David Lynch’s Blue Velvet was one of the most contentious films of the year when it was released in 1986. Starring Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper, and Laura Dern, the movie tells the story of a college student who becomes involved in a vast local criminal network while visiting his ill father. Combining noir, horror, and artistic atmospherics, it divided audiences and critics.
Despite its peculiar Lynchian style and moments of extreme psychological terror, Blue Velvet earned an Oscar nomination, which propelled it into larger cinematic conversations. Thanks to its various releases on VHS and DVD, the film has continued to reach wide audiences, where it has achieved cult status. Since this, the influence of Blue Velvet has been obvious in many mainstream releases. This list pulls together 10 such films informed by David Lynch’s masterpiece.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Quentin Tarantino’s layered Los Angeles crime drama is considered one of the most important films of the 1990s. With its ensemble cast, rich dialogue, acute violence, and stylized approach to storytelling, it wowed audiences and critics alike. After the release of Reservoir Dogs in 1992, Pulp Fiction secured Tarantino’s status as one of the most interesting living American filmmakers.
Tarantino’s techniques in Pulp Fiction are informed by the spirit and refinement of Blue Velvet, and he has often cited the film as an influence. While Pulp Fiction is more fitful and aggressive than its predecessor, the brooding, bleak tone that pervades Tarantino’s film is a direct homage to Lynch.
Heathers (1989)
While it was initially a box office failure, this dark comedy later became a mainstream genre classic, garnering its own Broadway show and a television series. A satirical look at the lives of a wealthy clique of girls at an Ohio high school, Heathers is impeccably fashioned, well-paced, and mobilized by brutality.
The bright, superficial suburban landscapes brought to life in Heathers wouldn’t exist without the influence of Blue Velvet. Blue Velvet, in many ways, is the ultimate satire of the suburban culture that began to flourish in the late 1970s, the same culture ridiculed in Heathers.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Christopher Nolan began his career making intense, character-driven thrillers like Following and Memento. Once he transitioned into the mainstream with his Batman movies, some of the earliest indicators of the superhero blockbusters to come, Nolan brought his gritty, meditative style along with him.
Heath Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight turned out to be one of the most memorable and iconic of the decade. His take on the Joker, as an evil villain motivated by theatricality and pure anarchy, mirrors the cruel nature of Dennis Hopper’s character from Blue Velvet, Frank Booth.
Black Swan (2010)
The world of ballerina dancers is the backdrop for Darren Aronofsky’s somber psychological thriller starring Natalie Portman, who plays an ambitious lead ballerina whose primacy is called into question by a new, younger dancer.
The surreal, cerebral imagery that made Blue Velvet such a moving film is sped up and heightened in Black Swan. Themes of greed, jealousy, and lust drive the characters in each movie. David Lynch is the master of blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, and this tendency is obvious throughout Black Swan.
Fight Club (1999)
Another trendy and smart feature full of homages to Blue Velvet, Fight Club takes its predecessor’s focus on male violence to its logical conclusion. David Fincher’s exacting and glamorized look at rampaging, disgruntled men wouldn’t be as on point without David Lynch’s contributions before him.
Tyler Durden turns out to be a figment of the unnamed narrator’s imagination, a mental and emotional severing brought forth by the character’s dissatisfaction with his own life. Much like Kyle McLachlan’s character Jeffrey discovers his dark side in Blue Velvet, the narrator played by Edward Norton in Fight Club also reaches the point of no return.
Basic Instinct (1992)
Blue Velvet muddies the boundary between sex and violence, and that muddying inspired an entire generation of thrillers, like Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct. A detective noir bordering on pure erotica, Basic Instinct stars Michael Douglas as a police detective investigating the murder of a rock musician. He becomes involved with his prime suspect, who is played by Sharon Stone.
The relationship between these characters mirrors the relationship between McLachlan’s Jeffrey and Isabelle Rosselini’s Dorothy Vallens in Blue Velvet. Intentions, agency, and morality are thrown out the window in lieu of fulfilling lust and desire.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Tim Burton’s quirky parody of the immaculate suburban existence, Edward Scissorhands is one of the best dark comedies of all time. While the title character evokes Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the world he falls into once his creator dies mimics the scenery in Lumberton, North Carolina, where Blue Velvet takes place.
From its vibrant colors to its spying inhabitants, the town depicted in Edward Scissorhands is a more family-friendly version of David Lynch’s superficially neat and spotless Lumberton.
Fargo (1996)
The Coen brothers are synonymous with rough and potent dramatic comedies, and Fargo is the ultimate expression of this. This North Dakota-based ensemble tale focuses on a cash-strapped man who hires two doltish criminals to kidnap his wife so he can extort her family.
Fargo borders on slapstick with its portrayals of violence, but its overlapping narratives, bloodshed, and provincial characters are all inspired by Blue Velvet.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Donnie Darko is another classic that was initially dismissed by audiences when it was released. Fortunately, it’s become of the most loved teen science fiction films of the 21st century, and it helped to launch Jake Gyllenhaal’s career.
Just like Blue Velvet reaches below the surface of Lumberton’s idyllic nature, Donnie Darko reaches below the surface of Middlesex, Virginia to show how afflicted and grieved its residents are behind closed doors. This theme of delving into the true nature of suburban life wouldn’t be so pervasive without Blue Velvet.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Stanley Kubrick’s operatic masterpiece dives into the worlds of wealthy socialites and their exclusive sex societies. A movie about erotic exploration, Eyes Wide Shut‘s dramatic, slow-moving tone echoes the dark underworlds creepingly brought to life in Blue Velvet.
Like Eyes Wide Shut after it, Blue Velvet relies on neo-noir moods to evoke emotional responses from its audience. Both movies involve hallucinogenic adventures that prove nothing is really what it seems.
