Altered States-1980

Director Ken Russell

Starring William Hurt, Blair Brown

Scott’s Review #82

Reviewed July 1, 2014

Grade: B-

Altered States (1980) is a trippy, strange horror/sci-fi hybrid film (William Hurt’s debut) that is visually impressive. Still, the story is too far-fetched and implausible to be taken seriously.

It feels like an earlier version of The Fly, but inferior to that particular film.

Hurt plays an abnormal psychology professor obsessed with experimental schizophrenic hallucinatory drugs, which he takes, causing him to ultimately experience episodes of being half man, half ape through the use of a sensory deprivation tank, and a strange Indian tribe comes into play.

It’s a very silly premise, but it’s somehow believable to a point, especially in the first act.

The ending of the movie was ridiculous and uninteresting to me, and it seemed extremely disjointed as a whole.

There were lots of behind-the-scenes troubles with this film, which could explain the unbalanced feeling.

Otherwise, the sporadic, weird colors and patterns during the scientist’s episodes were effective.

Drew Barrymore’s first film (she plays a toddler).

Oscar Nominations: Best Original Score, Best Sound