Blue Velvet (18)

In the quiet logging community of Lumbertown, squeaky clean teenager Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) finds a severed human ear. He reports it to the police, but also begins his own covert investigation, stumbling into the violent, S&M world of nightclub singer Dorothy (Isabella Rossellini) and drug-sniffing psycho Frank (Dennis Hopper)...

David Lynch settled into his stride with the uniquely disturbing Blue Velvet, gathering for the first time all the themes and imagery we now call Lynchian. The performances are universally superb. MacLachlan gives the film its emotional centre, while Rossellini's controversial portrayal of the abused singer is every bit as complex as Hopper's twisted freak.

It's a testament to their acting that their scenes have lost little shock value over 15 years. It's a measure of Lynch's dark genius that the rest of this bizarre and frequently beautiful film has lasted too.

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