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 Eddie’s well being. However, if Eddie’s claims are indeed true, he could do irreparable harm to himself and others around him, especially if his altered states are uncontrollable.

Altered States (1980)
  • Rating: (12,512 votes)
  • Taglines:When he heard his cry for help it wasn't human » 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 »
  • Runtime:102 minutes
  • Director: Ken Russell
  • Country:USA
  • Actors:
    Eddie Jessup
    William Hurt
    Emily Jessup
    Blair Brown
    Arthur Rosenberg
    Bob Balaban
    Mason Parrish
    Charles Haid
    Echeverria
    Thaao Penghlis
    Primal Man
    Miguel Godreau
    Sylvia Rosenberg
    Dori Brenner
    Hobart
    Peter Brandon
    The Brujo
    Charles White-Eagle
    Margaret Jessup
    Drew Barrymore
  • Genres:Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
  • Producers:
    Stuart Baird
    associate producer  
    Howard Gottfried
    producer  
    Daniel Melnick
    executive producer  
  • Plots: An American researching different states of consciousness with the aid of mind altering drugs and an isolation chamber begins to experience disturbing physical changes in his body that point toward an evolutionary regression. Written by Keith Loh <loh@sfu.ca>
Altered States
  • User's comment:Borderline Ridiculous - Some Exceptional Dialogue by Kamran-15

    Though not as extensively as the protagonist of this film,I have experimented with psychotropic substances, including psilocybin mushrooms.

    It is because of my experiences that I look forward to watching any and all films that attempt to phenomenologically articulate and express the psychedelic experience. It's like trying to articulate the very nature of life itself.

    The dialogue within 'Altered States' is considerably admirable. There are a number of well articulated statements that aptly describe the psychedelic experience. For this alone, the film is worthwhile. I suppose this credit is due the Ken Chayefsky who wrote the book, which I have yet to read.

    While the majority of the film's posited notions about altered states of consciousness are both thoughtful and well-endowed, the notion that states of consciousness can externalize and physically manifest is borderline ridiculous. It is when Jessup first regresses into a primitive ape-like constitution that I began doubting the profundity of this film.

    The segment of the film where Jessup has regressed to a primitive ape-like creature is laughable, and has the same depth as a cross between Planet Of The Apes and Teen Wolf. Moreover, Jessup describes the creature as being a 4 foot bi-pedal ape-like human, but, after regressing, he is still quite tall, and the acting is completely ridiculous. Not to mention the segment is far too long.

    Some of the other "trippy" scenes are similarly ridiculous, and the special effects are quite laughable. However, they accurately translate the mood of the film into the viewer's experience. For that, it is exceptional. During the montages of the universe and the concepts of the beyond within / primordial unity, I think a zooming image of the Mandelbrot Set would have fit perfectly. Otherwise, they did quite well with it.

    The ending is cheesy, but, considering my experiences with psychedelics, it is quite apt. Coming out of my first mushroom experience, I truly felt the joy of living. During the experience I had profound insight into the nature of life, it was beautiful, but it was also extremely overwhelming. This led to immense anxiety, confusion, and terror. As I came out of the experience, I realized how beautiful life was and how I needed to stop searching for some ultimate truth, and needed to simply exist naturally and earnestly. When Jessup tells his wife that he has seen the nothing, and that's all it is, and that he didn't want to go there, because he was supposed to be here, I felt some familiar feelings flashback from that first mushroom experience.

    While the filmmakers do an exceptional job of expressing the negative aspects of the psychedelic experience - confusion, anxiety, terror etc...it does a poor job of expressing the brilliance, freedom, and beauty of the experience. I would have liked if the filmmakers had placed more attention on the fantastical brilliance of the psychedelic experience. Very few films accurately express this part of the psychedelic experience. Perhaps it is the human condition which tends us towards evil.

    Cinematographically, the film was alright. Again, I would have liked more positive vibes from the film. Some landscape shots (perhaps some more shots of the mountains in Mexico) and some blues and violets would have made this film a more pleasurable watch. The dystopic and hellish reds throughout the film made it quite unbearable. Not to mention the sudden shifts from slow cutting abstract minimalism (in the vein of 2001: A Space Odyssey) to extremely fast cutting neo realistic expressionism (in the vein of Dr. Caligari). These shifts were exhausting, and sudden like the shifts in a psychedelic experience, but they were over-exaggerated for effect. I would not like to watch this film with another person, to say the least.

    The lead actor made a fine performance, but I don't think he was the right choice for the part. Actors should resemble the characters, and the bold, masculine lead man did not fit the eccentricity's of the anxious mad scientist character. The one scene where he drunkenly boasts his visionary claims was exceptional, the rest of the film seemed like he was, well, acting. It did not seem natural.

    Overall, exceptional content, apart from the notion that altered states of consciousness can externalize and physically manifest, but some areas of the film are extremely poorly executed and borderline ridiculous.

    7/10


  • Quotes: Eddie Jessup: The purpose of our suffering is only more suffering. Arthur Rosenberg: The way I feel, I don't expect to go to sleep for a year. I'm on fucking fire! Eddie Jessup: What dignifies the Yogic practices is that the belief system itself is not truly religious. There is no Buddhist God per se. It is the Self, the individual Mind, that contains immortality and ultimate truth.
  • Also known as: Estados alterados (Argentina), Estados alterados (Mexico - imdb display title), Estados alterados (Peru), Estados alterados (Venezuela), Viagens Alucinantes (Brazil), Viagens Alucinantes (Portugal), Anexelengtes katastaseis (Greece - transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title), Au-delà du réel (France), Der Höllentrip (West Germany), Eksperimentet (Denmark), Experimentet (Sweden), Förändrade tillstånd (Finland - Swedish title), Korenine prividov (Slovenia - imdb display title), Muutostiloja (Finland), Odmienne stany swiadomosci (Poland), Stati di allucinazione (Italy), Változó állapotok (Hungary), Viaje alucinante al fondo de la mente (Spain - imdb display title),

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