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Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop  Got to grips with ALTERED STATES which features William Hurt as a narcissistic scientist out to unravel the mysteries of self. To this end he subjects himself to various trials involving floatation tanks and psychedelic drugs. Far from reaching a plateau of epic transcendence, he ends up turning into a goat-killing ape man, then a weird maggot-thing before love conquers all. Probably based on the work of 60s psychonauts such as John Lilly. Not as excessive as 'Tommy' etc, but full of satisfying plunges into freaked-out inner space in the form of eighties-style trip sequences (these do tend to be broken up by long stretches of academics shouting at each other). |
I've always liked Altered States. Probably not Russell's best film, but I enjoy the ridiculously trippy nature of the film. Although it does get a bit silly towards the end. When I was a youngster and I first saw the film, what he goes through to achieve an altered state used to baffle me, I thought 'Why not just drop some acid? Job done.' Of course, now I'm older, I understand that the film is a psychedelic voyage of self-discovery. Well, it could be many things, but that's how I read it.