Altered States (1980)
Director: Ken Russell
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Based on a novel and a disowned script by the late Paddy Chayefsky, Russell's noisily grandiose swipe at psychedelia embellishes what is no more than the cosily familiar story of the obsessive Scientist Who Goes Too Far and Unwittingly Unleashes, etc. Harvard clever-dick (played with almost unconvincing solemnity by Hurt) blows his sensory deprivation experiments (with a little help from his friends and hallucinogenic drugs), and starts to regress - spectacularly - until he looks in serious danger of being sucked down the cosmic lavatory pan into the big zilch.Author: JS
Cast & crew
Director: Ken Russell
Producer: Howard Gottfried
Cast: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid, Thaao Penghlis, Miguel Godreau full cast
Duration: 102 mins
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