Every David Lynch Film RANKED From Worst To Best

Lynch's return to a smaller scale after his big studio experiences with Dune and Elephant Man was the film that arguably established him as the unique filmmaker he is today. If you're looking for your first Lynch experience, or simply just a distillation of every element that constitutes 'Lynchian,' then Blue Velvet is the film for you.

When Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) comes home from college to look after his father's store after the latter has a stroke, he finds a severed human ear in a field one day, leading him into the seedy underbelly of his town he never knew was there.

Featuring one of cinema's most frightening villains in Dennis Hopper's Frank Booth, Blue Velvet is justly considered one of the best mystery films ever made. From those first technicolour shots of red roses against blue skies and white picket fence as Bobby Vinton sings to the squirming beetles underneath greener than green grass, you find yourself transported to an uneasy dreamworld of Americana and erotica.

It should come as no surprise that the film initially met with mixed critical response, something consistent through Lynch's career. However, it is now considered one of cinema's triumphs.