Well, what can I say about Mr. LYNCH? He has done many "cringe inducing" scenes in his films over the years that sure as hell would have been traumatic for any kid who had seen his works. Hell, most of his traumas were seen by me as an adult! There are many, but several stand out in my mind. There is that "baby" in ERASERHEAD…
There is BLUE VELVET where DENNIS HOPPER whiffs some N2O before sexually assaulting ISABELLA ROSSELLINI. Right after that she goes after the guy she has hidden in a closet, KYLE MacLACHLAN, and she tries to seduce him!
WILD AT HEART has a bunch. There is WILLIAM DAFOE and his bad teeth assaulting a pregnant LAURA DERN and there is even the twisted mother played by (DERN's real life ma) DIANE LADD.
But for me, and many others, it would be his T.V. show and movie TWIN PEAKS that would be the killer. Early in the show LYNCH decided to cast his prop master, (some MST3K fans could call him a prop "diva"-sorry Beez!) FRANK SILVA, as the town evil spirit named BOB who tormented Laura Palmer for part of her life. That character was SCARY! Long gray hair and the evil sadistic grin! Who can forget the scene where Laura's cousin Maddy has the vision of BOB crawling over the couch to attack her…
And later when he did kill her it was, at that time, one of the most disturbing killings ever seen on T.V.!! Of course since BOB was an evil spirit, he had to inhabit someone to do his dirty deeds. In this case it was Laura's daddy Leland (RAY WISE). Now if you thought his Devil in REAPER was scary, you should see RAY as the possessed Leland! Who can forget the scene in the prequel FIRE WALK WTH ME where the possessed Leland berates Laura for her "dirty hands"!
There are of course, many others like the end of MULHOLLAND DRIVE which, B.T.W. ,would jump start the career of an actress who's daddy was once a Pink Floyd roadie. So with that and many others that are too many to list, I submit that DAVID LYNCH be an Official Traumatizer! Oh, did you know that GEORGE LUCAS considered LYNCH for RETURN OF THE JEDI?
UNK SEZ: FatherOfTears, you must have been reading my very Laura Palmer-esque secret diary recently as I have been on a mad DAVID LYNCH kick as of late. I was actually in the process of writing a post concerning one of the episodes of TWIN PEAKS that you mentioned when we received your request to honor LYNCH with the Official Traumatizer title. I'm not sure exactly how many actual traumas LYNCH has dumped on any of us in our youth, but seeing as TWIN PEAKS was on broadcast television, I'm sure there is somebody somewhere who caught it as a child and perhaps now resides in a rubber room. Speaking for myself, as a young adult I caught the episode "Lonely Souls" (the one you mentioned in which Laura's cousin dies at the hands of BOB) from the second season when it originally aired and I have to say, you are correct, it was indeed one of the most, if not THE most, disturbing things I have EVER seen on television. In fact I can't think of anything that has freaked me out quite so much since.
DAVID LYNCH as an Official Traumatizer? You got my blessing!
Note: Mr. LYNCH claims that much of his dark inspiration comes from a nasty and short lived time of his life spent in Philadelphia, the very city in which Kindertrauma Castle stands, we are so proud!
Killer Bob gave me so many nightmares. He was creepier than Freddy and Jason put together. And when Twin Peaks started, Lynch had intended Bob to be invisible. It was only when a technician wandered into the shot that Lynch said "That guy looks creepy. Let's make him BOB".
I still think Fire Walk With Me is one of the most disturbing movies i've ever seen.Â
When they shot the sequence where Sarah has the vision of Laura's half-a-necklace being dug up, Sarah sits up and screams…………..and in that shot Frank Silva was off camera holding lit cigarettes for the actress to use. Problem was that his face appeared in one of the mirrors in back of Sarah! Lynch thought that was great! That helped in bringing Frank in front of the camera to be BOB!Â
BOB is the only horror character that has given me nightmares! This is something that the late 70's TV trailers for "Suspiria" and "Magic" never did……..and I was a pre-teen when those came out! BOB showed up when I was 23! Those scenes were also helped A LOT by Sheryl Lee!  She was VERY convincing as the "damsel in distress"! From what I've heard, Sheryl herself had nightmares involving people attacking her when she filmed those scenes!  If she had done mostly horror films she no doubt would have been a "Scream Queen"!  Hell, she was a Scream Queen in that 1990-92 era!Â
Oh yeah, BOB creeped me way the hell out too. Dunno what it was — maybe the mad grin, or the angry eyes, or that scraggly hair. When I first saw him squatting by the bed, looking up into the camera, it gave me the freaky heebie-jeebies down to my toes. I was really looking foward to not seeing him ever ever ever again, but he just wouldn't listen.
Don't forget Lynch's "Lost Highway," featuring, of course, Robert Blake's incredibly creepy "Mystery Man" character("…Call me."). I'd have to say that "Lost Highway" is probably, for me, the scariest non-horror movie I've seen. Lynch is so effective with just a  slow pan through almost total darkness in the quiet of the house. The story element of the videotapes, each revealing more of the same footage than the last, was just brilliantly disturbing- especially when considering how the final tape ends.
Lynch is my absolute end all, be all inspiration. as an artist and a human being, he's definitely shaped me.
In September of 1995 I went to my first and only Twin Peaks convention in Northbend, Washington (the area where they shot much of Twin Peaks.) Frank Silva was to be a guest at this convention, but he never showed. I didn't find out until I was back from my trip that he had died a day or so before he was scheduled to appear.
BOB was terrifying. I think the scariest character in the 80s. He's a freak!