7 Times David Lynch Confused The Hell Out Of Us
2. "We've Met Before Haven't We?" (Lost Highway)
Lost Highway is Lynch's surreal 1997 take on the film noir genre, and one of his most under-valued films. It's this terrifying encounter with the Mystery Man (Robert Blake), that is often the most-discussed moment in the film.
Fred (Bill Pullman), already rattled by a stalker filming his house and sending him the VHS tapes, meets the Mystery Man at a friend's party. An exchange follows that manages to disorientate - and chill to the bone - anyone who watches it. The Mystery Man proceeds to tell Fred that he's met him before and that he's actually at Fred's house right now, even handing Fred a phone to call him there.
It's an inexplicable moment of pure horror. Robert Blake's face throughout the scene is the embodiment of unflinching terror. His deathly stares, and twisted moments of amusement (Fred is forced to listen to his evil laughter in stereo at one point, both on the phone and face-to-face), are frightening to watch. Coupled with his matter-of-fact responses to Fred's desperate questions ("You invited me. It is not my custom to go where I'm not wanted"), leave the viewer ultimately confused, and petrified, by what they've witnessed.