Old Man Chimes

My experience with Twin Peaks may be as unconventional as the series itself, it’s a series I grew up with, it changed the way I view narratives, characters and general expectations within a serial format. I first got a taste of the series when I was 15 years old, buying the series 1 box set in a then closing down Virgin Megastore. I’m a huge fan of David Lynch, I watched Eraserhead when I was around 13 and I always say it completely changed my life, driving me towards making film in any form I can and opening up my world to that of the surreal and strange.

With this in mind, and having seen maybe three of four of Lynch’s films at the time, I jumped at the chance to see what he was capable of in the world of television, and I was not disappointed. I have a strong memory of lying in bed on a school night and watching the pilot episode of Twin Peaks. Little did I know that it was an hour and a half long. I was tired but engaged, and the mystery and characters grabbed me instantly. I watched the whole first series quickly, maybe two or three episodes a night, and was hit with the many many cliff-hangers as the series drew to a close. I hurried to find the second series, but living in the UK there was no release for it.

I waited for nearly a whole year to see what happened; this was in a time before internet downloads and streaming so I was trapped with the mystery. I must have re-watched that first series around three times within that year, with only one other friend to talk to about it. Luckily for me though, when I was 16, my parents said we were going to Disney Land in Florida and while there I was able to pick up a copy of the second series at the Virgin Megastore (again) in Downtown Disney. I sat with it in my suitcase for a little under two weeks and finally when I got back to England I could carry on.

But when I got back I had no way of watching it, Region 1 and all that. So I frantically tried to find a multi-region DVD player. Finally I got one and I was back in the town of Twin Peaks again, and it was everything I wanted and more. Watching the last episode was a complete trip and ranked as one of the greatest pieces of television I had ever seen. But again I was left with cliff-hangers.

The film, the film must have the answers I’m looking for… Again the wait was on, I was desperate to know more and as soon as I could I bought Fire Walk With Me. And it answered pretty much nothing. It was another trip to that world again though, all be it darker and with a more serious tone. It ranks up there as one of my favourite David Lynch movies, but things still needed answering.

The two seasons and the movie ended up being some of the greatest pieces of media I have ever witnessed. Finding people who felt the same was difficult and I was met with a lot of “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of that, it’s supposed to be proper weird isn’t it”. I must have re-watched the whole thing around eight times over the next nine years, recommending it where I could. At some point I re-bought the whole thing again in the form of the gold box set, and then was gifted the BluRay set upon its release where I got to watch The Missing Pieces, a must watch for fans.

Twin Peaks became a staple, a go to for relaxation and inspiration for me. I got my hands on the soundtrack and even went to watch the band Xiu Xiu perform their version of the soundtrack live in Leeds. In 2014 I read that Lynch was thinking about rebooting it, which was then confirmed in 2015, shot in 2016 and began airing in 2017. It was surreal, all of a sudden people are talking about it, I met people who are watching it and I felt that I could finally have a long needed chat, after waiting 10 years! It was such a bizarre experience, a thing that I had grown up with, and that I had had such an ordeal obtaining can now be watched in its entirety on Sky. Finally I felt people got it.

Last night I watched the first three episodes of the new series, the first two being condensed into a two hour long movie. Stripped away is the lighthearted comedic elements and instead we are plunged in at the deep end, with long surreal scenes and a dark and moody feel. So far there are few characters we recognise and instead we get a lot of new faces, seriously existing in cold, dark environments. Gone are the familiar music queues and upbeat character interactions and heightened are the feelings of confusion and dread. It feels like someone spilled Eraserhead all over Twin Peaks and you know what, I can get behind that. These characters have been left for 25 years with no closure, and you can feel they’ve lived it. Poor Cooper has been trapped in that disjointed hell of the black lodge for the same amount of time I’ve been alive, that has got to take its toll. I am extremely happy with the way the series is heading and I can’t wait to see what will happen, but I am sure it will be both strange and wonderful.

Some character drawings I’ve done, how’s that then?

New short and surreal animation

Here’s an animation I made, I like it, do you like it?

Some artwork I’ve done recently.

Just can’t stop drawing today

Here is a new animation to pass the time until I release Bleak Times

It’s called EGG

My new animation Bleak Times will be coming soon

In tune with the spooky season, be sure to check out my reviews on The Dead of Night Collection DVD’s, tons of horror and exploitation films and you may even find some recommendations in there.

I’ve started a new project checking out a terrible DVD release company.