Altered States movie storyline. It’s the late 1960’s. Just for a lark, graduate student Eddie Jessup, known for being unconventional, brilliant and slightly mad, conducts experiments with an isolation chamber, using himself as the subject. His experiences in the chamber cause him to hallucinate, much of the imagery being religious-based despite he not being a religious man.
Seven years later, he is a respected full professor in the Harvard Medical School. Believing he has lost his edge and has fallen into an unwanted state of respectability, Eddie decides to resume his work with sensory deprivation, this time using hallucinogens, specifically untested ones used in mystical Mexican rituals, to enhance the experience of being in the isolation tank. After initial tests, he claims he entered an alternate physical and mental state.
Altered States is a 1980 American science fiction-horror film adaptation of a novel by the same name by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky. Altered States was Chayefsky’s only novel and his final screenplay. Both the novel and the film are based on John C. Lilly’s sensory deprivation research conducted in isolation tanks under the influence of psychoactive drugs like mescaline, ketamine and LSD.
The film was directed by Ken Russell, and was also the film debut of William Hurt and Drew Barrymore. Chayevsky was credited as a screenwriter for the film using the pseudonym Sidney Aaron, his actual first and middle names.
The film score was composed by classical composer John Corigliano (with Christopher Keene conducting) and was nominated for an Academy Award. The film also received an Oscar nomination for Sound, losing to The Empire Strikes Back.
Altered States (1980)
Directed by: Ken Russell
Starring: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid, Thaao Penghlis, Miguel Godreau, Drew Barrymore, Francis X. McCarthy
Screenplay by: Paddy Chayefsky
Production Design by: Richard Macdonald
Cinematography by: Jordan Cronenweth
Film Editing by: Eric Jenkins, Jack Harnish
Costume Design by: Ruth Myers
Set Decoration by: Thomas L. Roysden
Music by: John Corigliano
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: December 25, 1980
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