A psycho-physiologist experiments with drugs and a sensory-deprivation tank and has visions he believes are genetic memories.A psycho-physiologist experiments with drugs and a sensory-deprivation tank and has visions he believes are genetic memories.A psycho-physiologist experiments with drugs and a sensory-deprivation tank and has visions he believes are genetic memories.
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
36K
YOUR RATING
- Paddy Chayefsky(written for the screen by)
- Stars
- Paddy Chayefsky(written for the screen by)
- Stars
Francis X. McCarthy
- Obispo
- (as Frank McCarthy)
- Paddy Chayefsky(written for the screen by) (novel)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWilliam Hurt says that he knew just a little about director Ken Russell prior working with him, and just because he had seen his movies. About his first meeting with Russell, Hurt said in an interview, "We were in this little room and there was this radiator and a little desk and a chair and we didn't sit for a half an hour, neither one of us. Finally he sat on a radiator and I sat on the floor. When he sat on the radiator his pants pulled up and I saw he had Betty Boop socks on. It was then I thought, 'I'll do it'."
- GoofsWhen 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
Eddie Jessup: Emily's quite content to go on with this life. She insists she's in love with me - whatever that is. What she means is she prefers the senseless pain we inflict on each other to the pain we would otherwise inflict on ourselves. But I'm not afraid of that solitary pain. In fact, if I don't strip myself of all this clatter and clutter and ridiculous ritual, I shall go out of my fucking mind. Does that answer your question, Arthur?
Arthur Rosenberg: What question was that?
Eddie Jessup: You asked me why I was getting divorced.
Arthur Rosenberg: Oh, listen, it's your life. I'm sorry I even asked.
- Crazy creditsIn the end credits, the cast list appears last after all but the movie company name and logo. Usually the cast list appears either very early in the credits or sometimes approximately a third of the way through.
- Alternate versionsABC edited 7 minutes from this film for its 1983 network television premiere.
- ConnectionsEdited into 365 Days, also Known as a Year (2019)
- SoundtracksVoile d'Orphee
by Pierre Henry
Review
Featured review
Bizarre and eerie
Bizarre cinematic head-trip that is far better and more entertaining than anyone could guess from a description. I put it on my Netflix queue without realizing it was directed by Ken Russell. If I had seen that earlier, I would have avoided it. Thankfully I didn't. It contains everything that is good about Russell, that is, his crazy imagery, and none of the bad stuff. That is, it's not an enormous bore. The script was written by Paddy Chayefsky, based on his own novel. Not the writer you would associate with horror or sci-fi, which is the proper genres to which Altered States belongs. He disowned the film before he even saw a cut of it, despite the fact that Russell was contractually obligated not to change a word of the script. The greatest asset of the film is the fantastic acting. William Hurt makes his screen debut as a mad scientist, a Harvard professor, actually, who is experimenting with sensory deprivation, mixed with some choice hallucinogens. He hopes to lose his modern mind in the sensory deprivation tank and regress to a primitive state. Unfortunately, some mushrooms that he finds in Mexico help him regress not only mentally, but physiologically. Blair Brown plays his estranged and worried wife, and Charles Haid and Bob Balaban (love the Balaban!) play colleagues who help Hurt do his experiments. The plot is silly, but it's legitimately eerie and frightening, thanks to Russell's surprisingly excellent direction. The film ends up in territory very reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I thought it all worked pretty well. Drew Barrymore makes her film debut at age 5, and also keep an eye out for John Larroquette.
helpful•328
- zetes
- May 18, 2008
Details
Box office
- 1 hour 42 minutes
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