I was musing this yesterday and commented somewhere about it.
When Sarah Palmer was having her episode in the store, the tension was palpable. In this scene she left the store muttering, but at any moment, something will happen to yank the rug from under me, leaving me in the woods, alone, at night, disturbed. (I'm a sensitive soul, but striving to embrace wholeness, whatever that entails within me)
An almost perfect example is the Winkies scene in Mulholland Drive and the tension created there from two guys having a meal. I love that scene, btw, the over the shoulder camera and reverse shot work is brilliant.
The build up with Sarah was similar to this and although it didn't happen this time, I think it's fair to assume one of these seemingly innocuous scenes will do a real number on us, and that for me is the magic of this show, and always has been.
At any given moment, no knock, no doorbell...
OMG. I couldn't agree more. The Winkies' scene in Mulholland Drive and The Visit by Grace Zibriskie in Inland Empire are each echoed by the Sarah Palmer beef jerky scene, IMO. Chilling!
The Grace Z scene in Inland Empire is something, but there is another scene, (at least one :-)) in IE that had me freaked out. It starts off with Laura Dern walking towards the camera up along a windy path...
OH, hell yes!!!! I almost forgot about this... It's after she's been brutalized by the Polish guy. And it might take the cake as the scariest moment in all of Lynch by dint of the sheer surprise and abrupt shriek(?) of the sound editing/musical cue. plus the way the DV creates a bit of a fish-eye effect, so the image is particularly grotesque and soooo terrifying when her face fills the screen. Gives me the willies!
Fire walk with