures called ghoulies, and proclaims himself their "master." He then demands that they hide their existence from everyone but him. In time, Jonathan dons a ceremonial robe, and with glowing green eyes, summons more dark power. When Rebecca enters, she is surprised to see Jonathan's activities. He explains that he is trying to learn about the parents he never knew, and promises to stop his strange behavior. Later, as the couple make love, the ghoulies sneak under the bed and create an occult diagram, prompting Jonathan to chant in another language. Rebecca is furious that Jonathan's dark activities are continuing, and she leaves him.Sometime later, Jonathan conjures two dwarfs named Grizzel (Peter Risch) and Greedigut (Tamara De Treaux), and he demands that they serve him. The dwarfs promise to give him everything he desires including infinite power and knowledge, and the return of his lover, Rebecca. They explain that he must perform a dangerous ritual, with seven others, to obtain the knowledge and power he craves. Rebecca later returns and asks Jonathan to leave the house, but he refuses. When Jonathan reveals his glowing eyes to Rebecca, she attempts to flee. However, the dwarfs cast a spell on the girl, causing her to return to Jonathan's side. Meanwhile, Wolfgang is aware of the dark magic that is ensuing, but claims to be powerless against it.On the night of a full moon, Jonathan gathers his seven friends for a dinner party, and soon puts them under a spell so they will participate in the "master ritual." As Jonathan begins chanting, outside, his father, Malcolm, stirs in his grave. After the ceremony, Jonathan's friends, who are oblivious to the ritual, are invited to spend the night. The zombie-like Malcolm rises from his grave and proclaims himself master of the ghoulies. While frolicking on the grounds, friends Donna and Mark "Toad Boy" are attacked by the ghoulies. When Malcolm enters the house, he takes the form of a woman, and lures a young man named Dick to him, then kills the boy.Meanwhile, Jonathan apologizes to Rebecca, before breaking her spell by placing the talisman around her neck. Before Rebecca can react, she falls into a deep sleep. Elsewhere, the ghoulies attack Eddie and Robin.When Rebecca later awakens, she sees Jonathan in a trance-like state, and runs away. After removing her medallion, she is attacked by ghoulies, and falls down a flight of stairs. Jonathan is horrified to find his lover dead, and attempts to use his powers to resurrect Rebecca.In the basement, Jonathan discovers his possessed friends, and Malcolm enters, claiming to be their master. As father and son battle, Malcolm tries to capture his son's youth. While Jonathan chants a spell, Malcolm raises Rebecca from the dead, as a distraction for Jonathan. Grizzel and Greedigut, standing at Malcolm's side, alert Jonathan to the trap. Malcolm continues his efforts to steal his son's life, and Wolfgang arrives, using his own magical powers to fight Malcolm. As the house begins to crumble, Wolfgang defeats Malcolm, and they both disappear. Jonathan revives his friends. They emerge into the daylight, and drive away from the house.Riding with Jonathan and Rebecca, their friend, Mike, asks "what happened?" Jonathan assures him that it is all over, but Mike is alarmed when ghoulies appear behind him.
    

Ghoulies


            
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Jack Nance

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