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Altered States

Name: Altered States
Director: Ken Russell
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
Released: 1980-12-25
Duration: 103 min
Rating: 6.9
Cast: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid, Thaao Penghlis

1980 · 1h 43m · Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller

IMDb 6.9 Metacritic 58 RT 87%

Watch it tonight if you want your brain scrambled by one of sci-fi horror's wildest trips—Ken Russell directs William Hurt through a fever dream of sensory deprivation and shamanic drugs that actually holds up as a genuinely unsettling exploration of consciousness. It's bizarre, visually inventive, and occasionally bonkers, but that's exactly what makes it essential viewing for anyone who loves experimental cinema that doesn't apologize for being weird.

Plot

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.

Director: Ken Russell

Cast: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid, Thaao Penghlis

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