Artist-turned-director David Lynch inhabits a unique position in contemporary cinema. Throughout his career, he has proved himself to be such an idiosyncratic filmmaker with bold, innovative visual and thematic styles that the term 'Lynchian' has long since entered the common vernacular for describing films that employ dream logic and/or feature occasional outbursts of unexplainable or even supernatural occurrences. His varied, hugely impressive body of work so far clearly shows however how much more he is than the willfully weird 'Czar of the Bizarre' he is so called. His uncompromising output doesn't always walk in step with the prevailing commercial zeitgeist, but his impressive catalogue of solid hits make it hard to believe how much difficulty he still has in getting his film projects financial backing.

Lynch has proved himself a late but dedicated supporter of the DVD format, though of course he adds in a few quirks all his own. Going a step beyond Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen and other directors who shun audio commentary tracks for their films, Lynch usually forbids even for chapter stops to be included on his feature DVD releases, as he believes his films must be experienced from start to finish or not at all. It seems naïve to think that the absence of chapter stops would make this impossible, the best compromise we've seen so far in any case is the Region 1 release of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, which does have chapter stops but no scene selection menu screen. Other extras are produced on occasion for some of his productions (like The Elephant Man and the Twin Peaks - The First Season box set), but never is Lynch himself featured in any interview or documentary sections. He has never enjoyed talking about his work, and prefers to leave his films as they are for the audience to judge for themselves. He does supervise the audio and video transfers on the DVDs of all his new releases, demanding the highest possible quality from both, clearly realizing that DVD is fast becoming the ultimate depository for directors to present their work as they choose to themselves.

His unique ability to fuse outrageous comedy with unnerving images of outright horror earns him a firm spot in our Favorite Directors list. This page lists all of his feature films so far, including information about availability on DVD and a link to our review wherever possible.

Eraserhead: David Lynch took four years to shoot this unsettling, funny and completely unique bit of nightmarish surrealism, and its imagery and dream logic continue to mermeate his work until this very day. A midnight movie classic in every sense of the word, Eraserhead is available in a slightly cropped pan&scan DVD release for Region 2 (UK); the US distribution rights lie with Lynch himself, and he now sells his own copies of this definitive restored version exclusively via his site DavidLynch.com (of course, it can also be found on eBay at somewhat heftier prices).

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The Elephant Man: The director's classiest film as well as his most openly emotional, this breathtaking recreation of London during the Industrial Revolution is stunning to watch, and memorably played by an impeccable cast. The Region 1 release has the better transfer and audio mix, as well as many more extras.

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Dune: The ambitious, often breathtaking but also hugely flawed adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic sci-fi novel includes memorable images, but is poorly served by a meagre, non-anamorphic transfer and complete lack of extras. A Region 2 release of 'Alan Smithee'-credited longer cut made for network TV is also available.

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Blue Velvet: The movie that put Lynch back on the map as a commercial filmmaker and that more or less defined the rest of career up to now, this semi-Freudian nightmare thriller lacks the subtlety of his later accomplishments, but remains a harrowing and often very funny experience filled with dream logic and expressionistic set design. Previously available as a bare-bones release for Region 1 and Region 2, a new Special Edition with a director-supervised transfer and sound mix and numerous extras (including a comprehensive 70-minute documentary) has been released since.

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Twin Peaks - The First Season: Lynch's groundbreaking first seven episodes are still as good as network TV can possibly get over ten years down the line. It's a lowdown dirty shame that the incredible pilot couldn't be included due to a rights issue (it's available as a Region 0-coded Taiwanese import, but quality is mediocre at best). Both technical excellence and quality of the extras on board this box set are simply off the charts.

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Wild At Heart: Currently languishing in the purgatory of international rights disputes, it is apparently unclear who exactly holds the North-American home video distribution rights to Lynch's exuberantly surrealistic road movie-cum-hommage to The Wizard of Oz. Universal has however recently released a strictly barebones Region 2 DVD in the UK with solid technical specifications.

Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me: The cinematic prequel to the memorable TV show was poorly received at the time and still isn't a very likable film, as it discards the undercurrent of dry humor that helped the series gain its immense popularity. It's still much better than its reputation would suggest, and contains some of Lynch's strongest moments. The Region 1 edition has far better image and sound quality than the available Region 2 editions, and includes a nice documentary as well.

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Lost Highway: This diabolical enigma of a thriller sees Lynch at his most obliquely nightmarish, with a circular dream logic fueling a typically hairpin-style narrative that threw many viewers and critics for a loop. As yet still MIA for Region 1, the Dutch Region 2 release at least has an anamorphic transfer and a few extras on board.

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The Straight Story: Lynch's most straightforward narrative since The Elephant Man is a hugely naturalistic, heartwarming tale of a crotchety old man who drives his lawnmower across two states to visit his ailing brother. The only major difference between the solid releases for Region 1 and Region 2 is that the R1 release doesn't have chapter stops, while the R2 (UK) release does.

Mulholland Drive: A hugely challenging but also immensely entertaining puzzle piece from David Lynch, who definitively proves himself one of the very few geniuses working in contemporary American cinema. A masterpiece of a movie, gorgeously presented on a superior DVD.

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