Lost Highway (1997)

In co-writer/director David Lynch's intriguing, extremely-enigmatic, non-linear psychological thriller about double lives and shifting identities, it was a very incoherent, surreal and neo-noir film. It performed very poorly at the box-office - on a budget of $15 million, it only grossed revenues of $3.8 million in limited theatrical releases, and was critically savaged for its confusing narrative. However, it was revived by showings on cable TV (HBO) and eventually received cult-film status as another David Lynch masterpiece. It was followed by two other equally-mystifying "Los Angeles" films - Mulholland Drive (2001) and Inland Empire (2006). Some critics felt the film's events were reminiscent of the 1994 O.J. Simpson murders when the suspect killed both his wife and his wife's lover.

During most of the puzzling film, the life of the main protagonist (jazz musician Fred Madison) was bizarrely linked or intertwined with many others, and there were multiple doppelgangers. His hallucinations, amnesia, schizophrenia, and paranoid jealousy were to justify his murder of his own cheating dark-haired wife (Renee), and later the killing of her porn-producer friend Andy (Michael Massee). To deal with the horror of killing his own wife, he created a completely new identity for himself as a young auto mechanic (Pete Dayton), who was then lured into a sexual affair with a blonde femme fatale named Alice (the moll girlfriend of violent gangster and porno mogul Mr. Eddy (aka Dick Laurent)) - a doppelganger of Renee. The two intersecting (or doubling) storylines about parallel identities were linked by the casting of actress Patricia Arquette in both female roles - as Fred's pretty wife and then as Pete's temptress. The delusional tale of marital discord and distrust, murder, and guilt, was accentuated with the tagline: "A lost road on the edge of strange..." In the film's conclusion, he proceeded down a "lost highway."

The entire abstract neo-noir film possibly could be interpreted as a subconscious, psychotic dream, deranged fantasy, a form of protective amnesia, or imagined memory (or even a kind of purgatory or hell) of the main guilt-ridden protagonist. His dilemma was that he was a convicted killer on death row, accused of killing his unfaithful actress wife who he feared was cheating with her porn-producer friend. About to be executed in prison by the electric chair, it was also possible that the prison was only metaphoric, and that he was imprisoned in his own fractured delusions and identity, and facing a major nervous breakdown as a consequence of his crazed dreams and actions.

• the title credits played atop a view of a two-lane highway (with hypnotizing flashes of the yellow stripe down the middle of the two lanes) illuminated by headlights of a car in a desert area, as a driverless vehicle zoomed toward a dark future; the titles were accompanied by David Bowie's 1995 song "I'm Deranged" (also used for the end credits), with these lyrics: "Funny how secrets travel, I'd start to believe If I were to bleed, Thin skies, the man chains his hands held high, Cruise me blond Cruise me babe, A blond belief beyond, beyond, beyond, No return, no return, I'm deranged Deranged down, down, down, I'm deranged down, down, down, So cruise me babe, cruise me baby, oh, And the rain sets in, It's the angel-man I'm deranged, Cruise me, cruise me, cruise me, babe"
• in the film's opening scene in the early morning, a mysterious voice (over his home's intercom system) cryptically delivered a message to a Los Angeles home's occupant - disheveled, haggard wealthy, successful 32 year-old LA tenor saxophonist / jazz musician Fred Madison (Bill Pullman); the pajamas-wearing, cigarette-smoking Fred received a meaningless statement at the time (about a shady gangster boss) - the message was strangely recorded in his own voice: "Dick Laurent is dead"
• Fred heard police sirens and squealing car tires outside (police cars chasing the future version of Fred later in the film), but there was no evidence of anyone around the home [Note: The house was supposedly near the Observatory on Hollis, but in fact was on Senalda Rd. in the Hollywood Hills, just below the outlook on Mulholland Dr.]
• later in the day, Fred left his home to attend the Luna Lounge, a club where he played saxophone with a jazz band; during the night, he suffered lingering doubts about the fidelity of his beautiful dark-haired wife Renee Madison (Patricia Arquette), who remained at home (to read) but was not answering the phone when Fred called during a break; later when he arrived home, she was sleeping soundly in bed
• the next morning, Renee picked up a plain manila envelope with no return address at the Madison's front door; she didn't mention it until Fred asked about it; the envelope contained an anonymous VHS videotape; upon playing it on their VCR, it consisted of a short 20-second grayish view of their home's exterior; Renee speculated: "Must be from a real estate agent" [Note: Key communications or recordings in the film were either through an intercom, or through videotapes.]

Sex With Wife Renee, But Fred Was Unable to Perform

• Fred began to experience strange disassociations and dreams; he distantly recalled while lying in bed (awaiting a naked Renee to join him) that during one of his nightly performances at the Luna Lounge, Renee attended but then he suspiciously watched as she unexpectedly left with another man (later identified as Andy); in bed, Fred and Renee attempted to have sex together, but he failed and felt humiliated - due to his fears of being cheated upon
• Fred told Renee about his most recent night's dream, when he was looking for her and heard her distantly screaming and calling out for him, but couldn't find her; in bed, as Fred turned toward Renee, he envisioned Renee's face as that of a pale, frightening-looking elderly man (foreshadowing the later appearance of "The Mystery Man" - see below): "You were inside the house. You were calling my name. Fred! Where are you? I couldn't find you. Then there you were lying in bed. It wasn't you. It looked like you, but it wasn't"
• the next morning, a second videotape arrived (again in plain packaging) at the doorstep with similar footage, but now also a grainy but penetrative view of the dark interior of the Madison home and a high-angled view of the two sleeping in bed together
• two detectives Ed (Louis Eppolito) and Al (John Roselius) were called in to investigate, and they also watched the video; the two officers asked questions about the incident, inquiring whether they owned a video camera; both gave different replies: (Renee: "No, Fred hates them." Fred: "I like to remember things my own way"); when asked to clarify, Fred told them how he preferred his own subjective memories - a sign of his psychotic mind: "How I remembered them, not necessarily the way they happened"; they also admitted that they had inactivated their security system after too many false alarms; as the two detectives left, they promised: "We'll keep watch over the house. We'll do the best we can"
• during a nighttime pool party at the home of Andy (Michael Massee), an old friend of Renee's, Fred jealously regarded Renee's drunken behavior and flirtations with Andy as troubling; he suspected her of having a promiscuous lifestyle - possibly an affair with Andy (or something even more nefarious such as involvement in porn films)
• inside Andy's house at an open bar, Fred was approached by a creepy, pasty-faced, black-clad individual (known as The Mystery Man (Robert Blake)) - the man portrayed in Fred's earlier dream [Note: It was likely that he had filmed and sent the two videotapes.]; the man asked: "We've met before, haven't we?...At your house, don't you remember?", he also claimed that he was in Fred's house at that very moment: ("As a matter of fact, I'm there right now...at your house")
• in the film's scariest and most disquieting moment, Fred phoned his own home with the Mystery Man's cellphone and the voice of the Mystery Man answered at the house: ("I told you I was here"), although he was standing directly in front of Fred; Fred was astounded and wondered how the trick was performed: "How'd you do that?...How'd you get inside my house?"; the Mystery Man answered: "You invited me. It is not my custom to go where I'm not wanted"; the Man burst into disturbing, echoing laughter (both on the phone and in-person) when asked: "Who are you?"
• after the man left, Fred asked Andy about the man's identity and was told that he was a friend of Dick Laurent's; Fred recalled the earlier intercom message: "Dick Laurent is dead," and remarked to Andy: ("Dick Laurent is dead, isn't he?"); Andy reacted with disbelief: ("I didn't think you knew Dick. How do you know he's dead?...Dick can't be dead. Who told you he was dead?"); reacting nervously, Fred pulled Renee from the party to leave and return home: "We're leaving now. We never should have come here in the first place"; on the drive home, he interrogated Renee about her past dubious association with "asshole" Andy; she explained how she knew Andy: "We met at a place called Moke's. We became friends. He told me about a job" - but she was vague about anything else
• once they arrived home, Fred was worried that there might be an intruder inside that he had to check out before allowing Renee to enter; inside, he heard the phone ring twice, but didn't answer it; later, as he wandered around the shadowy and dark interior, he saw himself reflected back in front of a mirror - a metaphor of his split personality; in the bedroom, Renee was calling out for him (as she had in his earlier dream: "Fred? Where are you?")
• in the next scene, Fred opened a third manila envelope and watched it on his own; the recording showed the objective reality of Fred's life -- gory images revealed his savage murder of Renee; Fred was kneeling next to the bloody bed where her mutilated corpse was sprawled on the floor; two dismembered body parts (a hand and right leg) were laid out on the bed; Fred cried out for Renee

Fred Next to Renee's Murdered and Dismembered Body

Fred Taken Into Custody for Renee's Murder and Bloodily Beaten Up: ("Tell me I didn't kill her!")

• in the subsequent sequence, the dazed and confused Fred was being beaten up and interrogated by the two investigative detectives, and couldn't recall what had happened; he was in denial about objective reality: (Fred: "I didn't kill her. Tell me I didn't kill her"); he was put on trial, found guilty, and convicted of his wife's vengeful homicide - for murdering (and dismembering) Renee; he was sentenced to death row for execution by the electric chair
• in prison, Fred began to suffer from painful headaches and insomnia, and was offered a tranquilizing sedative; he began to experience strange flashes and visions, hallucinations, and dreams - of a burning desert cabin (with reversed flames), of the Mystery Man in the cabin doorway, and riding down the two-lane highway (the "Lost Highway" of the film's title sequence) now with a solid double-yellow stripe [Note: The Mystery Man represented the flip or dark and insane side of Fred's personality.]

Burning Cabin With Reversed Flames

The Mystery Man at the Cabin Doorway

The "Lost Highway" With a Double-Stripe

• in the film's bizarre and strange turning point, in his death row cell during a dramatic transformation sequence with bright flashes of blue lights, Fred inexplicably was reborn (or morphed); after a glimpse of the front-lawn of a Van Nuys home, a flash-forward revealed that Fred transitioned into his future incarnation (Pete); Fred became the 'hallucinated' character of Peter Raymond Dayton with a serious forehead injury (or concussion); it was thought to be "some spooky s--t here" when a prison guard noticed that in Fred Madison's cell, he had been replaced by a different person
• possibly because of his identity crisis and insecurity, Fred saw himself in his 'dream' as a younger 24 year-old "stranger" named Pete Raymond Dayton (an auto mechanic from Van Nuys); the officials were forced to release him from prison into the care of his black leather-jacketed biker parents William and Candace (Gary Busey and Lucy Butler); they took him to their home in Van Nuys, CA; Pete was a completely different individual whose only crime on the record was auto theft five years earlier
• after adjusting to being back home, Pete met up with many of his male friends, including his brunette girlfriend Sheila (Natasha Gregson Wagner); at a bowling alley, she asked where he had been for a few days and kept noticing that he was acting very "strange"

Pete's Girlfriend Sheila (Natasha Gregson Wagner)

Pete's Garage Job Boss Arnie (Richard Pryor)

Pete - an LA Auto Mechanic

• after a long absence from work, Pete Dayton returned to Arnie's - a car repair service on La Brea Ave (in Central LA, a long distance from Van Nuys) where he was employed as an auto mechanic with other co-workers and his boss Arnie (Richard Pryor); one of the auto repair shop's customers was "Mr. Eddy" (Robert Loggia) who was requesting work specifically performed by Pete on his 1977 Mercedes 450-SEL; during a test drive in Eddy's car, after readusting the car's ignition, Pete watched as the psychotically-deranged, hot-headed and violent-tempered Mr. Eddy took road-rage revenge against a tailgater (Greg Travis) who had flipped him off, by ramming the rear of the guy's car and then berating him before whipping him with his gun; upon their return to the garage, the two detectives Hank and Lou (who had begun to pursue and surveil Pete) recognized Mr. Eddy as a criminal mobster-thug named "Laurent"
• that evening, Pete picked up Sheila at her home to go for a drive; after parking by the side of the road and making out, she asked: "Why don't you like me?"; she stripped off her sweater to please him before they had sex in the back seat

Pete With Girlfriend Sheila (Natasha Gregson Wagner)

• the next day at the garage, Pete was disturbed by a saxophone riff on the radio (similar to the sounds of Fred's jazzy tenor sax); Pete was compelled to change the channel and told his older co-worker mechanic Phil (Jack Nance) that he disliked the music
• mobster Mr. Eddy returned for further repairs for his black 1960 Cadillac convertible, accompanied by his blonde femme fatale mistress - Alice (a doppelganger resembling Fred's dead wife Renee); as Pete stared at Alice seated in the car, the intense depth-of-field focus reset itself onto a close-up of Mr. Eddy's face conversing with Pete; Alice's movements as she stepped out of the car were filmed in slo-motion, revealing Pete's immediate passionate feelings for Alice - to the tune of Lou Reed singing: "This Magic Moment" (lyrics: "This magic moment, so different and so new, But like any other until I met you, And then it happened, It took me by surprise, I knew that you felt it too, I could see it by the look in your eyes...")

Alice Returning in the Evening to Pick up the Cadillac: "Hello, I'm Alice Wakefield"

• at closing time in the garage, when Alice was dropped off via taxi to pick up the car - she was a sight to behold; she introduced herself as Alice Wakefield, and invited Pete out to dinner - with two come-ons: ("How'd you like to take me to dinner?" and "Why don't I take you to dinner?"); although he at first declined, he changed his mind, and agreed when she suggested: "Maybe we should just skip dinner"; they followed up with illicit sex together at a nearby hotel (in Room # 9), and then the insatiable couple met up again the same night in separate cars at the Starlight Motel (in Room # 206); Pete was clearly compensating for the earlier loss of his wife with a dream-fulfillment of intense sexual compatibility; they initiated a series of secret sexual encounters (while still being tailed by the two detectives, who suspected that Pete was becoming involved in criminal activity with Mr. Eddy/Dick Laurent)
• afterwards naturally, Pete and Alice feared that Mr. Eddy might suspect that they were having a secret affair and they agreed to be more careful; Pete imagined more troubling, blurred visions - of spiders and other insects and strange sounds; frustrated, he attempted to escape by riding off into the night on his motorcycle; he picked up Sheila to take her to a cheap motel (the place he had first taken Alice) and treated her to rough sex
• during his absence, Pete's parents had been questioned by the two detectives about his strange disappearance (before he had reappeared in Fred's prison cell); after returning home from his motorcycle ride, Pete told his parents that he had no recollection of the night in question and begged: ("What happened to me?"); according to his parents, on the night that he had vanished, Pete had just returned home after a date with Sheila, but then after a brief view of her with another man (the Mystery Man?) on their front lawn, Pete had been sucked into a vortex amidst flashes of blue lights and was no longer there

Flashback: With Sheila, Pete Dayton Disappeared on the Front Lawn of His Parent's Home in Van Nuys, CA Amidst Bright Flashes of Blue Light

• the next day at work, Mr. Eddy convincingly threatened Pete that he would blast anyone with his gun (a Desert Eagle Mark XIX with a chrome finish) who was found "making out" with his moll girlfriend - hinting that he suspected Pete's sexual involvement with Alice
• during another encounter with Alice at the Starlight Motel, Pete was told that Mr. Eddy would kill them if they were caught; Alice proposed a nefarious scheme to allow them to acquire some cash and then escape and run off together; her idea was for them to steal from her rich, porn-producing, film-making friend Andy (the same Andy from earlier in the story), Mr. Eddy's associate and porn-actress recruiter: ("He's always got a lot of cash. He'd be easy to rob. Then we'd have the money. We could go away. We could be together...Our ticket out of here"); she reluctantly admitted it was "part of the deal" for her to "party" (make love?) with Andy (and presumably act in Mr. Eddy's pornos), although she claimed she didn't like it; the robbery plan was readied for later inside Andy's home
• Alice then explained, via a short flashback, how "a long time ago," she had become friends with Mr. Eddy (alias Dick Laurent), a porn producer who she first met at a place called Moke's (similar to how Renee had met Andy earlier), and he vaguely suggested finding a job for her (ostensibly in his skin flicks); she further told how Mr. Eddy had invited her to his mansion, and after having her wait for a long time, he ushered her into a large living room with a fireplace - where Mr. Eddy forced her to strip at gunpoint - with a Smith & Wesson Model 67 aimed at her head - in front of a large group of males; she undressed down to her black bra and thong panties before removing her bra, walking toward Mr. Eddy, and kneeling in front of him; Marilyn Manson's song "I Put a Spell on You" played on the soundtrack; Pete asked: "Why didn't you just leave?" but then wondered whether it was stimulating for her: "You liked it, huh?"

Flashback: Alice Forced to Strip at Gunpoint for Corrupt and Brutal Mobster and Porn Mogul Mr. Eddy (Dick Laurent)

• meanwhile, Pete's girlfriend Sheila found out about Pete's infidelity; when Pete returned home, the enraged Sheila confronted him on his front lawn: ("You're f--king somebody else, aren't you?...What's the bitch's name?"); she also accused him of being "different"; as a result, she broke off their relationship; after she ran off, Pete was told by his mother that he had a phone call inside the house; Pete engaged in a short and unusual conversation with the threatening Mr. Eddy, who then passed the phone to his friend and associate - the Mystery Man; Pete was reminded that they had met earlier "at your house. Don't you remember?"; the Mystery Man also delivered an ominous warning: "In the East, the Far East, when a person is sentenced to death, they're sent to a place where they can't escape. Never knowing when an executioner may step up behind them and fire a bullet into the back of their head"
• at 11:05 pm that night, Pete arrived by bus outside Andy's home; inside the house in the living room, Pete noticed that a projected B/W stag film (starring Alice) was playing in a loop; when Andy came down the stairs to the living room in his underwear, Pete ambushed him and knocked him unconscious; he was followed by Alice (wearing a black bra and panties) who had been seducing their intended victim; Andy revived consciousness and attacked Pete, but then Andy was accidentally killed by a blow to his forehead when he was pushed onto the edge of a glass coffee table

In Andy's Living Room, Pete Saw Alice in a Projected Stag Flick	Andy In His Underwear Coming Downstairs In His Home
Andy's Fatal Head Blow on Edge of Glass Coffee Table

• Alice fully blamed Pete for Andy's death: "You killed him"; Alice was unphased, and went ahead to steal Andy's jewelry (necklace and ring) and other valuables: ("We have to get the stuff. We have to get out of here")
• Pete asked Alice about a framed B/W group photo (including Mr. Eddy and Andy) with identical-looking Alice and Renee in the middle of the picture together; Pete asked about the identities of the two females: ("Is that you? Are both of them you?"); he was confused about which one was Alice; she only identified herself as the blonde ("That's me"); the viewing of the picture intensified Pete's physical distress and caused him to suffer a nose-bleed; while Pete proceeded to the upstairs bathroom; lights flashed and he began to hallucinate that he was in the hallway of a motel (later identified as the Lost Highway Hotel); he came up to Rm. # 26 - when he opened the door, he saw Alice having sex with an unidentified male while taunting him: "Did you want to talk to me? Did you want to ask me why?"
• downstairs, Alice held a gun on Pete and playfully asked: "What's the matter? Don't you trust me, Pete?"; she appeared to want to drop Mr. Eddy and leave town with Pete, to immediately make contact with someone to "fence" Andy's stolen possessions for cash; she directed him to drive in Andy's red 1965 Ford Mustang sports car into the desert toward a small, vacant cabin (the one seen earlier with reversed flames); the yellow stripe on the highway was visible
• while awaiting the "fence" outside the cabin, Pete asked: "Why me, Alice? Why choose me?"; she answered: "You still want me, don't you, Pete? More than ever"; they kissed and were soon lying naked together in the sand; the two were lit by the car's headlights while making love in the sand; he responded enthusiastically: "I want you. I want you," but she whispered a strange and taunting response in his ear: "You'll never have me" - another example of Pete's/Fred's fears of Alice's promiscuity; she strode stark naked into the cabin and disappeared (and never reappeared)
• the plot became even more complex when Pete transformed back into his original identity as Fred; inside the cabin, the Mystery Man reappeared at the door to the cabin; inside the cabin, he reminded Fred that Alice didn't really exist: ("Alice who? Her name is Renee. If she told you her name is Alice, she's lying"); Fred's delusions broke down and he found himself back in reality - he was now Fred again, and Alice had returned to being Renee, and the plot circled back upon itself
• Fred escaped from the Mystery Man who was chasing him with a video camera - proof that the Mystery Man was the one who had filmed and sent the videotapes; Fred drove off onto the highway with the yellow stripe to the nearby Lost Highway Hotel where he checked into Rm. # 25; he realized that next door, Mr. Eddy (Dick Laurent) and Renee were having sex next door in Rm. # 26; shortly later after Renee departed, Fred angrily confronted Mr. Eddy in the hotel room, beat him up, kidnapped him and forced him into the trunk of his Mercedes vehicle and drove back into the desert
• once the car's trunk was opened and porn/snuff film mogul Mr. Eddy barged out, the Mystery Man reappeared and offered Fred a knife to stab Mr. Eddy; after being sliced in the neck, the bloodied Mr. Eddy asked both Fred and the Mystery Man: "What do you guys want?"; the Mystery Man provided a videotape player with videotaped evidence or proof that Renee and Mr. Eddy were having a sexual affair; the tape showed the corrupted Renee and porn king Mr. Eddy involved in sexual foreplay at the same time that a snuff-film (with Renee in one of the scenes) was being projected in a room, where porn-producer Andy and other associates were watching

Mr. Eddy Watching the Mystery Man's Videotape Player With Proof of Mr. Eddy and Renee Having an Affair, In a Room Where Others Were Watching a Snuff Porn Film

• Fred observed as the Mystery Man murdered Mr. Eddy with two gun-shots, and then whispered something unintelligible and inaudible into his ear; at dawn, Fred took Mystery Man's gun and drove away from the desert crime scene in Mr. Eddy's Mercedes, leaving Mr. Eddy's body on the ground
• the final few lines of dialogue were between the two detectives who were looking over the bloody crime scene in Andy's luxurious home; there was clear evidence and fingerprints that confirmed Pete Dayton had solely burglarized and killed Andy - Renee's porn-producer buddy

The Framed Photograph (Now Without Alice Who Seemed to Never Exist)

• the two detectives noticed a photograph of Mr. Eddy, Renee, and Andy (earlier in the film, Alice was also in the same photo); Renee was identified as "Fred Madison's wife - with Dick Laurent":

  Al: "Ed. Take a look at this!"
  Ed: "Yeah. That's her all right. That's Fred Madison's wife with Dick Laurent."
  Another detective: "And Mr. Dent-Head [Andy] over there."
  A second detective: "We got Pete Dayton's prints all over this place."
  Al: "You know what I think, Ed?"
  Ed: "What is it, AI? Whaddya think?"
  Al: "I think there's no such thing as a bad coincidence."

• after returning from the desert, Fred (wearing Pete's clothes) arrived at the front of his home and recorded a message to himself at his house's intercom callbox: "Dick Laurent is dead"; it was the same cryptic quote heard from the film's opening - the quote served as a neat and clean bookend
• when the two detectives drove up in front of the house and saw Fred at the door, he fled back to his car; they pursued after him to arrest him, with the sound of squealing tires; Fred led them on a high-speed chase into the desert, where he screamed as he proceeded toward oblivion down the vortex of a 'lost highway' (spiraling back to the same image underlying the title credits sequence where the story began, looping back as if it was a Mobius strip); the film ended with his facial and body features violently blurring and transforming once again, and then he seemed to vanish