David Lynch is one of the most revered directors of all time. In the 1970s, he was first noticed for his incredible gift at turning some truly experimental films into iconic landmarks of cinema. Just a few years later, he developed the TV series Twin Peaks, which is often listed as one of the greatest TV shows ever made.
Of course, amongst his incredible body of work, there are some slip-ups. We’ve used IMDb’s rating system to compare Lynch’s five best films to his five worst. The results are pretty interesting, as this is a man who has only made ten films...
HONORABLE MENTION: Twin Peaks (8.8)
Now, we can’t really include Twin Peaks below as it is a TV show rather than a film, but its impact and importance in the career of David Lynch cannot be understated. The horror show had an impressive run in the 1990s and managed to hold up when it returned in 2009, with its surrealist beauty coming directly from the mind of its creator.
BEST: Lost Highway (7.6)
Much like most of his work, Lost Highway took various creative risks in its cinematography. It was presented in a chronology that Lynch described as a ‘psychogenic fugue’ and has been likened to a Mobius Strip. It might sound too confusing to latch onto, and that’s probably what Lynch was going for in a way, but the film (and its soundtrack by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails) were very well-received.
WORST: Eraserhead (7.4)
A list in which the genius of Eraserhead is left to be described as Lynch’s fifth-worst film really strengthens both the idea that he has had some really brilliant films, and that he really did only make ten films.
Shot in black and white that really made the industrial landscape and horrifically creepy atmosphere of the film stand out, it is a true marvel of filmmaking. Add to that its incredible score (also constructed by Lynch himself) and you’ve got a masterpiece that will stand the test of time as one of the greatest experimental films ever.
BEST: Blue Velvet (7.8)
Another of Lynch’s neo-noir experiments, Blue Velvet was his attempt to win back the favor of his audience and critics after the failure of Dune. It took on a surrealist style (though nothing comparable to Eraserhead) which ended up securing Lynch an Academy Award nomination for Best Director.
WORST: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (7.3)
We might not have been able to count the original run of his very strange TV show Twin Peaks as one of Lynch’s best or worst films, but his 1992 attempt at turning the series into a film can certainly appear on this list.
Much of the show’s cast reprised their roles (alongside David Bowie), turning it into little more than a glorified episode of the show, really. It should probably have remained an episode, however, as it was a massive box office bomb, even though it has retrospectively received good reviews.
BEST: The Straight Story (8.0)
The Straight Story was an interesting one. It bombed at the box office, probably because it sounds like one of the most boring stories imaginable: a man drives a lawnmower from Iowa to Wisconsin. However, it was received very well by critics, who praised its direction (decidedly more ‘normal’ than much of Lynch’s work) and its dialogue.
WORST: Wild At Heart (7.2)
We aren’t talking about the strange TV series, but the David Lynch film, Wild At Heart. Much like The Straight Story, this film took on a little more of a ‘normal’ approach, but it didn’t work so well. Laura Dern and Nick Cage played the lead roles, but the critical response at the time was quite mixed.
BEST: Mulholland Drive (8.0)
While it isn’t billed as a horror film per se, Mulholland Drive has some of the most tense moments in the history of film, as well as one of the biggest jump scares ever.
It saw Lynch return to his experimental roots, delivering a confusing narrative that was hard to decipher while he also attempted to keep the film open to be turned into a TV series.
WORST: Inland Empire (6.9)
One of his many films to be controlled creatively from just about every angle by Lynch himself was 2006’s Inland Empire. It was also another of his many collaborations with Laura Dern, though not exactly a successful one... Despite an interesting plot, the film ended up getting mixed reviews.
BEST: The Elephant Man (8.1)
His most famous work, The Elephant Man, retained many of the body-horror elements from Eraserhead, as well as a similarly creepy black-and-white shooting style. However, rather than a creepy film filled with tension, this John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins style film was a drama that followed the true story of the severely deformed Joseph Merrick.
It received eight Academy Awards nominations and was the catalyst in the creation of the Best Makeup And Hairstyling award introduced the very next year.
