Blue Velvet (1986)

After his father (Jack Harvey) suffers a stroke, a young man (Kyle MacLachlan) returns to the small logging town to take care of his father's business. Walking home from visiting his father in the hospital, he discovers a severed human ear in the grass. From that moment on, he finds himself descending into a dark surrealistic world of violence and passion. Written and directed by David Lynch (MULHOLLAND DRIVE), this is one of the masterpieces of 1980s cinema. It's both startling and disturbing, a coming of age story gussied up in neo noir. It's also often witty, not in a haha way but in a subtle slice of black humor. The film is so rich that multiple viewings only unearth little nuggets that only amplify its status which has grown considerably since its 1986 release when its reviews were often polarizing. In a perfect piece of casting, young MacLachlan as a sort of male Alice in a perverted Wonderland manages to convey both innocence and naivete as well as an unhealthy fascination with the dark side. The film is stylized but not overly so and Lynch, his cinematographer Frederick Elmes  (ICE STORM) and composer Angelo Badalamenti pull us into a fascinating look at the ugly underbelly under the surface of small town America. The superb cast includes Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper (absolutely sensational), Laura Dern, Dean Stockwell, Hope Lange, Brad Dourif, George Dickerson, Jack Nance and Priscilla Pointer.