It's a strange world, isn't it?
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
- Harm to children
- Body horror
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Character
Grave, bleak, meticulous and overwhelming.
- gravecomic
- warmbleak
- rawmeticulous
- cooloverwhelming
- contemplativerelentless
Who loves it, who doesn't
46 profiled raters. Loved most by The Provocateurs; disliked most by The Thrill Chasers.
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“Is this David Lynch's best work?”
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“Is Isabella Rossellini the best thing in Blue Velvet?”
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“Is Blue Velvet emotionally manipulative?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Video reviews
From critics we follow, and from Buds here.
David Lynch's Blue Velvet (1986) | LynchPins Ep 5
Maggie Mae Fish · May 2025
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- CinemaSerfon TMDB · Feb 20256/10
When “Jeffrey” (Kyle MacLachlan) finds a severed ear as he walks through a field, he takes it to the police who advise him to keep schtum! Maybe if he had, he wouldn’t have become embroiled in the nefarious activities of the violent “Frank” (Dennis Hopper) nor his girlfriend “Dorothy” (Isabella Rossellini) with whom he soon becomes infatuated. Together with the cop’s daughter “Sandy” (Laura Dern) they pair try to get to the bottom of the mystery but this is a perilous affair, exposing them to a dark and dangerous societal underbelly, but for him it’s also quite an addictive one too! It’s the oxygen-mask wearing Hopper who steals this for me, mixing a toxic blend of angry, maniacal and erotic engagingly, but I’m afraid the rest of this rather fell a bit flat for me as the story ran out of steam and the sexual tensions became all too repetitively staged and the overacting from Rossellini failed to convince. It addresses issues of sadomasochistic tendencies entertainingly at first, too, but there’s only so many times you can peep through the louvre doors of a wardrobe before even that cinematic prurience becomes dull. Dern has never been my favourite actor, and she adds little here un
Read the whole review on TMDB - John Chardon TMDB · Feb 20208/10
No. I told you. I don't want to hurt you. I want to help you. I think I know some of what is happening to you. Blue Velvet is written and directed by David Lynch. It stars Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern, Hope Lange, George Dickerson and Dean Stockwell. Music is by Angelo Badalamenti and cinematography by Frederick Elmes. The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads Jeffrey Beaumont (MacLachlan) into a vortex of troubled mysteries involving a beautiful nightclub singer and a group of crimninals led by the psychopathic Frank Booth (Hopper). Such is the diversity of David Lynch, you will find many anouncing this to be his last accessible piece of genius, others that it was merely the start of his shift into mainstream majesty. Personally, I just find it a fine movie, easy to follow, even if it's nightmarish at times and brilliantly off kilter at others. From the off we are in no doubt that Lynch is setting out to show what crawls beneath the happy facade of suburban small town Americana. We are pitched into a detective story with a difference, one that is fronted by the naivety of a young man aided from the sidelines by the young girl wh
Read the whole review on TMDB
Cast
- Isabella RosselliniDorothy Vallens
- Kyle MacLachlanJeffrey Beaumont
- Dennis HopperFrank Booth
- Laura DernSandy Williams
- Hope LangeMrs. Williams
- Dean StockwellBen
- George DickersonDetective Williams
- Priscilla PointerMrs. Beaumont
- Frances BayAunt Barbara
- Jack HarveyMr. Beaumont
Crew
- David LynchDirector
- David LynchWriter
- Frederick ElmesDirector of Photography
- Angelo BadalamentiOriginal Music Composer
- Duwayne DunhamEditor
- Fred C. CarusoProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
Europa 199183% alikeBoth grave, bleak.
No Country for Old Men 200780% alikeBoth grave, bleak, meticulous.
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Videodrome 198378% alikeBoth grave, bleak.
Donnie Darko 200177% alikeClose across the board.
Only the River Flows 202375% alikeBoth grave, bleak.
Bones and All 202274% alikeBoth grave.
Backrooms 202673% alikeBoth grave, bleak.
Wormwood 201776% alikeTelevision · Both grave, bleak.
Revolutionary Girl Utena 199775% alikeTelevision · Both grave, meticulous.
Often watched with
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