The Elephant Man

"Director David Lynch has created an eerily compelling atmosphere in recounting a hideously deformed man's perilous life in Victorian England."

"The playing is finely judged, the black-and-white cinematography is effective and the whole thing manages to be truly moving in a way that overcomes all the "I am not an animal!" schmaltz."

"A marvellous movie, shot in stunning black-and-white by Freddie Francis."

"What we eventually see underneath this shell is not 'the study in dignity' that Ashley Montagu wrote about, but something far more poignant, a study in genteelness that somehow suppressed all rage."

"I kept asking myself what the film was really trying to say about the human condition as reflected by John Merrick, and I kept drawing blanks."

"A very rich film, confident enough in its emotional core to get away with broadstrokes like the villainous performances of Freddie Jones and Michael Elphick as rotten exploiters."