Movie · 1980 · Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller · 1h 43m · R · English
Curator score: 5.6/10 (112.7K ratings)
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.
Overview
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.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.6/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.68/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 6.7/10
Director
Ken Russell
Production
Warner Bros. Pictures
Cast
William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid, Thaao Penghlis, Miguel Godreau, Dori Brenner, Peter Brandon, Charles White-Eagle, Drew Barrymore, Megan Jeffers, Jack Murdock, Francis X. McCarthy, Deborah Baltzell, Evan Richards, Paul Larsson, John Larroquette, George Gaynes, Hap Lawrence, John Walter Davis
Curator Review
Verdict
A bold, weird, and surprisingly emotional sci-fi horror trip that turns consciousness research into body-horror spectacle and spiritual crisis. It’s messy by design, but the ambition, practical effects, and feverish seriousness make it a standout cult watch.
Best for
fans of psychedelic horror and mind-bending sci-fi
viewers who like ambitious, unruly 1980s genre cinema
people drawn to body transformation and cosmic-religious imagery
audiences open to camp, intensity, and intellectual chaos
Skip if
you want tight plotting and clean genre rules
you dislike surreal visuals or aggressive tonal swings
you prefer subtle character drama over operatic excess
you are sensitive to body horror or drug-trip imagery
Overview
Altered States is one of those movies that feels like it’s trying to break out of the screen. It starts as a clinical sci-fi premise, then keeps escalating into something wilder, stranger, and more primal, until the whole idea of identity seems to melt under the pressure of obsession, grief, and transcendence.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is that it never plays like a simple “bad trip” movie. It’s also a feverish character study about a man who would rather dissolve into myth than face ordinary human pain. The result is part horror film, part metaphysical melodrama, part spectacular act of cinematic overreach.
Bottom line
It’s uneven, and that’s part of the appeal. Ken Russell pushes every idea to the edge, and the movie’s practical effects, visual imagination, and sheer commitment give it a cult power that still feels alive. If you like your genre films maximalist, unhinged, and a little dangerous, this is essential viewing.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Maevez · 2308 likes
a trippy movie about everything a man has to go through to be able to say "I love you" back
Tony the Terror (5★) · 1891 likes
When I was 19, I had a really bad trip that resulted from me unknowingly taking a much larger quantity of acid than I realized. Yes, that is actually a thing that can happen. During this trip, I was inside a friend’s huge mountain house that I had never visited before and I became caught between life and death. I remember that life was beautiful and full of pretty colors and beautiful imagery, but in the darkened corners of that… more When I was 19, I had a really bad trip that resulted from me unknowingly taking a much larger quantity of acid than I realized. Yes, that is actually a thing that can happen. During this trip, I was inside a friend’s huge mountain house that I had never visited before and I became caught between life and death. I remember that life was beautiful and full of pretty colors and beautiful imagery, but in the darkened corners of that… more
Will Menaker (3.5★) · 1629 likes
Does anyone have an isolation tank? I'm trying to go ape mode.
Ryley (3.5★) · 1256 likes
Men will literally turn into a gorilla instead of going to therapy.
Emma Stefansky · 892 likes
tfw u can’t get over ur ex so u become the universe instead
1980 · Drama, Thriller, Comedy · 1h 58m · R · Curator 1.5/10 (10.2K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Night Flight Plus, Midnight Pulp, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A strange, spiritual, psychologically charged film that wrestles with faith, madness, and identity.