David Lynch’s 10 strangest, most disturbing characters

Eccentric detectives, amnesiac femme fatales, troubled jazz musicians – David Lynch has created some of cinema and television’s most entertaining and idiosyncratic characters. Yet among these creations are some that you definitely wouldn’t want to share a slice of cherry pie with.

Be it along the winding paths of Mulholland Dr. (2001), in the desolate landscape of Eraserhead (1977) or amid the strange suburbia of Blue Velvet (1986), disturbing characters lurk around every corner of Lynch’s world – and they tend to linger in the mind long after the credits have rolled. These 10 are all worthy of a place in your nightmares…

Lynch’s first feature produced one of his most iconic and mysterious characters: the lady in the radiator. Played by jazz singer Laurel Near, this impossibly large-cheeked character appears in only a handful of scenes in Eraserhead and is presumed to be a figure from the protagonist’s subconscious. Her presence isn’t menacing, but her smiling rendition of ‘In Heaven’ provides a chilling contrast with the film’s industrial dystopia.

Although Lynch himself has disowned Dune, there is no denying the awe-inspiring production and character designs that prop up this flawed sci-fi epic. The most grotesque of these is Baron Harkonnen. Riddled with oozing warts and an unhealthy level of perspiration, the overweight despot floats around rooms in his anti-gravity suit, incoherently cackling and bellowing orders. The baron’s repugnant appearance is the perfect rival to the clean-cut heroism of Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan), as they both seek to gain control of Arrakis.

Dennis Hopper’s savage portrayal of toxic masculinity is one of the legendary actor’s finest and most distressing roles. Operating as possibly the most psychotic character in the Lynch canon, Frank is an invincible villain who runs purely on anger and manipulation. Frank’s evil knows no bounds, demanding bizarre sexual favours as he inhales an unidentified gas. Hopper barks his expletive-ridden dialogue at his victims, all the while dragging Jeffrey (Kyle MacLachlan) and Dorothy (Isabella Rossellini) further into his depraved underworld.

Unlike many of Lynch’s strangest characters, Bobby Peru doesn’t scare you or create an air of discomfort. He is just very unpleasant. Drenched in cheap cologne and grease, Peru is a horribly macho individual who worms his way into Sailor and Lula’s relationship, only to reveal his true intentions when chaos erupts. Willem Dafoe revels in this role as a domineering and sociopathic sleazeball, who shares many of the same tendencies as Frank Booth. He also sports possibly the most hideous facial hair and set of teeth in all of cinema.

Few images strike as much fear into the heart of a viewer than that of Bob staring back at you from the bottom of the bedposts. His intense grin and dishevelled appearance complete a man who is capable of unimaginable evil, though all he really needs to do is crouch in the corner of a room to give us the heebie-jeebies. This was the only role that Frank Silva (who was working as a set dresser on the show) ever played, so it is a testament to him and Lynch’s talent that they both concocted a persona that still haunts our dreams more than 25 years later.

Perhaps the most ambiguous character in all of Lynch’s filmography is the mischievous dwarf who dwells in the Red Room. The character first appears to Dale Cooper in a dream at the end of the show’s third episode, dancing into pop cultural history in the process. Though he seems to be benevolent, dropping clues to the identity of Laura’s killer, The Man from Another Place’s propensity to speak in reverse – not to mention his ties with the evil Black Lodge – is nothing if not perturbing.

Laura Palmer may be the predominant victim of the happenings in Twin Peaks, but she is also responsible for some of the story’s most distressing moments. Whether it is her demented doppelgänger in the Black Lodge or the corrupted version we meet in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Laura’s struggle is tragic yet intoxicatingly haunting. Sheryl Lee’s career-defining performance conveys so much suffering and anguish but also shows the character revelling in her own madness.

Robert Blake began his career as a child actor, appearing in short films as early as 1939. It’s safe to say that his last role, as Lost Highway’s Mystery Man, is his most unsettling. Upon Fred Madison’s (Bill Pullman) first interaction with the character, when he speaks simultaneously to him in person and on the phone, we realise that something sinister is afoot. A demonic peeping tom, with pale complexion and no eyebrows, he is a force of pure evil who embodies the overwhelming sense of dread that lingers throughout this subverted horror film.

The bum behind Winkie’s diner on Sunset Boulevard does not speak or have a major role in the story of Mulholland Dr., nor does he have a name, but his first appearance is guaranteed to make you jump out of your seat. We only get flashing glimpses of this derelict, who carries a blue box and haunts the dreams of another minor character, but his presence seems to hint at a grander force at play within the film. Is he good or evil? That question cannot possibly be answered, but what is certain is his ability to petrify by simply emerging from behind a wall.

Lynch regular Grace Zabriskie almost steals the show in the director’s three-hour magnum opus, Inland Empire. Featuring in only one scene, the veteran actor plays a visitor to the home of Hollywood star Nikki (Laura Dern). At first, she presents herself as a friendly – if peculiar – neighbour, yet, as their conversation continues, Zabriskie turns to crazed soothsaying, predicting that Nikki will land a role in a movie that features “brutal fucking murder”. This 10-minute segment is a masterclass in building an uncomfortable atmosphere, providing a first glimpse at the surreal nastiness that is yet to come.