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Title: Altered States (1980)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| William Hurt | ... | Eddie Jessup | |
| Blair Brown | ... | Emily Jessup | |
| Bob Balaban | ... | Arthur Rosenberg | |
| Charles Haid | ... | Mason Parrish | |
| Thaao Penghlis | ... | Eccheverria | |
 |
Miguel Godreau | ... | Primal Man |
|
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Dori Brenner | ... | Sylvia Rosenberg |
|
|
Peter Brandon | ... | Hobart |
| Charles White-Eagle | ... | The Brujo | |
| Drew Barrymore | ... | Margaret Jessup | |
|
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Megan Jeffers | ... | Grace Jessup |
| Jack Murdock | ... | Hector Orteco | |
| Francis X. McCarthy | ... | Obispo (as Frank McCarthy) | |
|
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Deborah Baltzell | ... | Schizophrenic Patient |
| Evan Richards | ... | Young Rosenberg | |
It's the late 1960's. Just for a lark, graduate student Eddie Jessup, known for being unconventional, brilliant and slightly mad, conducts experiments with an isolation chamber, using himself as the subject. His experiences in the chamber cause him to hallucinate, much of the imagery being religious-based despite his not being a religious man. Seven years later, he is a respected full professor in the Harvard Medical School. Believing he has lost his edge and has fallen into an unwanted state of respectability, Eddie decides to resume his work with sensory deprivation, this time using hallucinogens, specifically untested ones used in mystical Mexican rituals, to enhance the experience of being in the isolation tank. After initial tests, he claims he entered an alternate physical and mental state. Although unbelieving of Eddie's claims, his colleagues Arthur Rosenberg and Mason Parrish, as well as Eddie's wife, Emily, who is in her own right a respected academic, are concerned for ... Written by Huggo
During a series of sensory-deprivation experiments, a professor devolves into a prehistoric form of life. This bizarre yet intriguing sci-fi offering comes from Ken Russell, a genre filmmaker who's made a handful of weak films, including The Lair of the White Worm (1988) and Gothic (1986). The script comes from Paddy Chayefsky, who also wrote the book upon which the film is based. Though Chayefsky disowned the film and Russell's direction, it remains among the best films in both they're careers. The best thing about the film is easily the script, which is intelligent and thought-provoking. Russell's direction is quite good as well; the editing on this film is truly top-notch. The actors gave great performances, especially a very young-looking William Hurt as the lead. In my opinion, Blair Brown's performance was at times a little uneven, but that never hurt the movie. The make-up effects, from Dick Smith, were terrific. The imageryincluding visions of hell, a seven-eyed goat-man (how cool is that?), hideously mutated human bodies and a truly trippy vision of the creation of lifeare startling. There's some decent gore too, included a nasty gutted lizard (which looks suspiciously realistic if you ask me ) and other goodies I won't spoil for you. Also worth mentioning is a great score from John Corigliano, which is unsettling and very suspenseful.
This film is NOT for everyonesome viewers might be lost by the scientific aspects of the film and the hallucinogenic scenes. If you like everything explained to you and you're afraid of a little ambiguity, this isn't for you. If you want a different, intelligent sci-fi film see this.
7/10.
Just one complaint thoughI'm no scientist, but wouldn't it be impossible for a human being to survive the physical and metabolic changes of a transformation like the one seen in the film? (I know, I know, it's just a movie ).