Blue Velvet (1986)
90%RT Audience Score: 88%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
18 wins & 18 nominations total
If audiences walk away from this subversive, surreal shocker not fully understanding the story, they might also walk away with a deeper perception of the potential of film storytelling.
Love it or hate it, Blue Velvet is a film that will leave you feeling like you just went on a wild ride through the twisted mind of David Lynch. With its charged erotic atmosphere, dark bruising sexuality, and unforgettable performances, this movie is not for the faint of heart. But if you’re up for a surreal perspective on the world and a unique angle on America, then buckle up and get ready for a trip you won’t soon forget. Just don’t blame us if you have nightmares about Dennis Hopper’s Frank Booth crooning “In Dreams” for weeks to come.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures, Warner Home Vídeo, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Carolina Apartments, Market Street, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong disturbing violent and sexual content, some graphic nudity, and pervasive language
Year of Release
1986
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 0m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 19, 1986 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 6, 2001
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange, Dean Stockwell, directed by David Lynch, written by David Lynch, produced by Fred C Caruso, drama, R rating, box office gross $8.6M, reviewed by Derek Malcolm, David Jenkins, Peter Bradshaw, Melissa Anderson, Pauline Kael, Sheila Benson, David Reddish, Brian Eggert, Sean Burns, Tom Meek, Mike Massie, Octavi Marti, Kyle MacLachlan as Jeffrey Beaumont, Isabella Rossellini as Dorothy Valens, Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth, Laura Dern as Sandy Williams, Fred C Caruso as producer, David Lynch as writer and director, Dolby sound mix, Paramount Pictures, Warner Home Vídeo, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc as distributors, severed ear, mystery, detective’s daughter, lounge singer, sexually depraved psychopath, surreal, subversive, film storytelling, psychosexual symbolism, film noir, linear approach, satire, psychosexual motivations, dreams, nightmares, Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams”, neo-noir style, classic mystery ideas, dark, creative, intriguing, top horror movies, RT Podcasts, most anticipated movies, best Netflix series, renewed & cancelled TV shows 2022
Worldwide gross: $8,618,766
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $23,879,914
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,646
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,604,135
US/Canada gross: $8,551,228
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $23,692,787
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,354
US/Canada opening weekend: $789,409
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $2,187,206
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,195
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $6,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $16,624,129
Production budget ranking: 1,467
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $8,952,094
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$1,696,310
ROI to date (est.): -7%
ROI ranking: 1,430
– Kyle MacLachlan as Jeffrey Beaumont
– Isabella Rossellini as Dorothy Valens
– Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth
– Laura Dern as Sandy Williams
– Hope Lange as Mrs. Williams
– Dean Stockwell as Ben
– Fred C. Caruso – Producer
– David Lynch – Director/Writer
Director(s)
David Lynch
Writer(s)
David Lynch
Producer(s)
Fred C. Caruso
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
18 wins & 18 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (80) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (76) | Rotten (4)
Love it or hate it, see it you must.
April 9, 2020
Derek Malcolm
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
Every viewing yields new insights. A berserko modern classic.
December 2, 2016 | Rating: 5/5
David Jenkins
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
The film releases a toxic narcosis of fear.
December 1, 2016 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
Three decades after its initial release, David Lynch’s Blue Velvet has lost none of its power to derange, terrify, and exhilarate.
March 22, 2016
Melissa Anderson
Village Voice
TOP CRITIC
The charged erotic atmosphere makes the film something of a hallucination, but Lynch’s humor keeps breaking through, too.
March 15, 2015
Pauline Kael
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
Shocking, visionary, rapturously controlled, its images of innocence and a dark, bruising sexuality drop straight into our unconscious where they rest like depth charges.
November 14, 2014
Sheila Benson
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Rossellini gives one of the bravest, most uninhibited performances weve ever seen. Movies dont get more stylish or twisted than Blue Velvet. Love it, hate it, laugh or scream: all reactions are totally valid.
March 20, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
David Reddish
Queerty
To watch Blue Velvet is not to see only the dreadful, ugly parts of America; it’s about seeing the world itself from a unique angle, which is to say, from the surreal perspective of David Lynch.
February 23, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Thirty-five years later it’s still almost impossible to sit through and even more difficult to look away from.
January 14, 2022
Sean Burns
Crooked Marquee
My favorite Stockwell turn, and I think everyone’s favorite, was as a foppish nightclub singer crooning Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams” in David Lynch’s edgy, atmospheric signature work…
November 19, 2021
Tom Meek
Cambridge Day
While many of Lynch’s films are bizarre just for the sake of being bizarre, this one appears purposeful as an excavation of disconcerting characters in threatening situations.
August 31, 2020 | Rating: 9/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Blue Velvet is a nightmare, or better yet, a reverie on the dark side of desire. [Full Review in Spanish]
March 10, 2020
Octavi Marti
El Pais (Spain)…
Plot
College student Jeffrey Beaumont returns to his idyllic hometown of Lumberton to manage his father’s hardware store while his father is hospitalized. Walking though a grassy meadow near the family home, Jeffrey finds a severed human ear. After an initial investigation, lead police Detective John Williams advises Jeffrey not to speak to anyone about the case as they investigate further. Detective Williams also tells Jeffrey that he cannot divulge any information about what the police know. Detective Williams’ high school aged daughter, Sandy Williams, tells Jeffrey what she knows about the case from overhearing her father’s private conversations on the matter: that it has to do with a nightclub singer named Dorothy Vallens, who lives in an older apartment building near the Beaumont home. His curiosity getting the better of him, Jeffrey, with Sandy’s help, decides to find out more about the woman at the center of the case by breaking into Dorothy’s apartment while he knows she’s at work. What Jeffrey finds is a world unfamiliar to him, one that he doesn’t truly understand but one that he is unable to deny the lure of despite the inherent dangers of being associated with a possible murder. Still, he is torn between this world and the prospect of a relationship with Sandy, the two who are falling for each other, despite Sandy already being in a relationship with Mike, the school’s star football player.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Dennis Hopper’s performance as Frank Booth is “an Oscar-worthy performance” according to Fresh Kernels.
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