‘In a town like Twin Peaks, no one is innocent.’ – David Lynch
Like a daytime soap opera penned by H.P. Lovecraft, Twin Peaks grabbed the public’s imagination. With the brutal murder of 17-year-old homecoming queen Laura Palmer as its catalyst, Twin Peaks exposed the dark, sleazy underworld of small-town life and tore the image of the American dream to shreds.
But did you know that Laura Palmer’s murder was based by a true story?
While Special Agent Dale Cooper enjoyed his slice of Cherry Pie, the world consumed a slice of dystopian Americana, as each week they unravelled Laura Palmer’s secret life.
On this week’s episode we look at the ‘horror behind the horror’ of Twin Peaks: The murder of Hazel Drew, whose double life baffled investigators and journalists, inspired Mark Frost and David Lynch to write Twin Peaks and is still the subject of debate – and several documentaries - today.
We also explore the occult mythology that inspired Twin Peaks and give you a few behind the scenes facts about the filming of the iconic series.
ALSO check this out: How Nightmare on Elm Street might have influenced Twin Peaks
Learn from the best:
Read – The Secret Diary of Laura Palmerby Jennifer Lynch
Read – Twin Peaks: The Final Dossierby Mark Frost
Read – The Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost
Watch – Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces. A collection of unused footage from ‘Fire Walk with Me’ woven into a feature film.
Obscure film club
The Double life of Veronique - Irène Jacobs plays doppelgängers Véronique and Weronika, two 24-year-old women from Poland and France who share a common passion for music and, despite not being aware of each other’s existence, feel a strange, unexplainable connection.
Inland Empire – Starring Laura Dern and Jeremy Irons. As an actress begins to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world becomes nightmarish and surreal. Directed by David Lynch.
Donnie Darko - Donnie Darko (played by a young Jake Gyllenhaal), a teenager who has problems with sleepwalking, starts to see a creepy rabbit-like creature who calls itself “Frank.” After this mysterious encounter, a lot of strange things begin to happen in Donnie’s life.
The Hidden – Kyle MacLachlan plays FBI Special Agent Lloyd Gallagher, whose mission is to capture a strange alien creature which inhabits the bodies of its victims and causes havoc in the city.
