Altered States
Tags: allegory, violence, cult, alternate reality, psychedelic, romantic, suspenseful

Plot synopsis:
Edward Jessup is a university professor of abnormal psychology who, while studying schizophrenia, begins to think that "our other states of consciousness are as real as our waking states." Jessup begins experimenting with sensory deprivation using a flotation tank, aided by two like-minded researchers, Parrish and Rosenberg. At a faculty party he meets fellow "wonder kid" and biological anthropologist Emily, and the two eventually marry.
The film skips ahead seven years. Eddie and Emily have two daughters, are on the brink of divorce, and reunite with the couple who first introduced them. When Edward hears of a Mexican tribe that experiences shared illusion states, he travels to Mexico to participate in what is apparently an Ayahuasca Ceremony. During the walk into the bush his guide states that the indigenous tribe they are meeting works with Amanita muscaria which they are collecting for next year's ceremonies. The tribe refer to one of the ingredients of the mixture they use as "First Flower." An indigenous elder is seen with Banisteriopsis caapi root in his hand prior to cutting Jessup's hand, adding blood to the mixture he is preparing. Immediately after consuming the mixture, Edward experiences bizarre, intense hallucinations. He returns to the U.S. with a tincture and continues taking it to trigger his ability to experience altered states of consciousness.
When toxic concentrations of the substance make increased dosage dangerous, Jessup returns to sensory deprivation, believing it will enhance the effects of the substance at his current dose. Repairing a disused tank in a medical school, Jessup uses it to experience a series of increasingly drastic visions, including one of early hominids. Monitored by his colleagues, Jessup insists that his visions have "externalized". Emerging from the tank, his mouth bloody, frantically writing notes because he is unable to speak, Jessup insists on his being x-rayed before he "reconstitutes." A radiologist inspecting Jessup's X-rays says that they belong to a gorilla.
In later experiments, Jessup experiences actual, physical biological devolution. At one stage he emerges from the isolation tank as a feral and curiously small-statured, light-skinned Primitive Man, going on a rampage before returning to his natural form. Despite the concern of colleagues, Jessup stubbornly continues.
In the ultimate experiment, Edward experiences a more profound regression, transforming into an amorphous mass of conscious, primordial matter. An energy wave released from the experiment stuns Jessup's colleagues, and destroys Jessup's tank. Emily arrives to find a swirling maelstrom where the tank had been. Emily searches the vortex for Jessup, finding him as he is on the brink of becoming a non-physical form of proto-consciousness and possibly disappearing from our version of reality altogether.
His friends bring Edward home, hoping that the transformations will end. Watched over by Emily, Jessup again begins to regress again, the transformations no longer requiring intake of "first flower" or sensory deprivation. Urging Jessup to fight the change, Emily grabs his hand, immediately being enveloped by the primordial energy emanating from Jessup. The sight of Jessup's wife, apparently being consumed by the energy, stirs the human consciousness in Jessup's devolving form. He fights the transformation and returns to his human form. In the final scene, Jessup embraces Emily, and his love for her returns him to normal.

Review: Altered States is a harshly beautiful and intellectual movie based on a book with the same adjectives.I'm not going to praise the fine performances, the dazzling special effects, or the painful, emotional epiphany that the lead character, Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) experiences as he fights his way past the roadblock of pure intellect.
But the central idea of a commonality, a kinship that humans have with one another and the danger of setting oneself apart to avoid the pain of interacting and loving is, I believe, supremely satisfying at both an intellectual and emotional level.Altered States isn't one of the very best films I've seen, but it surely has been a source of joy for me.
Russel needs credit especially for the argument between Balaban and Haid - some of the best acting I've ever seen - character actors hardly EVER get to put this kind of stage-acting energy on film.
Some of the greatest effects of this movie are simply good movie craft - when Jessup first sees the love of his life walk through the door, fantastically back-lit, and the music comes up and cross-fades into the next scene - it's breathtaking.It's the moments like that, and the very intro of the movie, with the slow title crawl, the deadpan lines read by Balaban, the first shots of Hurt in the tank, the eerie music ...
The performances, especially by Blair Brown and William Hurt are raw and completely authentic.From start to finish, this film is fascinating, original and consistently realized..
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.
Altered States is not everything that it could be, and that's because director Ken Russell was more interested in assaulting the viewer with a series of startling (by 1980 standards) images than he was in exploring the stories subtext.
Eddie Jessup is a scientist so introverted and afraid of human connections that it's not enough to abandon his family, he also has to further deprive himself of any and all stimulation, performing sensory depravation experiments on himself to attain better understanding of "ultimate truth."  Jessup proclaims himself to be an atheist, but the visual content of his hallucinations reveals him to be a man who's more at war with God than a man who disbelieves.
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).
Based on a novel by Paddy Chayefsky, Altered States is a mind bending thriller based on the (highly exaggerated) dangerous effects of drug use.
He begins to believe that the drug is allowing him to see an alternate state of conscious, but as the experiments go on; it soon becomes clear that they are having an effect on both his body and mind.The thing I'll no doubt remember for the longest about this film is the special effects; and while they are undoubtedly dated, they're still pretty special.
Unfortunaly it seems a lot of folk fell for it.Fails on so many levels, horror film, sci-fi, drug film, love story (love for himself maybe) I watched for the first time in 2008 with someone that watched this when it came out, their memory thought it was kind of crap then, nothings changed and i agree.
As usual, Ken Russel has made an interesting-to-look-at movie that's a real chore to watch.
(Some Spoilers) Trying to find his inner-self since he was 16 years old Professor Eddie Jessup, William Hurt, has been fascinated in what is and what is not real in the world of drug, or spiritually,induced hallucinations.
Arthur Rosenberg(Bob Balaban), where he can very possibly find out the truth about the human sub-conscious mind once in for all.The experiments don't lead to anything special in the field of the human mind and it's effects from mind altering Illnesses like schizophrenia but one evening at a party with his wife Prof.
Eddie's life after meeting with the Mexican professor made an abrupt U-turn and after that he and his state of mind would never be the same again.Psychedelic-like movie where you, like the actors in it, can't differentiate what's real and what's not.
It's in Central Mexico that Eddie's mind get screwed up by having a drink of this magic mushroom soup, with a sample of his own blood mixed in, courtesy of the Hinchi Indian Cheifton Charles White-Eagle, that drove Eddie literally out of him mind.Coming back to Boston Eddie is obsessed to go back in the tank and experience the feeling of a prehistoric Homo-Sapien-like Apeman and does become one later in the film, played brilliantly by a very nimble and acrobatic Miguel Godreau.
What would happen if we would descent into a hallucinatory state that enables us to access these earlier versions and let them surface and take over our current status of human being?This is what drives Professor Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) to undertake a series of experiments with an ancient drug he acquires from an Indian tribe.
Before long he starts hallucinating during the hours out of the experiments and during brief periods of time after the experiments he is transformed to these earlier versions of humankind, even all the way back to the primordial ooze.Unfortunately this side of the story enters the movie too late.
Well, it looks like Ken Russell took a little of that drug too to film some of the sequences of "Altered States".The movie moves between the terror and metaphysics, and the script is incongruous, lacks rhythm, and the ending is completely absurd.The best in "Altered States"?
The only flaws that stand out to me are the unnecessarily abrupt ending (were they worried about total running time?) and the grand-daddy FX sequence that gets a bit hokey and is clearly derivative of Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Regardless, I consider "Altered States" a must see for the fascinating story, compelling acting, direction, music, and visual imagination..
If someone asked me what my favourite Ken Russell movie was I'd probably say 'The Devils', or maybe 'The Lair Of The White Worm', but not 'Altered States'.
'Altered States' is a very trippy movie, and is beloved by stoners worldwide, but even the straightest audience will find something to enjoy in this remarkable film.
It follows scientific genius William Hurt as he experiments with mind altering drugs in sensory depravation tanks, with disturbing consequences.The film is conceptually brilliant, though obviously I am unable to delve to deeply without spoiling the film, and Hurt's performance is fantastic.
'Altered States' is frighteningly intense, but requires an inquisitive and open minded viewing to fully appreciate its meanings, which are the real heart of the film..
Another sketchy area was the bad acting of the main actress, Blair Brown, I think she was chosen for her body rather than her acting ability.FINAL RATING: 8/10 - I love the premise of the movie, so I give it a high rating despite the bungled ending.
This is not to say that the film doesn't have an interesting premise, because it does, but sadly showing off some supposed-to-be-scary and shoddy effects, and letting William Hurt running around like some mongoloid, sixth rate Chewbacca(As if Chewbacca wasn't mongoloid to begin with it!!), well that doesn't make for good craftmanship, does it,Ken Russell?
A real shame, since everything else seems to have taken such great pains to be made as authentic and darn near plausible as possible.When all is said and done, "Altered States" feels like a tug of war between intelligent film making and cutting edge FX scenes and action for the masses.
i found this sci-fi fantasy/horror film to be interesting.it has all the earmarks of a David Cronenberg film,but it isn't a Cronenberg film.it's certainly bizarre,to say the least.it vaguely echos Stanly Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.it's a real psychedelic trip,that for sure.this is one case where its all about the journey,not the destination.the ending isn't necessarily all that satisfying,and that could make the movie pointless,depending on how you look at it.for me,getting to that point was interesting,and yeah,maybe the ending could have been more satisfying.but i don't think that was the point.for me,Altered States is a 6/10.
William Hurt in his first movie debut plays Dr. Eddie Jessup, a man who has been influenced by his father's death by cancer.
But his friends are still skeptical, while his wife (played by beautiful Blair Brown) is becoming terrified that Eddie really did regress hi body back to some primitive form.To prove that he is telling the truth, Eddie tries for one more experiment that starts slowly but suddenly takes a unique turn as Jessup's body regresses way too far back.
While on his trip he uncovers the essence of man and the horrors and beauty that come with it.A deep psychological story makes "Altered States" a must-see for the smart movie-goer.
It enhances and gives the whole thing an added otherworldly view, imo.The basic plot is this:  William Hurt plays a researcher at Harvard who experiments with altered states of consciousness by spending large amounts of time in isolation chambers.
It's a remarkable scene that still comes to my mind, long after the film ends.Hurt then gets the brilliant idea of taking the drug in combination with the isolation chamber because he believes both experiences will greatly enhance one another, so he convinces his reluctant colleagues (Bob Balaban & Charles Haid) to help him go through with this.
The premise of a man searching for the primordial origins of humankind's consciousness with the aid of ancient organic drugs and sensory deprivation gives birth to some scenes which are uh, Russellian.William Hurt is in his first starring film role and he displays all the talents that make him such an acclaimed and popular actor.
All you need is an open, inquisitive mind, a DVD player or computer and your on your way!Now I will have to go watch the movie again after reading all those fantastic reviews on Altered States.
Thanks a bunch and hope you enjoy my recommendations, I realize that my comment is not about the move so much as the topics that might be generated from a movie like Altered States.
Ken Russell has crafted a fantastic world beyond human vision as William Hurt experiments in his university with sensory depravation tanks and conscious expanding drugs, in search of the real true GOD....and succeeds.
It's also a great showcase for first-time leading man William Hurt, who throttles enough early on to keep you guessing (going over the edge, or on to something too fantastical to try and grasp), and then becoming perfectly intense as the second act goes along.Of course, some of this could just be really ridiculous, to the point of more than a few raised eyebrows.
I enjoyed it much, Ken Russel is a talented director and many actors such as William Hurt and Drew Barrymore earned their debuts in this film, it is a film which reminds me of Videodrome yet based on a novel which is quit powerful and somewhat revolting in a good way, well, for me at least.
Don't get me wrong, I like William Hurt, and he does a pretty good job in this (his first flick), but I really don't think this type of film is his bag (which would explain his conversion to real drama).
It will be up to Emily (Blair Brown), a fellow scientist who's drawn to his unique eccentricity, to reawaken his humanity and help him realize what it is like to love another person.Ken Russell ("The Devils", "Tommy", etc.) was undeniably the right person to direct this flick, which alternates between a cerebral approach and a genuine amount of nightmarish intensity.
Blair Brown is on hand as his romantic interest while Bob Balaban and Charles Haid appear as his colleagues, the latter a scientific version of a Pharisee.Directed by Ken Russell, "Altered States" (198o) is a mature sci-fi drama with elements of mystery/horror.
Scientist Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) is doing experiments on himself--taking hallucinatory drugs and using an isolation tank.
Professor Eddie Jessup (William Hurt in his debut role) is intrigued by the data being produced by the use of isolation tanks to induce altered states of consciousness, and decides to undergo the experience himself.
Dr. Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) is doing experiments in an isolation tank with Arthur Rosenberg (Bob Balaban).
The story is rather simple: a scientist, Eddie Jessup (William Hurt, in his feature film debut) has been doing sensory deprivation experiments, but after a trip to Mexico, he starts doing those experiments under the influence of a powerful psychedelic drug which might possibly be affecting his genetic makeup.
There are some interesting observations/connections made between religious and psychedelic experiences, and also mental disorders, however the true power of this film is in its images, which were realized with some incredible visual effects.
the story starts to become a bit grotesque at the middle, but I think that for a sci-fi movie from year 1980 this can be acceptable.what really disappointed me is the end, so abrupt and willful to be "romantic" in some sense, but really disrupted all the pathos of the movie, at least for me.the hallucinations are really stunning (although they didn't touch me to the same point of "The devils" my the same director) and the visual effects are really great for the time.a pity that everything is ruined by the last 15 seconds...
Altered States doesn't quite stand out for me as one of his best, it is a most interesting film though and it is difficult to stop watching it.
Altered States is a great-looking film too, the special effects are awesome and hold up well today and the imagery has an eerie hypnotic quality, there is some excess here but much less distasteful than in other Russell works(ie.
Overall, not for everyone or the faint-hearted but especially for the atmosphere and Hurt Altered States is not just interesting but also a good film on the most part.
Audiences hardly ever have a Good Time at a Ken Russell Film, but here there is more to have Fun with than most.There is an Extraordinary amount of Crackling Imagery and Scintillating Sound all Wrapped around an Academic Rap. None of it means much and is there as sort of Guide Rails to hold on too while the Movie takes its Roller Coaster Ride into the Subconscious by way of Genetic Imprints, and then Deconstructs the Primal Scream of the Birth of Man.This is only Deep if you let it and most likely that was not the intent of the Director.
Without Ken Russell's guidance this would have been a tepid horror fest.You'll do no wrong in Checking Altered States, a movie that (to me at least) has stood the test of time and looks very little dated.
I personally think it is a clear-cut science-fiction film and a very good one.William Hurt plays the young and promising Harvard Biology professor Eddie Jessup who experiments with the existence of alternate conscious that remains dormant (but alive nonetheless) throughout our lives and seems to be transferred in a hereditary manner from one generation to the next.
Ken Russell's direction shows Jessup in several stages in his private life with his girlfriend and then wife Emily (Blair Brown) and the uncompromised and determined side of the scientist Jessup working long hours on weekends with sensory-deprivation experiments to prove that dormant conscious may be present to us humans after all but one needs to achieve the appropriate 'laboratory' conditions to study 'it' properly.Hurt is excellent in his portrayal of the determined professor who discovers more than he initially expected.
Altered States is a movie I would recommend to the kinds of viewers who embrace David Lynch or David Cronenberg, but if it sounds interesting otherwise, go for it..
Altered States was not a film I wanted to watch.
A scientist, Eddie Jessup, played by William Hurt is attempting to push the boundaries of sensory deprivation and what it can do to the human mind.
Hard to say whether it is just inability to film such book or Russell couldn't form his own vision but what this movie manages to be is a great illustration of delirious searches for the meaning of life with the help of hard drugs.
William Hurt made a mind-shattering debut in this somewhat disturbing - if improbable - movie about a Harvard scientist who does tests with hallucinatory drugs and an isolation chamber...but what kinds of effects will this combination have on him?
When this proves limiting, he then uses his school's isolation chamber to remove all external sensory input, and instead use these drugs to explore his mind, which has the inadvertent effect of regressing him physically into a primitive human state.Though ambitious, and contains a fine performance by William hurt, film is damaged by having a mostly unappealing lead character, and an increasingly far-fetched story, that ultimately tries to emulate "2001:A Space Odyssey", but falls far short of that masterpiece.Well-intentioned, but a misfire..
Average Sci-Fi. Ken Russell's Altered States is a hard movie to like.
Using sensory deprivation, then adding powerful, hallucinogenic drugs, he explores these altered states and endures experiences that make madness seem a blessing," according to official film synopsis, "William Hurt as Jessup (his film debut) heads a solid cast featuring Blair Brown, Bob Balaban and Charles Haid.
Oh, and Drew Barrymore has a small role.****** Altered States (12/25/80) Ken Russell ~ William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban.
Bizarre religious imagery straight from the Book of Revelations captures beautifully the descent into the madness of a bad trip, and it only gets more mind-altering as the film progresses.Charles Haid gives a strong supporting performance, as does Blair Brown (and she's not a bad bit of eye candy, either.)  Ken Russell's direction is definitely over the top, but the special effects were quite well done, and made me long for the days before filmmakers were spoiled by today's hollow and lifeless CGI graphics.