Altered States

"In the basement of a university medical school, Dr. Jessup floats naked in total darkness. The most terrifying experiment in the history of science is out of control... and the subject is himself."

1980 1h 43m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 811

HorrorScience FictionThriller

Synopsis

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A research scientist explores the boundaries and frontiers of human consciousness. Using sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic mixtures from Native American shamans, he explores these altered states of cognizance and finds that memory, time, and reality itself are states of mind.

“In the basement of a university medical school, Dr. Jessup floats naked in total darkness. The most terrifying experiment in the history of science is out of control... and the subject is himself.”

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Cast

William Hurt
Professor 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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ken Russell
Writers: Paddy Chayefsky
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

46 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ken Russell, shot by Jordan Cronenweth. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Corigliano. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Eric Jenkins shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

William Hurt and Blair Brown and Bob Balaban carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In the basement of a university medical school, Dr. Jessup floats naked in total darkness. The most terrifying experiment in the history of science is out of control... and the subject is himself.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0080360 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ken Russell directs. Jordan Cronenweth behind the camera. John Corigliano scores. Eric Jenkins cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

146 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
3Directed by Ken Russell, shot by Jordan Cronenweth. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by John Corigliano. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Eric Jenkins shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6William Hurt and Blair Brown and Bob Balaban carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "In the basement of a university medical school, Dr. Jessup floats naked in total darkness. The most terrifying experiment in the history of science is out of control... and the subject is himself.".
8IMDB entry: tt0080360 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 20 themes, including "experiment", "genetics", "based on novel or book", "ritual".
10Released under 30 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jordan Cronenweth
Original score: John Corigliano
Editing: Eric Jenkins
Production design: Richard Macdonald
Costume design: Ruth Myers
Makeup / hair: Dick Smith
Sound: Les Fresholtz
Runtime: 103 min · 1h 43m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $15,000,000
Box office: $19,853,892
Return: 132% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Altered States (1980)

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Ken Russell

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What people are saying

Wuchak2019-03-11
★ 7/10
“Night of the Apeman” mixed with some pretty heady material In the late 60s and mid-70s, a psychopathologist (William Hurt) from the New York/New England area honestly seeks ultimate truth and the origins of humanity through dubious experiments with sensory deprivation mixed with drugs, including a potent mixture used in ceremonies by Mexican AmerIndians. This leads to altered states of consciousness and amazing primordial revelations. 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. It comes across as a meshing of movies like “Wolfen” (1981), “An American Werewolf in London” (1981), Russell’s later “The Lair of the White Worm” (1988) and “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968). One of the fascinating things about the movie is that it shows how a person can reach other realms while in an isolated location through the power of the mind/spirit, albeit in this case with the assistance of drugs. I can relate to a degree. For instance, eleven years ago I was sleeping in bed (during the day) having an intense dream when my wife burst into the room to wake me up. The smoke alarm outside the door was blaring like crazy, but there was no smoke or fire (or heat). The intense energy evoked by my dream obviously set it off because, as soon as I woke, it suddenly stopped. This happened again the next week. What can explain this except the untapped power of the mind and focused energy? Anyway, the apeman sequence is one of the best parts of the movie and recalls those werewolf flicks noted above (of course “Wolfen” isn’t really a werewolf picture). But “Altered States” is so much more than a standard creature feature or nature-runs-amok flick. The apeman make-up is great and the bizarre imaginings are similar to the same in “The Lair of the White Worm.” While I disagree with the evolutionary nonsense (humans didn’t evolve from apes, rolling my eyes), this is a fantasy about finding the truth by Ken Russell and so I don’t expect those kinds of details to be accurate anyway. Blair is winsome in a girl-next-door kind of way and Russell doesn’t fail to capture her beauty (and I’m not tawkin about the top nudity), although that’s there too, if you’re interested. I suggest using the subtitles since a lot of the jargon is pretty technical. It helps the viewer to stay with the story if you can understand what the characters are saying and discussing. The movie runs 1 hour, 42 minutes and was shot in New York City (including the Bronx Zoo); Boston; Sierra Tarahumara, Chihuahua, Mexico (the rock formations); Burbank Studios and a VA hospital in Los Angeles. GRADE: B

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