10 80s Movie Hidden Gems You Can Watch On Netflix

David Lynch movies often occupy a realm between waking life and dreams, fantasies and nightmares. Lynch is a master filmmaker who understands the importance of sound design, cinematography and editing and the role they play in crafting an otherworldly feel which puts the audience on edge.

Blue Velvet exemplifies his approach to cinema, telling the story of a young man (Kyle MacLaughlan) who discovers a severed ear while wandering through a field and becomes embroiled in a world of crime and violence centered around the psychotic figure of Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper, returning to film after a alcohol and drug-induced haitus).

The world Lynch crafts in Blue Velvet feels like a daydream, sitting somewhere between the idyllic white picket fenced past of the 1950s and the present day, juxtaposing small town life with a grimy underworld where life is cheap. Hopper's performance is the centerpiece - his character is perhaps the most disturbed and twisted villain of the 1980s to grace the screen.

As with most of Lynch's movies, Blue Velvet invites the audience to derive multiple meanings and contains much symbolism featured throughout his other works (ominous ringing telephones, red curtains). However you choose to interpret it, it's a chilling ride of a film which stays with you long after the credits roll.