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Altered States (1980) 6.9
A Harvard scientist conducts experiments on himself with a hallucinatory drug and an isolation chamber that may be causing him to regress genetically. Director:Ken Russell |
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| William Hurt | ... | ||
| Blair Brown | ... | ||
| Bob Balaban | ... | ||
| Charles Haid | ... | ||
| Thaao Penghlis | ... | ||
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Miguel Godreau | ... |
Primal Man
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Dori Brenner | ... | |
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Peter Brandon | ... | |
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Charles White-Eagle | ... | |
| Drew Barrymore | ... | ||
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Megan Jeffers | ... |
Grace Jessup
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Jack Murdock | ... |
Hector Orteco
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| Francis X. McCarthy | ... |
Obispo
(as Frank McCarthy)
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Deborah Baltzell | ... |
Schizophrenic Patient
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| Evan Richards | ... |
Young Rosenberg
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
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 he 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
Taglines:
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 See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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Details
Country:
USARelease Date:
25 December 1980 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Estados alterados See more »Box Office
Gross:
$25,000,000 (USA)Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Arthur Rosenberg: The tank itself was unusual in that it was vertical, and looked like an old boiler.
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(uncredited)
Written by Robby Krieger, Jim Morrison, John Densmore and Ray Manzarek
Performed by The Doors
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Paddy Chayefsky's novel was partially based on the work of neuroscientist and dolphin researcher John Cunningham Lilly, who invented the isolation tank, and first started taking drugs while "tanking". Lilly's work had inspired Mike Nichols' earlier dolphin movie The Day of the Dolphin (1973). Lilly was an uncredited scientific researcher on both pictures. See more »Goofs
The introductory story is set in 1967, but exterior shots of the streets shows a VW Rabbit and a Plymouth Volare, both 1970s cars. See more »Quotes
[First line]Arthur Rosenberg: The tank itself was unusual in that it was vertical, and looked like an old boiler.
See more »
Soundtracks
Light My Fire(uncredited)
Written by Robby Krieger, Jim Morrison, John Densmore and Ray Manzarek
Performed by The Doors
See more »
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. His descent into a more primal state of being is an obvious metaphor for how easy it is for a man with commitment issues and fear of intimacy to turn completely inward, leaving the real world behind. Some of what the character says early on about family and love make his motivations clear... Jessup is a man shattered by his father's death and unable to accept the vulnerability of the human condition. A viewer has to really work to absorb and enjoy these metaphors, though, as Russell never slows his onslaught of special effects. The movie also suffers from smart but unrealistic dialogue and ham-fisted performances from some of the principle characters (watch Blair Brown's over-the-top breakdowns in the last act). Altered States isn't the total package, it doesn't combine the visceral and the philosophical as well as movies like Jacob's Ladder or Natural Born Killers. But it's better than most of today's equivalent movies (Donnie Darko, etc) that want to stimulate and provoke the viewer and don't quite pull it off.