CGC Certifies 9 Eraserhead Videocassettes From the David Lynch Estate

Horror fans will love this piece of CGC-certified film history! A 10-piece collection of Eraserhead VHS tapes from the estate of David Lynch were recently featured in a Julien Auction, where they realized $7,800. Nine of those VHS tapes were then sent to CGC for grading, where they each received a grade of CGC 9.4 or higher. The graded Eraserhead tapes are pedigreed to the David Lynch Estate.

David Lynch was one of the most influential names in cinema. Widely regarded as a visionary, Lynch was well known for his surrealist and experimental films, which spanned several genres, including body horror, mystery and even biographical dramas. His prior experience as a painter gave way to making short films while he was in college, which eventually led to the creation of Eraserhead.

Eraserhead went through a period of development hell due to financial problems and haphazard filming. Although filming began in 1972, the film wasn’t finished until 1976. It was a whopping 89 minutes in length (although only planned to be 42 minutes), becoming Lynch’s first full-length film.

Eraserhead tells the story of a man named Henry who struggles to take care of a deformed baby whom his wife leaves in his care. As he continues to try to care for the child, Henry begins experiencing strange visions, such as his head coming off and a boy taking it to be turned into erasers. Eventually, the child is revealed to not be human at all, leading to a bizarre sequence of events that end the film.

The film premiered at the Los Angeles International Film Festival in 1977, where it received mixed reviews. However, the film broadcast as a midnight movie on television after its debut, where it became a commercial success and gained a cult following. Today, Eraserhead is considered one of the most important films in history and was even selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2004.

Ultimately, Eraserhead kickstarted Lynch’s career as a filmmaker. He went on to create many feature films over the course of his five-decade-long career, including Dune (1984), as well as the three movies that earned him Oscar nominations for best director: Elephant Man (1980), Blue Velvet (1986) and Mulholland Drive (2001). Lynch passed away in January 2025, but his contributions to cinema will never be forgotten.