David Lynch’s 22 Strangest ‘Otherworld’ Characters
14. The Phantom/Crimp: Inland Empire/More Things That Happened
As he passed through the doorway, he caused a reflection. Evil was born. There are many horrifying characters in Lynchs films, and he is a master at creating larger-than-life monsters like Frank Booth, Bobby Peru (Willem Dafoe) and Mr. Eddy (Robert Loggia). His scariest figures tend to be from the otherworld, with one of the most terrifying being The Phantom of Inland Empire (played by Krzysztof Majchrzak). The Phantom, also referred to as Crimp, appears very few times in Inland Empire, which makes his few cameos truly disorienting. In fact, characters refer to him far more frequently than he is actually on screen. What is known is that he is a hypnotist who controls and ensnares women, and that he has passed through the doorway into the real world in order to do so. In one of his most terrifying scenes, Crimp appears at the house of Nikki/Sue with a light bulb in his mouth and just watches her menacingly from a distance. In another, he charges at Nikki/Sue in a corridor and, after she shoots him, his face contorts into a disturbing death mask of her own distorted features. As with so many characters on this list, it is difficult to know exactly who/what The Phantom is particularly given his limited appearances (although the deleted scenes from Inland Empire, named More Things That Happened, shed some light on his character). It is this uncertainty that makes him absolutely terrifying.