Horror,Science Fiction,Thriller
United States of America
Altered States is a 1980 science-fiction horror film directed by Ken Russell and starring William Hurt, Blair Brown, and Bob Balaban. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Paddy Chayefsky. The storyline follows a research scientist named Eddie Jessup (played by William Hurt) who is obsessed with exploring the mysteries of human consciousness.
Eddie's research takes him into the world of sensory deprivation tanks, where he experiences incredible hallucinations. Seeking to go even further into the depths of the human mind, he turns to native American shamans to obtain a hallucinogenic mixture, which he then takes while in the deprivation tank. This sends him hurtling into a bizarre, terrifying world where time and reality become warped and distorted.
As Eddie's experiments become more extreme, he begins to experience disturbing physical transformations as well. His ego and id become split apart, causing him to question his own sanity and the nature of reality itself. His wife Emily (played by Blair Brown) becomes increasingly concerned as she witnesses the effects of Eddie's experimentation on his health and psyche.
The film culminates in a tense, surreal climax as Eddie loses control of his experiments and falls fully into the grip of his own altered state of consciousness. Altered States is a visually stunning and thought-provoking film that explores the limits of the human mind and the dangers of pushing those limits too far.
