1284 Altered States

[milk114]

I just watched this film and Thirteenth Floor for the first time along with eXistenZ and am still processing it all. In a way I think Altered States is more heavy-handed with its grappling with multiple states of reality but at the same time more "realistic" or plausible because it doesn't use technology or looking outside for answers but turns inward, into the human psyche. It's been a weird week and I just decided that I want to see these three film together and am most impressed with Ken Russell's film (though Cronenberg's work is great fun as well, I'm really not sure Thirteenth Floor is in the same league). The only other Russell film I've seen (many times) is Tommy and if his other films are in any way similar to these two I'll have to hunt them down.

I was wondering what others' responses were to this great film and if there is is anything decent written on it.

[THX1378]

Altered States really is in a class by itself and really can't be compared to eXistenZ or The Thirteenth Floor. eXistenZ and The Thirteenth Floor deal with simualed worlds and reality. In fact both came out around the same time that The Matrix came out and were called ripoffs. But we can talk about that in other posts back to Altered States. Altered States isn't dealing with simualed worlds, it's dealing with parable of the hippies and life in the 60's. It's saying that hallucinogenic drugs and going into a isolation tank can lead us to the truth. But the truth about what? At first I think that Eddie Jessup thinks he has found god through this altered state of consciousness. That using the hallucanagetic mushrooms he like many people in the 60's that used them or LSD thought that they had found the answers to life. But Eddie finds out that he's not becoming at one with the universe. Little does he know that playing god leads to his regression of a primordial form. One of the coolest parts of the film is where he regresses right down to pure engery inside the tank. I never heard why Paddy Chayefsky disowned the film. I know that it's based on his novel and I have a feeling that he disowned the film because it went over the top in parts because of Russell's flamboyance. But thats part of the reason why I think the film works so well. I also think that Chayefsky wrote the book and the screenplay to be against using hallucinogenic drugs. I think he was getting that the fact of look where this will lead you type deal where as Rusell's take on it was that to make up your own mind about it. Did Eddie find what he was looking for? Did he find the truth and become at one with god? The end leaves it pretty much open to all but one answer that his wife's love saves him in the end.

milk114 btw you need to see Rusell's The Devils if you can find it on VHS since there is no R1 DVD let. It's worth seeing because it's Rusell's take on the abuse of power and many other things. Plus I just watched Lair of the White Worm again and I must say that it's the funest of all of Rusell's films. So if you have seen Tommy and States go for these films next.

[Lino]

milk114, welcome Russell convert!

Actually, Altered States was my introduction to Ken Russell many, many moons ago when I didn't even know who the man was. But it sure made an impression on me, alright! I can still visualize the mind-blowing visuals and remember how good William Hurt's performance was as if I had watched the film last week. It is that intense.

If you're looking for films with a similar theme, why not try Roger Corman's The Trip? Jokes apart, it's really a good movie dealing with the effect of halucinogenic drugs (namely LSD) on the human psyche and how it alters your perception of things. Quite a ride, I tell you! Just take a look at the trailer.

And afterwards, check this other thread out for info on the state of other Ken Russell's films on DVD

[Polybius]

Abre los Ojos/Open Your Eyes also came out about that time. All owed some debt to Phillip K. Dick.

Personally, I liked all of the films mentioned, to some degree or another.

[Dylan]

I saw "Altered States" quite a few years ago. I read once that there were over 20 minutes of dream scenes that didn't make the final cut of the film, anybody know if these scenes still exist?

I remember very little about this movie, though the impressive make-up of Dick Smith sticks out pretty well.

[brendanjc]

Altered States really is in a class by itself and really can't be compared to eXistenZ or The Thirteenth Floor. eXistenZ and The Thirteenth Floor deal with simualed worlds and reality. In fact both came out around the same time that The Matrix came out and were called ripoffs. But we can talk about that in other posts back to Altered States. Altered States isn't dealing with simualed worlds, it's dealing with parable of the hippies and life in the 60's. It's saying that hallucinogenic drugs and going into a isolation tank can lead us to the truth. But the truth about what? At first I think that Eddie Jessup thinks he has found god through this altered state of consciousness. That using the hallucanagetic mushrooms he like many people in the 60's that used them or LSD thought that they had found the answers to life. But Eddie finds out that he's not becoming at one with the universe. Little does he know that playing god leads to his regression of a primordial form. One of the coolest parts of the film is where he regresses right down to pure engery inside the tank. I never heard why Paddy Chayefsky disowned the film. I know that it's based on his novel and I have a feeling that he disowned the film because it went over the top in parts because of Russell's flamboyance. But thats part of the reason why I think the film works so well. I also think that Chayefsky wrote the book and the screenplay to be against using hallucinogenic drugs. I think he was getting that the fact of look where this will lead you type deal where as Rusell's take on it was that to make up your own mind about it. Did Eddie find what he was looking for? Did he find the truth and become at one with god? The end leaves it pretty much open to all but one answer that his wife's love saves him in the end.

I just caught this on HDNet, and overall I disliked it. The production was impressive, for sure - the makeup effects were very Cronenburg, the hallucination sequences looked great, the sound design fits well, the editing in the concluding scene with Jessup pounding on the wall is fantastic. The actors did a good job all around with the material, even though it tended to go over the top a bit, especially with Jessup's colleagues. However, I found the movie as a whole to be confused and ultimately pointless. Science fiction is at its best when it's used as a device for commentary, for taking arguments to their logical extremes, but I feel like the film never tried to say anything. The first half is clearly meant to invoke the 60's drug culture as THX stated, as a perhaps misguided attempt at discovering the truth. But, there are never any serious reprocussions for the drug abuse in the film (his divorce might be one, but they get back together), nor are there any true discoveries (Jessup never manages to explain any of his insights to his colleagues). The only reasonable insight I've been able to make is the parallel between a scientist's single-minded addiction to knowledge and substance abuse. The problem with this reading is the whole genetic regression business which really doesn't really work for me at all - is a more primitive existence somehow supposed to be closer to truth? Is Jessup's literal manifestation of mind-over-matter supposed to suggest an ultimate triumph of scientific thought over the physical world? Is there any good way to justify the silly love-conquers-all ending? I think the film was too unfocused to be a successful work of science fiction and I'd pass on it, unless you happen to be on some mind-altering substances at the time yourself.

It looks like the only other Ken Russell film I've seen is Tommy, which also almost crumples under the weight of pretension by the end, but is silly enough to remain enjoyable. I don't think I'll go out of my way to catch anything else anytime soon though.

[MichaelB]

Is there any good way to justify the silly love-conquers-all ending?

I really wouldn't blame Russell for that - notoriously, he was tied into a contract that compelled him to shoot Paddy Chayefsky's script word for word without changing a thing. Which is why he had William Hurt gabbling some of the scientific mumbo-jumbo at maximum velocity, just to get it out of the way.

[Finch]

The ultimate cinematic head trip of the 1980s, British renegade Ken Russell’s first Hollywood film—adapted by the legendary screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky from his own novel—is part hallucinogenic freak-out, part gonzo creature feature, part transcendent love story, all played at a fever pitch. When researcher Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) begins using himself as a test subject for his mind-expanding psychological experiments, it sends him on an increasingly dangerous, substance-fueled odyssey from humankind’s primordial past to the outer limits of consciousness. It’s all visualized by Russell in a psychedelic supernova of out-there imagery that encompasses everything from the pagan to the cosmic sublime, culminating in a brain-wave-blasting battle between the mind and the heart.

Film Info
United States
1980
103 minutes
Color
1.85:1
English
Spine #1284
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
New 4K digital restoration, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
Alternate 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
New audio commentary featuring film historian Samm Deighan
Archival interviews with director Ken Russell and actor William Hurt
New interview with special-visual-effects designer Bran Ferren
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by film critic Jessica Kiang

New cover by Richey Beckett

[domino harvey]

No special feature on Chayefsky (unsurprisingly)

Altered States (Ken Russell 1980) How many films do you give a director before you just give up? I must be nearing my breaking point for Ken Russell, though I guess I'd rank this near the more bearable end of the spectrum. Poor William Hurt and Blair Brown (in early roles) get sympathy points for struggling through pages of dialog consisting of unspeakable sci-fi falderal and nonsensical declarations of love and not-love, all contractually mandated by screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky who still took his name off the final product (considering some of the 50s scripts he consented to put his name on, he needn't have bothered). The movie posits a bizarre thesis that within all of us is the ability to regress to the primordial state if only we have the right chemical and environmental help. Some of the hallucinations suffered by Hurt in the tank work, especially the first big one where Jesus on the cross is given a ram's head with a diamond-shaped cluster of eyes among other weirdo sights, but no amount of visual acumen could excuse the eventual plot point wherein Hurt literally becomes an ape man and runs wild into the night. And it's all downhill from there.

[ryannichols7]

it's funny, the first line of your writeup is exactly how I am every time I watch a Russell movie. I haven't seen this one and won't, though I know many will be thrilled

personally surprised Arrow didn't get this with their WB deal

[flyonthewall2983]

I wonder if 2010 is on the table at all, for either place.

[Buttery Jeb]

I wonder if 2010 is on the table at all, for either place.

Supposedly with Arrow. Someone confirmed that on Blu-Ray.com or The Digital Bits in the last few months.

[DimitriL]

I feel like eventually it’ll show up at Arrow. I was a fan when it came out and I think it’s held up well. Lovely, intelligence-driven SF. (Hilariously, the one plotline that dated it for decades is now depressingly timely.)

[Zot!]

it's funny, the first line of your writeup is exactly how I am every time I watch a Russell movie. I haven't seen this one and won't, though I know many will be thrilled

I dunno, not a big fan of Russell or head movies but I think this one is a weird fun trip and works, and predates the "body horror" fad that is making a second pass after the 80's and 90's Cronenberg and Tetsuo mind/body type things. The pseudo-intellectual trappings (though nonsensical) also help elevate from just being a artistic horror film. Maybe its time has come. You can consider this a recommendation.

[TechnicolorAcid]

I think Altered States is a weird film amongst Russell fans (though I have yet to see it) where it’s wild parts are regarded as some of his best set pieces yet the film itself is referred to as one of the dullest and most stilted of his filmography that also unfairly ruined his career. Although I do wish Criterion could’ve released this with Crimes of Passion in 4K (the final blow to Ken Russell’s status as a big time director), which is a film I dearly love as Ken Russell’s demented version of a Pre-Code film.

[Roger Ryan]

When I first saw this film, I was well into my decades-long dismissal of Russell as an indulgent prankster incapable of delivering any kind of nuanced drama. Only a few years ago, with more of Russell's oeuvre available to revisit in short order, and my tastes supposedly refined by age, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself greatly enjoying his work. Altered States is pretty atypical when it comes to Russell, but watching it again last year, the rubbish film I remember rolling my eyes at in the early 80s now seemed pretty darn good! It's not The Devils, but I'm happy it's been added to the collection.

[ryannichols7]

it's funny, the first line of your writeup is exactly how I am every time I watch a Russell movie. I haven't seen this one and won't, though I know many will be thrilled

I dunno, not a big fan of Russell or head movies but I think this one is a weird fun trip and works, and predates the "body horror" fad that is making a second pass after the 80's and 90's Cronenberg and Tetsuo mind/body type things. The pseudo-intellectual trappings (though nonsensical) also help elevate from just being a artistic horror film. Maybe its time has come. You can consider this a recommendation.

including "body horror" as a line only drives me further from it!

[colinr0380]

A great film, with one of the best opening title sequences too (four years before The Terminator's titles did much the same thing. And the trailer for The Star Chamber uses both the movement of the words past each other and the same font! Come to think of it, The Star Chamber would have been a great alternate title for Altered States!). Amazing to think that this was William Hurt's screen debut, as he holds the screen so confidently here. The two big 'trip' sequences in the film early on are the intensely edited highlights (Russell later tried to outdo them with the more sacreligious one in The Lair of the White Worm) but it reaches such heady heights in general that the final section of the (spoiler):

Spoiler

regression into the primitive hairy man-ape running naked through the streets

cannot help but feel a bit silly. But then it redeems itself fully in its final moments when the wife has to not only rescue her beloved, but actually fully enter into the shared communal gene pool of humanity herself and risk her own loss of identity in the process. (Which A-Ha 'homaged' in the final moments of their "Take On Me" music video!)

I wonder if the 'archival interviews' with Russell are going to include his anecdote about being plied with magic mushrooms provided gratis by the studio in the mistaken impression that to do a drug trip movie he would need to experience it himself. Which he apparently did by the side of Shelley Winters' pool in L.A.! How very Ballardian!

[Zot!]

it's funny, the first line of your writeup is exactly how I am every time I watch a Russell movie. I haven't seen this one and won't, though I know many will be thrilled

I dunno, not a big fan of Russell or head movies but I think this one is a weird fun trip and works, and predates the "body horror" fad that is making a second pass after the 80's and 90's Cronenberg and Tetsuo mind/body type things. The pseudo-intellectual trappings (though nonsensical) also help elevate from just being a artistic horror film. Maybe its time has come. You can consider this a recommendation.

including "body horror" as a line only drives me further from it!

That descriptor was not intended as endorsement, just a reason why it could now be well received in a boutique market where it seems like 90% of the releases are now low-brow genre pictures angling for re-appraisal by a high-brow audience.

[beamish14]

it's funny, the first line of your writeup is exactly how I am every time I watch a Russell movie. I haven't seen this one and won't, though I know many will be thrilled

I dunno, not a big fan of Russell or head movies but I think this one is a weird fun trip and works, and predates the "body horror" fad that is making a second pass after the 80's and 90's Cronenberg and Tetsuo mind/body type things. The pseudo-intellectual trappings (though nonsensical) also help elevate from just being a artistic horror film. Maybe its time has come. You can consider this a recommendation.

Same. I love how Russell basically takes the piss on some of Chayefsky’s very didactic scenes by having characters stuff their faces with food. The hallucination sequences are, of course, wonderful. I don’t think Arthur Penn would’ve been able to pull off what Russell did, and I love the esoteric Christian imagery that recurs throughout this.

The score by John Corigliano is exceptionally renowned, and I wish there was a feature on his work here

[beamish14]

Worth noting that a new documentary on John C. Lilly, whose work on sensory deprivation inspired this film, was just released. Michael Almereyda co-directed it.

[Lowry_Sam]

From the guessing thread:

Did anyone have Altered States on their bingo card?

I did ten years ago, but after a few unsuccessful guesses I gave up. I considered putting it on for October, but it's not really horror & I checked Amazon and the standard blu-ray was readily available, so not a pressing upgrade. One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest or Dog Day Afternoon would have been the anticipated non-horror WB titles, but I thought the perfect WB horror title would have been Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?.

I wonder if 2010 is on the table at all, for either place.

Body Heat is a more likely candidate, as well as any of the titles Warners released on digibook (like Sorcerer): The Killing Fields,
Baby Jane, Cuckoo's Nest, Virgia Wolf, Cabaret... I could even see Criterion doing a stacked multi-disc Special Edition of Blade Runner with all versions on UHD + blu-ray for all the versions of Vangelis's soundtrack over all the production stills that were taken during the film's production before I see them doing 2010. It is the perfect Arrow candidate.

No special feature on Chayefsky (unsurprisingly)

They're saving it for The Catered Affair.

[beamish14]

Cuckoo’s Nest has a 4K restoration that premiered just a few months ago.

I’m still amazed that The Mosquito Coast didn’t get a big upgrade given that its source material had a new TV adaptation which ran for 2 seasons

[crimlaw]

Any rumors on Network joining the collection since it’s with WB? Arrow previously released a blu ray.

[DimitriL]

The rumor is that Criterion has had it for awhile and that the restored 4K master was completed some time ago.