Altered States (1980)

Director:

Ken Russell

Writers:

Paddy Chayefsky (novel)
Paddy Chayefsky

Release Date:

25 December 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

When he heard his cry for help it wasn't human

Plot:

A Harvard scientist conducts experiments on himself with a hallucinatory drug and an isolation chamber that may be causing him to regress genetically.

Plot Keywords:

Drug | Scientist | Sensory Deprivation | Isolation Tank | Screenwriter Credited Under Pseudonym

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

William Hurt	...	Eddie Jessup
Blair Brown	...	Emily Jessup
Bob Balaban	...	Arthur Rosenberg
Charles Haid	...	Mason Parrish
Thaao Penghlis	...	Echeverria
Miguel Godreau	...	Primal Man
Dori Brenner	...	Sylvia Rosenberg
Peter Brandon	...	Hobart
Charles White-Eagle	...	The Brujo
Drew Barrymore	...	Margaret Jessup
Megan Jeffers	...	Grace Jessup
Jack Murdock	...	Hector Orteco
Francis X. McCarthy	...	Obispo (as Frank McCarthy)
Deborah Baltzell	...	Schizophrenic Patient
Evan Richards	...	Young Rosenberg
Hap Lawrence	...	Endocrinology Fellow
John Walter Davis	...	Medical Technician
Cynthia Burr	...	Parrish's Girl
Susan Bredhoff	...	Echeverria's Girl
John Larroquette	...	X-Ray Technician
George Gaynes	...	Dr. Wissenschaft
Ora Rubinstein	...	Young Medical Student
Paul Larsson	...	Charlie Thomas
Eric Forst	...	Mingus
Adriana Shaw	...	Dr. Antonini
Martin Fiscoe	...	Graduate Student
Olivia Michelle	...	Veronica

Directed by
Ken Russell

Writing credits
Paddy Chayefsky		(novel)
Paddy Chayefsky		(as Sidney Aaron)

Produced by
Stuart Baird	....	associate producer
Howard Gottfried	....	producer
Daniel Melnick	....	executive producer

Original Music by
John Corigliano

Cinematography by
Jordan Cronenweth

Film Editing by
Eric Jenkins

Casting by
Howard Feuer
Jeremy Ritzer

Production Design by
Richard Macdonald		(as Richard McDonald)

Set Decoration by
Thomas L. Roysden		(as Thomas Roysden)

Costume Design by
Ruth Myers

Makeup Department
Carl Fullerton	....	special makeup assistant
Michael Hancock	....	makeup artist
Craig Reardon	....	special makeup assistant
Dick Smith	....	special makeup
Dione Taylor	....	hair stylist (as Dione Taylor-Demsky)

Production Management
David Silver	....	unit production manager (as Dave Silver)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gary Daigler	....	assistant director
Peter Schindler	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Gary Clark	....	head paint foreman
Stan Cockerell	....	assistant props
Sidney H. Greenwood	....	property master (as Syd Greenwood)
Jeff Howard	....	assistant art director
Joseph Hurley	....	illustrator (as Joe Hurley)
Bill Iiams	....	general foreman
Roger Irvin	....	construction coordinator
Ronald C. Jacobs	....	lead man (as Ron Jacobs)
Stephane Goulet	....	property supervisor (uncredited)
Richard M. Kristy	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Willie D. Burton	....	sound mixer (as Willie Burton)
Michael Colgan	....	supervising sound editor
Laurey Condon	....	assistant sound editor
Les Fresholtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Don Higgins	....	sound editor
Jerry Jacobson	....	adr editor
Stephen Katz	....	sound consultant
Marvin E. Lewis	....	boom operator (as Marvin Lewis)
Michael Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer
Arthur Piantadosi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Fred Stafford	....	sound editor
Colin Waddy	....	sound editor
Jay Wertz	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
David Domeyer	....	special effects
Larry L. Fuentes	....	assistant special effects (as Larry Fuentes)
Chuck Gaspar	....	special effects
James Kagel	....	sculptor
Jeffrey A. Wischnack	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Robert Blalack	....	special optical effects (as Robbie Blalack)
Bran Ferren	....	special visual effects
Louis Schwartzberg	....	time lapse photography (as Lou Schwartzberg)
Jamie Shourt	....	special optical effects
Max W. Anderson	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
M. James Arnett	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Garrett Brown	....	Steadicam operator
James Glennon	....	camera operator
Adam Glick	....	set lighting technician
Barbara Hanania	....	additional assistant camera: Boston
Gary Holt	....	gaffer
Johnny E. Jensen	....	first assistant camera (as John Jensen)
Carey Jones	....	second assistant camera
Sal Martorano	....	electrician
Morgan Renard	....	still photographer
Bob Rose	....	key grip (as Bobby Rose)

Casting Department
Stephen Kolzak	....	additional casting (as Steve Kolzak)
Joel Thurm	....	additional casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Darryl M. Athons	....	costumer: men (as Darryl Athons)
Shanan Harrell	....	costumer: women

Editorial Department
Cari Coughlin	....	apprentice editor
Arthur W. Forney	....	assistant editor
Paul Hamill	....	post-production assistant: Cinema Research Corp.
Thomas Penick	....	assistant editor

Music Department
John David Earnest	....	orchestrator
Donald Harris	....	music editor (as Don Harris)
Pierre Henry	....	music excerpt: Voile d'Orphee
Christopher Keene	....	conductor
Charles Morrow	....	composer: additional music
Sheldon Shkolnik	....	assistant to composer
John David Earnest	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Brian L. McCarty	....	music playback (uncredited)
Dan Wallin	....	scoring mixer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Gina August	....	driver
John M. Woodward	....	transportation coordinator (as John Woodward)

Other crew
Scott Bartlett	....	technical advisor
Richard Clark	....	technical advisor
Carline Davis-Dyer	....	script supervisor (as Cariline Davis-Dyer)
Jimsie Eason	....	production associate
Richard Greenberg	....	title designer
Christina Lear	....	assistant to producer
Paul Pav	....	location manager
Vivian Russell	....	assistant: Mr. Russell (as Vivian Jolly)
David Sadava	....	scientific advisor
Alan Shapiro	....	production intern
Lee Stitch	....	production secretary
Susan Tarr	....	research assistant
John Cunningham Lilly	....	scientific researcher (uncredited)
Bill Iiams	....	general foreman (uncredited)
Craig Miller	....	marketing consultant (uncredited)
Philip Sharpe	....	effects technician (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1980) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Films (1981) (Finland) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1983) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Argentina Video Home (198?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Home Box Office (HBO) (1981) (USA) (TV)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1990) (Finland) (TV) (as MTV2)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Motion Pictures (MPI) (uncredited)

Other Companies

• Cinema Research  optical effects (as Cinema Research Corporation)
• Laser Media  special laser effects
• Optical House, The  optical effects
• Oxford Scientific Films  macro photography
• R/Greenberg Associates  title credits produced and designed by
• VA Medical Center, Sepulveda, California  medical facilities

Also Known As:

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | 70 mm 6-Track (MegaSound encoding)

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Italy:VM14 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 (uncut) (2006) | Argentina:18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/18 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1981) | France:-12 | Norway:18 (1982) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

168th St. Broadway, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [Ken Russell] [snake]the dream sequence

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When the Brujo tells Eccheverria that he'll allow Eddie to participate in the ceremony he walks off. Although in only a matter of seconds he's far enough away that they have to run quite a distance to catch up to him to ask him some further questions, this is consistent with other literary and screen depictions of shamans having "spooky" abilities, sure-footedness and being surprisingly limber for their age. Rather than an error in continuity, this seems to be a dramatic device.

Quotes:

[First line]
Arthur Rosenberg:The tank itself was unusual in that it was vertical, and looked like an old boiler.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "South Park: Tsst (#10.7)" (2006)

Altered States (1980): **** (out of four) Classic Sci-Fi

After the failure of 'Valentino' (1977), 'Altered States' was the film that put Ken Russell back in the spotlight as one the world's greatest directors. Russell claimed that the film had been passed on by 26 different directors (including Kubrick and Spielberg) before the author, Paddy Chayefsky, asked him to direct. This is possibly his best film. Not only is the movie remarkably coherent considering the bizarre story, but it also gives Russell a chance to go crazy with hallucinations and mind blowing special-effects. William Hurt stars, in his film debut, as Eddie Jessup, a scientist hell bent on finding the essence of human existence. And the way he achieves it is to, of course, take hallucinogenic drugs; and a lot of them. The film is filled with religious symbolism and psychedelic imagery. At one point we are even asked to believe in the power of mind over body (much like 'The Matrix'), when Jessup regresses into a neanderthal and goes on a rampage. This all takes place against the sub-plot involving the relationship between Jessup and his wife. The climax is probably the only sequence in all of cinema that legitimately recalls the end of Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968). Though the ending is a bit dated (Roman Polanski's ending for 'Frantic'(1988) is quite similar), it actually works because it builds on the theme of Jessup's search for the meaning of life.

The movie does have a bit of a history to it, besides the number of directors who turned it down. During production Chayefsky tried to take control away from Russell who would not submit. The producer eventually sided with Russell. Chayefsky washed his hands from the project and had his real name, Sydney Aaron, credited as the screenwriter. (Chayefsky died a year later; many questioned his mental health.) Regardless, the end result is glorious. The film achieved a fair share of success; Time magazine named it the best film of 1980 and it did well at the box-office (for Russell at least). The movie definitely has more of a following now. And all this is much deserved. William Hurt gives one of the best debut performances I have ever seen. And Ken Russell is at his best. Certainly a science-fiction classic.