Altered States1980
“In the basement of a university medical school, Dr. Jessup floats naked in total darkness. The most terrifying experiment in the history of science is out of control... and the subject is himself.”
Directed by Ken Russell
On the charts
🏆 Nominated for 2 Oscars. 1 win & 7 nominations total
The premise
A research scientist explores the boundaries and frontiers of human consciousness. Using sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic mixtures from Native American shamans, he explores these altered states of cognizance and finds that memory, time, and reality itself are states of mind.
Horror Vault's take
A Harvard scientist pushes the limits of human perception by combining sensory-deprivation tank sessions with powerful psychedelic compounds sourced from indigenous shamanic traditions. What begins as an ambitious academic pursuit into the deepest layers of consciousness soon spirals into something far more primal and terrifying. Director Ken Russell and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky transform science into spectacle, delivering hallucinatory set pieces that blur the line between evolution, madness, and the void. This is cerebral horror that gets under your skin — and into your cells.
Content: Body Horror, Graphic Transformation Sequences, Drug Use, Disturbing Surreal Imagery, Brief Nudity
Cast
William Hurt
Professor Eddie Jessup
Blair Brown
Emily Jessup
Bob Balaban
Arthur Rosenberg
Charles Haid
Mason Parrish
Thaao Penghlis
Echeverria
Miguel Godreau
Primal Man
Dori Brenner
Sylvia Rosenberg
Peter Brandon
Hobart
Charles White-Eagle
The Brujo
Drew Barrymore
Margaret Jessup
Megan Jeffers
Grace Jessup
Jack Murdock
Hector Orteco
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