Joltingly original, lurid, and fascinating, David Lynch's Blue Velvet is probably the strangest coming-of-age tale in American cinema. Kyle MacLachlan is Jeffrey Beaumont, a college student who returns to his hometown of Lumberton, North Carolina, after his father suffers a stroke. When he finds a severed ear in a field, he begins investigating how and why it got there, with the help of fellow naif Sandy (Laura Dern). They stumble into the world of nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini), who is being emotionally, physically, and sexually abused by Frank Booth (played to psychotic perfection by Dennis Hopper). Lynch, who also carefully crafted the script, plunges Jeffrey into the dark, surreal depths beneath this stereotypically innocent small town, forcing him to encounter a shockingly perverse side of his own personality. The jarring juxtaposition of blandly charming Americana and jaw-dropping depravity leaves first-time viewers spellbound and made the film an instant cult classic. You'll never listen to Bobby Vinton's title song, "Blue Velvet," or see an oxygen mask, the same way again.