X
- 1980
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 42 m
- 1980
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 42 m
Summary A Harvard scientist conducts experiments on himself with a hallucinatory drug and an isolation chamber that may be causing him to regress genetically.
Directed By: Ken Russell
Written By: Paddy Chayefsky
- 1980
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 42 m
- 1980
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 42 m
Altered States
58
7.1
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Summary A Harvard scientist conducts experiments on himself with a hallucinatory drug and an isolation chamber that may be causing him to regress genetically.
Directed By: Ken Russell
Written By: Paddy Chayefsky
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 13 Critic Reviews
58
38% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
62% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 13 Critic Reviews
58
38% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
62% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
With a mad doctor like Ken Russell at the helm, one happily follows this movie to hell and back. [29 Dec 1980, p.65]
Direction by Ken Russell has energy to spare, with appropriate match-up of his baroque visual style to special effects intensive material.
By Staff (Not Credited) FULL REVIEW
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 30 User Ratings
7.1
80% Positive
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
13% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
7% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 30 User Ratings
7.1
80% Positive
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
13% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
7% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Jan 8, 2025
(Mauro Lanari) I've never found any other author who has been able to respond to Klimov's adherence to the eschatological implication of the biblical idea of a reversal of the arrow of time ("History will be rolled back like a scroll": Isaiah 34:4 || Revelation 6:14). As far as we know, it's as Russell suggests: a complete regression, i.e., cosmogenetic (back to the Big Bang or whatever preceded it), psychogenetic (back to before the zygotic sexual fertilization), and mythopoetic (back to before Adam and Eve), would lead us to annihilation. We wouldn't rewrite the historical course but, by erasing it, we would also lose our own historical identities. Back then, cinema still dared to confront the most serious, profound, and challenging research and studies of human culture.
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Dec 3, 2025
I knew nothing about this film and had no idea what to expect. I was very engaged and enjoyed it a lot. It's a very high quality production. The cinematography especially is beautiful. Some minor issues with the sound design and special effects but nothing that takes away from the film. The acting is excellent. The writing is the star, it is a really interesting concept and feels believable, like they weren’t just talking science fiction, they were talking science fact. They explain it all well. It has a really engaging story and characters. There is a Lovecraftian vibe to some of it. It’s also possibly the best Cronenberg film and it wasn’t even made by him. The only real downside is the ending, it is so abrupt and leaves too much unresolved.
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The most interesting dimension of Altered States has to be the way Russell sexualizes Eddie’s relationship with godly figures, most notably symbols of Jesus, crucifixion, and his father.
The film is in fine shape as long as it revels in its own craziness, making no claims on the viewer's reason. But when it asks you to believe that what you're watching may really be happening, and to wonder what it means, it is asking far too much.
Altered States can be accused of many things, but never of harboring a new idea. Because the script's lessons have been drowned in fruity religious imagery, Altered States is at most an accomplished horror film, the kind of stomach-churning movie to which people like David Cronenberg aspire. [23 Jan 1981]
Uneasy blend of the extreme visuals of director Ken Russell and the bloated dramaturgy of writer Paddy Chayefsky (who disowned this adaptation of his novel).
Essentially a big-budget, modern-day version of a 1960s acid-trip film, ALTERED STATES was helmed by flamboyant, talented, but frequently self-indulgent director Ken Russell, who takes a confusing Paddy Chayefsky story and wraps it in a pretty package, but fails to bring any clarity to the silly affair.
By Staff (Not Credited) FULL REVIEW
Dec 29, 2024
Impressive horror sci fi head trip. As the movie goes along, so does the amping up of the surreal visuals and makeup fx, Movie gets silly at times, with too many scenes of an ape man running loose, and the wacky visions start going overboard, But holding it all together is a commanding performance by William Hurt. Also nice seeing early film roles by Drew Barrymore and John Larroquette.
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Dec 4, 2021
I have a special taste for weird film that gives a lot of hallucinations, surrealism etc. This film is one of them. But, apart from the elements, this is not a perfect picture. It lacks totality and looses pace towards the end. You can give it a try to see how they pulled out some visual effects during early 80's.
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Oct 8, 2020
Wild, weird and impossible to get through without thinking about if/how many times Joe Rogan's watched it, Ken Russell's "Altered States" hurls the classic "mad scientist" horror formula down the rabbit hole of psychedelic drugs, churning it all together with some truly impressive visual effects, evocative imagery and appropriately frenetic editing. There's another genre element in play here that I won't spoil, but once you realize the filmmakers at hand are serious about its implementation, it makes for quite the provocative development. It's not a profoundly satisfying watch on the whole, with the film's ending leaving more questions (and not the right ones) than answers, but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a whacky, trippy, less character-focused stimulation of the senses.
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Aug 22, 2021
Russell's "Altered States" brings to light some very interesting sci-fi topics in man's evolution and limits of mental sanity. It's just too bad that he laboriously smears these ideas through a heavy molasses of religious intentions and final statements. The result is a sci-fi that takes itself too seriously under special effects that are anything but serious.
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Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 2 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Nomination
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
