It’s a strange old world

The Strange Worlds Of David Lynch kicks off with Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me(15) tonight, from 8.30pm.

This is an apt introduction to the series, as today marks 25 years since Lynch’s landmark series Twin Peaks premiered on US TV.

The season continues with Eraserhead(18) on April 15; The Elephant Man(PG) on April 29; Blue Velvet(18) on May 6; Wild At Heart(18) on May 20 and ends with Mulholland Drive(15) on May 27.

“All the movies are about strange worlds you can’t go into unless you build them and film them,” said David Lynch.

“That’s what’s so important about film to me. I just like going into strange worlds.”

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is a sort-of-prequel to the TV series which follows the last seven days in the life of Laura Palmer.

Eraserhead, Lynch’s first feature film, is set in a nightmarish industrial wasteland where factory worker Henry Spencer becomes father to a hideous baby whose crying drives him to insanity.

John Hurt gives a career-best performance in The Elephant Man, a Lynchian bio-pic of John Merrick.

Blue Velvet is an unforgettable satire on suburban life while Wild At Heart a mix of extreme violence, mordant wit and laid-back, absurd humour won the 1990 Palme d’Or at Cannes.

The season ends with Mulholland Drive – one of Lynch’s finest films – acclaimed by Sight and Sound magazine as one of the 50 greatest films ever made.

Tickets for each film are £6.50/£5.50 concs (a £1 per transaction fee applies to online bookings).

Call 01524 598500 or see www.dukes-lancaster.org