The best of David Lynch: pay tribute to the beloved director with his most famous filmography

Legendary director David Lynch has died age 78, leaving fans and friends devastated. His work as an artist and filmmaker was so distinct it birthed the phrase Lynchian to describe the singular macabre and surreal mood he created with his art.

As the culture world mourns one of America’s greatest artists, here’s the list of some of his greatest work to watch this weekend – and forever

Eraserhead, 1977

Filmed in black and white, Lynch’s first feature length film was Eraserhead, a body horror extravaganza about a man attempting to care for and ultimately killing a mysterious deformed baby. The surreal and menacing script was informed by everything from Kafka and the Bible to Lynch’s own experience living in the crime-ridden Philadelphia of the Seventies with his young daughter, who was born with clubbed feet.

Lynch funded Eraserhead over four years of production with a $10,000 grant, donations from friends, and cash from his paper round delivering the Wall Street Journal. In a piece of Lynchian lore, the prop for the terrifying alien baby was kept secret during production. No one knows what it was made of – it’s something Lynch has taken with him to the grave.

The Elephant Man, 1980

Lynch based his next film on the life of Joseph Merrick, the Victorian artist famous for his physical deformities. Also filmed in black and white and starring Anthony Hopkins, The Elephant Man was a huge success, garnering eight Academy Award nominations and three Baftas.

There was outrage when the make-up effects used in the film were not honoured, prompting the Academy to introduce a category to recognise make-up in films.

Dune, 1984

Lynch had originally been pegged to direct Return of the Jedi but turned it down, depriving the world of a Lynchian take on the Star Wars universe.

Instead, in a rare box office flop, he directed the Eighties space opera Dune, based on the sci-fi novels of Frank Herbert. The director didn’t enjoy the commercial nature of the project and pretty much disowned the film, but it has gained something of a cult status.

Blue Velvet, 1986

Lynch returned to crafting his inimitable cinematic style with Blue Velvet, a surreal psychological horror film about a student who discovers a severed ear and tumbles into a world of crime – and a romance with a singer who performs at the Blue Velvet nightclub.

Lynch cast Kyle MacLachlan, who he previously worked with on Dune, as the star, cementing a professional relationship that would run and run. Isabella Rossellini, currently being vaunted for her performance in Conclave, co-starred, as well as an 18-year-old Laura Dern. The film was controversial at the time for its explicit sex and violence, but today it’s often ranked as one of the greatest pieces of American cinema.

Twin Peaks, 1989

Perhaps Lynch’s best known work is Twin Peaks, a trippy mystery TV series about the death of homecoming queen Laura Palmer set in a small town in the Pacific Northwest.

Kyle MacLachlan starred as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, famous enjoyer of damn fine cups of coffee and a slice of cherry pie. The show ran for two seasons before cancellation, but spawned a movie prequel – Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me – in 1992 and a third season in 2017.

Wild At Heart, 1990

Laura Dern starred for Lynch again, alongside Nicholas Cage, in Wild At Heart, a dark comedy crime caper about lovers on the run. Willem Dafoe and Isabella Rossellini also appear in the film.

Lynch changed the ending from the original book, making fantastical allusions to The Wizard of Oz and Elvis Presley – along with so much more sex and violence that hundreds of people walked out of screenings. Despite the controversy, Wild At Heart won the Palm D’Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.

Lost Highway, 1997

A psychological horror with a strange, looping narrative, Lynch described Lost Highway as a "psychogenic fugue". Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette star as a musician and his wife who begin to receive strange video tapes.

Robert Blake, in his final film, gives a terrifying performance as the Mystery Man. “We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

Mulholland Drive, 1999

Naomi Watts in her breakout role starred alongside Justin Theroux in Mulholland Drive – or Mulholland Dr. – a strange tale of a car crash survivor and an aspiring actress in Los Angeles, Lynch’s adopted hometown.

Lynch declined to clarify the film’s intense symbolism and open ended narrative, leaving fans to speculate endlessly about the true meaning of this classic neo-noir.