Bingowings said:
That was largely in the book in first place and filtered through Lynch's own particular taste for the grotesque which was already established on film the year Star Wars came out.
The book didn't have Harkonnen with pustules or have him flying wildly around on his anti-gravity belt -- that seems more like a Lucas-ian absurdity than anything Frank Herbert would dream up.
Oh, and the heart-plugs; mustn't forget the heart-plugs...