David Lynch projects ranked: From Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks to Eraserhead and Dune

Ranking his work therefore seems like an almost futile task, but to honour the incredible legacy he leaves behind we've attempted to do just that – read on for our full ranking of David Lynch's work.

David Lynch movies and TV shows ranked

13. Dune (1984)

Decades before Denis Villeneuve crafted his critically acclaimed stab at Frank Herbert's iconic sci-fi tome, Lynch was hired to provide his own take on the material – a match that he himself later confessed was not the right one for him. Although it's the worst of his films by a clear margin, it still has its moments – while the production design is fab and it notably marked the first collaboration between Lynch and future Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan.

Read our full Dune review

12. Twin Peaks season 2 (1990-1991)

It's slightly erroneous to include season 2 in a list of Lynch projects, as the filmmaker was actually absent for much of the run – in part owing to the studio's insistence that the mystery of Laura Palmer's murder be wrapped up just a few episodes into the season. The episodes that Lynch did work on – including the unforgettable finale – are a clear cut above, but the season as a whole is undoubtedly weaker than the opening run.

11. Inland Empire (2006)

The last feature to be completed in Lynch's life, Inland Empire is the filmmaker at perhaps his most unrestrained and experimental – and for that reason it's one that will feature near the top of many lists. But while there are incredible highs, not least an unbelievable central performance from Laura Dern, this film doesn't come together quite as well as those higher up on the list. Still, it's very possible a further watch could elevate it several places, and its placement this low is more a compliment to his other films that a knock on this one.

Read our full Inland Empire review

10. Lost Highway (1997)

The first of three LA films Lynch made between 1997 and 2006, Lost Highway is a nightmarish noir that includes many of the tropes that Lynch would go on to perfect in Mulholland Drive. Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette are superb, and though like much of his work the plot can initially seem indecipherable, there is a hypnotic, extremely creepy quality to the way the narrative unfolds with dream logic.

Read our full Lost Highway review

9. The Straight Story (1999)

Although it's his surreal works with which Lynch will forever be most closely associated, he proved with The Straight Story that he could tackle conventional drama with just as much oomph. This highly emotional tale stars Richard Farnsworth as 73-year-old widower Alvin Straight, who traverses across the country on a lawnmower to visit his dying brother. It's a gentle film packed with emotion, and there's still plenty of Lynchian style to be enjoyed along the way.

Read our full The Straight Story review

8. Wild at Heart (1990)

Made after he had departed season 2 of Twin Peaks, this is the film that won Lynch the coveted Palme D'Or. It's enjoyably over-the-top and at times even camp – in part thanks to Nicolas Cage's superb central performance – while it nods heavily to Elvis Presley, The Wizard of Oz and all sorts of the pulp influences that informed much of Lynch's work. But as ever there is a real undercurrent of darkness running through the film, with violence never far away.

Read our full Wild at Heart review

7. The Elephant Man (1980)

After winning huge cult appeal for his debut Eraserhead, this is the film that really put Lynch on the map – and won him the most plaudits when it came to mainstream awards success. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick – renamed John in the film – it's by no means a conventional biopic, instead serving as a classic Lynchian tale of an empathetic outsider trying to make sense of the cruel world around him. John Hurt's central performance is one for the ages.

Read our full The Elephant Man review

6. Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)

Few knew exactly what to expect when it was announced Lynch was set to revive Twin Peaks with a third season 25 years after the original, but no one could have foreseen a work quite as radical as this – more or less completely unbothered by nostalgia and fan service. Revered by film critics – who placed it at the top of many Best Of 2017 lists despite it being an 18-episode series – it's a chilling, sometimes confounding, but always mesmerising final artistic statement from Lynch.

5. Eraserhead (1977)

Lynch's very first film serves as an incredible mission statement for the career that was to follow: a dark, twisted odyssey complete with all sorts of surreal images from nightmarish babies to singing ladies emerging from radiators. The arresting black and white imagery and impeccable sound design are just two of the factors that marked Lynch out as a true artistic visionary, creating a world that was quite unlike anything that had been seen before.

Read our full Eraserhead review

4. Twin Peaks season 1 (1990)

Perhaps the project that lifted Lynch most into the mainstream, this TV collaboration with Mark Frost remains one of the very finest small screen projects ever made – and its popularity is all the more remarkable given how much of it still feels like pure, unfiltered Lynch. A haunting murder mystery that also served as an offbeat exploration of small-town Americana, it introduced a huge array of memorable characters – from Dale Cooper to Audrey Horne.

3. Blue Velvet (1986)

After Dune became a critical and commercial failure, Lynch bounced back in incredible fashion with this mesmerising tale of voyeurism and the dark side of suburban life. Although more obviously narratively coherent than some of his later work, it includes some of his most arresting dreamlike imagery and several of his most brilliant characters – including Isabella Rossellini's nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens and Dennis Hopper's truly terrifying villain Frank Booth,

Read our full Blue Velvet review

2. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)

It's hard to believe it, but Fire Walk with Me was critically derided upon its release – perhaps because it completely dispensed with the warmth and kookiness of the original series. But this undoubtedly stands as one of Lynch's very finest works, a terrifying, heart-wrenching account of Laura Palmer's life in the days before her murder, told with real empathy and brought to life by one of the greatest ever film performances by Sheryl Lee.

Read our full Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me review

1. Mulholland Drive (2001)

Although several of the films listed above could stake a claim to be Lynch's most definitive work, it's hard to look past this 2001 effort as his real magnum opus. Unfolding with the dream logic used in so many of his films, it tells the story of an aspiring actress (played superbly by Naomi Watts) who arrives in LA and encounters a young amnesiac (Laura Harring) who recently survived a car crash. Things soon descend into an increasingly surreal fantasia that includes doppelgängers, bizarre nightclub singers and terrifying monsters hiding behind diners, among much more. Mulholland Drive is a true masterpiece that sums up everything Lynch perfected throughout his career.

Read our full Mulholland Drive review

Check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or visit our Film hub for all the latest news. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.