Writer/director David Lynch has turned a trademark freakishness into an art form in films from The Elephant Man to Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive. Noting the element of horror in Lynch's films, M. P. McCrillis, writing in World and I, pointed out the "hidden, seamy side" that Lynch so often explores. "Lynch's films manage to catch us off guard by tempting us into thinking that art musts reaffirm an essential normalcy," McCrillis further commented. For LA Weekly writer John Powers, Lynch's movies "are torn between light and dark, blonde and brunette, goofy and primal, avant-garde and retro, the radiantly transcendent and the downright icky." Calling Lynch "one of America's most imaginative directors," Interview contributor Gerald L'Ecuyer praised the director's singular ability to "bring . . . an avant-garde sensibility to mainstream cinema." At a time when many filmmakers used proven formulas to entertain the public, Lynch confronted audiences with his distinctive personal vision, showing physical and psychological deformity with unsettling frankness.
