Eraserhead (1977)

This very intense movie blazed new trails with its outstanding cinematic sound tracks and visuals.  Google "Eraserhead the movie" and you'll find many discussion and much reviews.

However, it appears there is many confusion as to the movie's symbolism.  Here's my take on the meanings of the odd scenes and happenings in Eraserhead:

The rock floating in space with Henry - this is the primal, non-physical essence of the being that is Henry. The man inside pulls the levers that drive Henry in his actions to reproduce, to kill, to die.

The stark lifeless outdoor areas of concrete, brick walls, barrels, piles of dirt and puddles of stagnant water - these represent the condition of the minds and the spirits of the people in Henry's world.  The dead grass and plants in Henry's apartment and in various other scenes represent the same, but are more specific to Henry himself.

The bright pools of water - these are places where life is created. The dark pools of water - these are places where life is ended.

The umbilical worms - these are Henry's and his partners' unborn progeny, they are embryos.  One particular umbilical worm represents Henry's physical/biological component. We see the Henry worm appear in various dream sequences.

The ugly woman on the stage behind the radiator is death.  In one dream sequence we are shown that she is responsible for the destruction of many unborn fetuses - she dances upon and squishes these.  

The suckling dogs at Mary's parents' place signify the unspoken issue of the moment, the reason Henry has been invited to dinner. The parents want to confront him about the consequence of the sex that he and Mary had been up to. The mother wants Henry to wed Mary and to help bring a child into the world. Through the graphic example of having Henry carve the small bird at dinner, the father suggests instead that the fetus be aborted.

Mary's mother tells Henry her daughter went to a hospital and gave birth. What really happened: Mary was found to be pregnant.  Mary's mother insists there is baby - but what she speaks of is not a baby, it is an unborn baby. 

In the scenes that follow the unborn baby appears as "the creature" - a fetus that has been removed from the womb and that is separate from Mary. This fantasy portrayal of the fetus allows the audience to consider that the fetus is indeed a life and at the same time they can view it as something less than human. As the story further unfolds we can contemplate whether the destruction of the creature carries the same horror and evil as the killing of a human.

Mary and Henry both find the fetus to be an unpleasant burden. Mary leaves - stepping out physically in the story, this representing her passing to Henry the responsibility to decide the fate of the fetus. 

In a dream Henry has an affair with the woman next door.  In a later dream scene he sees the woman with another man and sees that she now perceives him as nothing but his physical form - just another umbilical worm.  Henry also sees and hears the creature laughing at him. These dream scenes represent Henry's feelings about what he has lost and how he is being deprived and being humiliated by the creature.  

The tiny box in the mail with the small worm - this is the idea for a way out: kill the fetus. Henry contemplates this small worm, several times.

Eventually Henry decides.  He chooses the path offered by the ugly woman - he chooses abortion.  This is shown in the dream scene which begins with the ugly woman singing "in heaven everything is fine, you've got your good thing, I've got mine".  In this scene Henry literally loses his head. When his brain matter is analysed by the man with the pencil machine, it is learned that Henry has indeed become an "eraser head" - Henry believes that an unborn baby can be erased.

Henry kills the creature - the abortion is done.

Right away Henry pays the price.  His rock (his essence) fractures - Henry has lost his soul. The man inside the rock pulls the last lever - Henry this time fully embraces the ugly woman.  This is the end of Henry (or at least his soul), and the end of story.

David Lynch's message is clear: abortion is evil and horrible and a society that would have it is lifeless concrete, brick walls, barrels, piles of dirt and puddles of stagnant water.  When a man chooses abortion he kills his own soul.

Even though I don't agree with Lynch's message, I rate the movie 5 stars.