
For this year’s 31 Nights of Horror Challenge, the Day 8 prompt is Body Horror. We watched the movie, Altered States on Amazon Prime Video
Storyline
Respected scientist and psychology professor Edward Jessup decides to combine his experiments in sensory deprivation tanks with powerful hallucinogenic drugs, convinced it may help him unlock different states of consciousness. The experiments are a success at first, but as Jessup continues his work he begins to experience altered mental and physical states. As he spends more time in sensory deprivation, his grip on reality slips away.
Our Thoughts on Altered States (1980)
This was one of the most bizarre movies I have seen in a long time. This was released at a time that was the height of the slasher horror era and not much like this was coming out but it was a very interesting watch for the first time.
In short it is a love story with not only illicit drugs and hallucinations but with plenty of sex and innuendo thrown in for that 1980s vibe.
6.5 out of 10
Trivia
Paddy Chayefsky‘s novel was partially based on the work of neuroscientist and dolphin researcher John C. Lilly, who invented the isolation tank, and first started taking drugs while “tanking”. Lilly’s work had inspired Mike Nichols‘ earlier dolphin movie The Day of the Dolphin (1973). Lilly was an uncredited scientific researcher on both pictures.
Some footage of “hell” in the hallucinations is from Dante’s Inferno (1935), taken from a dream sequence.
Film debut of Drew Barrymore.
One of the few films to be released theatrically with the “Megasound” sound system format, a surround-sound that which was similar to “Sensurround”. “Megasound” was a theater sound system created by Warner Bros. in the early 1980s. It was used to enhance the premiere engagements of a handful of Warner features. Theaters equipped for “Megasound” had additional speakers mounted on the left, right and rear walls of the auditorium. Selected soundtrack events with lots of low-frequency content (thuds, crashes, explosions, etc.) were directed to these speakers at very high volume, creating a visceral effect intended to thrill the audience.