| Duration | 1h 42m |
| Ratings | UK: 18, USA: R, Spain: 13 (original rating) |
| Source of story | A novel by Paddy Chayefsky, itself based on some actual research into hallucinatory drugs. |
| Director | Ken Russell |
| Writers/Script | Paddy Chayefsky |
| Starring | William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid, Drew Barrymore, |
| Ratings | IMDb: 6.9/10 by 43k people. Rotten Tomatoes: 6.9/10 by 53 reviewers. Review2view: 4/10. |
Plot of Altered States: Dr Edward Jessup is a professor at Columbia University, who is an expert in states of consciousness. He hears about a tribe in Mexico who collectively hallucinate after taking mind altering drugs, and travels to their location to join them. They use a magic mushroom, and Jessup joins them, afterwards returning to the university with samples. Jessup uses a sensory deprivation tank to enhance the hallucinations, which results in more and more strange effects. Later Jessup emerges from the tank as an early hominid and goes on the rampage through the local countryside and in a zoo. He kills a sheep or goat and gorges on it. But this is not the end there are more drastic possibilities. Meanwhile his marriage which had been failing seems to be re-energising.
Content: Some fairly tastefully presented nudity and sex. As well as floating in the sensory deprivation tank, Jessup takes a lot of drugs, all part of his research. His romance with his girlfriend and then wife is documented, but he is mostly locked into his research with his assistants operating the controls relating to the tank and so on. There are scenes with the Mexican tribe in their outlandish landscape. At least once Jessup sleeps with a student. He appears as a hominid probably early man, going on the rampage through the city and later seems to become little more than a form of energy.
A View: This is one of those films which has almost more interest in the production than it the screening. Ken Russell said that he was the 27th director approached to direct and despite the fact that he found the writer’s dialogue excruciating was not allowed to change a word of it. Instead where possible he disguised it with other activities. He banned Paddy Chayefsky from the set. Chayefsky tried to get him sacked – and so on. It was nominated in two categories of the Oscars. Despite its general approval I would not recommend it for even a casual viewing.
Fun Fact: I thought there was a wonderful moment where Jessup has just had sex with a student, but has got up and is striding about naked. Despite their recent intimacy she says, ‘are you alright, Doctor Jessup?’
Discussion
No comments yet.