On last night’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy, troubled Iraq War vet Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) had a night terror set off by his g.f. Cristina’s ceiling fan swirling round and around. The sight of Owen going nuts — and then rolling over in bed to strangle poor Cristina — immediately gave me flashbacks to Twin Peaks which, IMHO, remains the scariest bit of storytelling ever to hit the television airwaves. You’ll recall that in both David Lynch’s TV series and big-screen prequel, Fire Walk With Me, the ceiling fan was a key storytelling device. The camera would flash to it ominously whenever the killer BOB was around. (Click on the embedded video below…if you dare!) That it lived at the top of the stairs, near Laura Palmer’s bedroom, only added to the creepiness. The way it whirred and whooshed in hypnotic slow motion scared the bejeezus out of me — almost as much as BOB himself. It was the perfect Lynchian treatment: Take an everyday household item and turn it into a terrifying object. The banality of evil, if you will. (Speaking of BOB…! Have worn-and-torn jeans ever looked more nefarious?) For years, I swore I’d never, ever allow any home of mine to have any kind of air-circulation apparatus that operated above my head. I still don’t like the things very much. But at least I’ve made it to the point where the mere sight of them doesn’t stop me dead in my tracks, paralyzed with fear as I wait for the odor of burning oil to wash over me.
Did any of you notice the connection last night? Anyone else out there scarred for life by Twin Peaks, or perhaps other seemingly harmless objects used to horrifying effect in pop culture? Do share!
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still my favorite t.v. show of all time. And yes, still the most terrifying. I dont know how they got away with all that they did- Maddie’s murder is just horrifying! yea BOB still scares the s*** outta me. Love this show- Love that Twin Peaks was posted twice this week… if only this got as much attention as Twilight lol
Thanks, Missy….I’d actually forgotten how creepy BOB was.
Hey, wasn’t the old lady at the beginning the same older lady who died on Grey’s last night?
That IS the same actress who played Aunt Joyce last night!!! I hope that was an intentional reference, and not just a coincidence.
I still have bad dreams about BOB to this day. When I see him on the screen chills run down my spine. For a while I put a picture of him up in my apartment in the hopes that getting use to his image but kill the fear. Nope. But more than that, similar results can be triggered with lost highway, mullholland drive and inland empire. something about david lynch scares me deep in my soul – terrifies me really. nothing else has that effect on me…
No no no! The ceiling fan subbing for chopper blades is from Apocalypse Now.
It is a real shame what happened with Twin Peaks. I wish there was still some way to revive it. Fire Walk With Me is one of the most under-rated movies ever. It’s even better than the TV show in my opinion. I hope that one day it will get a feature-packed DVD release. But unfortunately, Lynch doesn’t seem to be interested.
Not Twin Peaks, but Apocalypse Now. The reference was so obvious it was almost annoying – soldier with post-traumatic stress equates ceiling fans with helicopters – I half expected to hear the MOOG-synthesized chopper blades in the background.
I loved this show for so long that I can’t see straight. I get up in the middle of the night, walk to the fridge, ease the seat back. She’s runnin’ right behind the wheel no stoppin’ now…
Heineken? F+@k that s*^t! Pabst Blue Ribbon!
It is so great to hear that Twin Peaks is still in public consciousness, nearly 20 years after it originally aired. And I still think that it is the most original, imaginative, horrifying (yes, I’m scarred for life by it) and brilliant piece of television history! And Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is even more effective – just look at that clip and see how Lynch builds an incredible atmosphere of dread and terror with so little. Long live TP!!
Ceiling fans were also used in Angel Heart, that movie where Mickey Rourke was a P.I. searching for himself, contracted by the Devil. When they would flash to something awful they’d show the ceiling fan, roosters, etc. That movie scared the cr@p outta me.
Chairs, from poltergeist. When the mom wondered why they were all pushed away from the table, pushed them back under the table and then looked again and they were balanced on the table. Jumped every time I saw that through dozens of viewings of that movie as a kid.
Actually when Owen and McDreamy were on the roof waiting for the helicopter, I had ER flashbacks. I was hoping no one would loose an arm or something….
I just love this show and hope it continues for years to come. It makes up for losing ER. I really hope Derek & Meredith get married and stay together, have kids, etc
Great! Just when I had safely blocked the scary ceiling fan from Twin Peaks from my memory, someone brings it up again! I didn’t make the connection last night but yep, it’s there now! Especially ironic that the old aunt is yet another Twin Peaks connection. LOVED “Fire Walk With Me” & read Laura Palmer’s diary but somehow missed the entire tv series. Planned to watch it but after watching the movie, I had enough material for nightmares to last a lifetime. Maybe one day I’ll buy the entire series on dvd (is that even out yet?)…
lebeau laments the absence of a DVD version with the usual extras. Actually, I have one sitting here on my desk.
Even more important, it also contains the original pilot, something that was very difficult to pull off due to legal problems involving the dvd movie version.
Previously, in order to view the pilot, you either had to have a copy recorded off TV, or watch all but the last 15-20 minutes of the DVD movie, “Twin Peaks”,which was the pilot with an ending tacked on that resolved the question “Who killed Laura Palmer”. Why this happened is a story too long to put in here, but you should be able to find out at the Twin Peaks Archive, http://www.twinpeaksarchive.blogspot.com/
Long live Twin Peaks!
i still have nightmares of bob lurking buy the foot of my bed. i guess that’s what happens when you watch that show when your only 9 years-old!