“You’re supposed to be reputable scientists! Not two dorm kids freaking on Mexican mushrooms!”

ZombieDog’s rating: Three-and-a-half magic mushrooms

ZombieDog’s review: Nostalgia is a trap. Primarily, it’s always a revision of what actually happened — mostly out of context — and you can never go home again. That being said, the 1980s were awesome. With the new revenue streams of cable TV and video rental, studios were much more willing to take on unique often surreal storylines. Many of the films from this time worked their way into the national consciousness whether you knew it or not.

Altered States was in the batch of experimental movies that hit strong in the 80s. I would loosely classify it as scifi horror, although it kind of crosses boundaries so it’s not easy to pin down. It stars William Hurt as Dr. Jessup, a psychologist trying to access parts of the brain. To accomplish this, he uses sensory deprivation chambers, a kind of bathtub filled with high density saltwater where you float unable to feel anything. Over time in these chambers your brain starts to produce images, flashes of color, hallucinations both auditory and visual.

Not satisfied with the standard results of just putting somebody in the chamber, Jessup and his partner start using hallucinogenic drugs to see what parts of the brain can be accessed. They graduate to more and more exotic drugs until finally something goes wrong.

The college professor conducting dubious experiments is a trope unto itself. The bulk of these movies are about crazy crap happening and things going out of control. As a college professor, I can tell you with a small degree of certainty that if you wanted to do something weird on campus, you probably could. When I was in graduate school, we were given the keys to the campus, where we could go anywhere and open any door. If you were clever enough, you could certainly find a place to conduct some kind of bizarre experiment if you chose to do. My guess is you would be immediately dismissed from the university, but the point is that you could do it.

Dr. Jessup isn’t some grad student, however; he is a full on professional writing a grant for psychological research. Altered States has a kind of late ’60s, early ’70s feel to it and is borderline experimental with surreal sequences and nontraditional subject matter. Combine that with heavy Christian symbolism and narcotic use, and you have a wonderful rollercoaster of a cult film.

If there was ever a movie where a single actor overshadowed all the other actors, it has to be this one. William Hurt performs with such intensity and passion that you simply can’t take your eyes off of him. He was 30 years old at the time of filming, and it’s pretty clear that he is in his prime and perfect for this role.

Altered States really takes off when Dr. Jessup accepts an invitation by shamans in Mexico to participate in a ritual that involves taking a drug which allows you to see your primordial self. After the initial experience of intense hallucinations, Dr. Jessup thinks that he’s on to something, so he procures a fairly large sample to experiment further.

Back at Harvard, they begin full on experimentation with the drug, and it doesn’t take long to start getting some weird results. It would appear that the experience of going back in time and contacting your primordial self is having a physical affect on Dr. Jessup. It starts to change him, alter his body, and pull him into another kind of existence.

To be fair, I wouldn’t say that this is a typical ’80s movie, but it is decent scifi that takes you on a fairly complicated journey. This is one thing I do miss about the ’80s: The willingness to experiment on this level. The story at no point talks down to you and, in fact, expects you to keep up with very detailed scientific concepts. What’s more, when Jessup starts to experiment, we see the people around him reacting in totally human ways. They desperately want to stop him, but at the same time they are just as curious to see where this is going to go. These conflicts create palpable tension and totally pull you from scene to scene.

If you are looking for the qualities that make a cult film what it is, Altered States has all of them. Secondly, it does border on art film with surreal imagery that parallels Salvador Dali and goes on way longer than it should. It contains very detailed scientific language and concepts, so being a little versed in this area would definitely help. There is explicit sex and narcotics usage. In my opinion none of these are deal-breakers and actually make the movie better.

This movie had a pretty strong cultural effect that was seen in music videos and even Family Guy. I would be willing to bet that people are aware of this movie even if they never heard of it. This is one of the few movies where I would advise you to go in with high expectations.