1980: Altered States (63)

What else happened this year? I have no goddam idea - was this the year that the olympics were boycotted? Actually, Reagan also got elected for the first time. That'll do it. 

What is the plot - in one sentence? A 'brilliant' scientist combines isolation tanks and drugs to develop a theory about the innate commonality of all life in the universe.

I don't have time, just spoil it for me? He undergoes some hallucinatory events in the pod, then reverts to an ape form and attacks some people. In a later experiment he turns into a giant, amorphous blob, and is drawn into the ancient emotion of terror... he's only saved by that second most ancient of emotions - love: his wife brings him back from the abyss.

What is the meaning of the title? He's a psycho-pathologist... and he's studying 'altered states' of consciousness

This is from what may be a hallucination. I'll post it here because I know one of the very few people likely to ever read this will almost die from seeing this image.

Anything that's not aged well? Does a woman get slapped around? There's no violence to women, which is something, but there do seem to be some animals killed in the making of the movie - a fairly realistic monitor lizard corpse is shown, and a deer probably was killed onscreen. The 'ape-man' also slaps a real elephant, and messes with dogs, both of which must have taken some balls.

Our hero has some drug induced visions, and they are either cgi or greenscreen, which haven't aged well. There's also a near constant flash in both types. They haven't aged well, nor would any epileptic who was watching them.

The central tenant, a borderline Autistic-savant guy has woman fall in love with him, is a bit played out now too, I think. Last but not least, the central conceit of the movie, that there are regressive genes, sounds a bit pseudo-science for today's sci-fi, but I can't fault it for trying.

Any thoughts? An awkward but brilliant scientist and an attractive redhead pair up, and she tries to stop him from destroying himself after a series of body horror incidents. That sentence describes this movie, and also David Cronenberg's 'The Fly' which this movie obviously had an influence on - probably moreso than the original black and white movie it is ostensibly based on.

The main scientist is the guy who played robocop, I didn't mention that. He has a 'regression' into an ape form, but seems to be progressing through time in regressions. He follows the same principle in the same hallucination pod, and his cheeks swell out significantly.. and we wait (as an audience) to see what has happened to him... I was expecting it to be an orangutan standing there. I was disappointed that it was a mere amorphous blob. 

Would you recommend this? Kinda. I have to give it points for trying at least. I genuinely wasn't expecting that ape scene at all. This was pretty tense and interesting too. Check it out, I'd say

Final thoughts? Both of the main stars were happy to be nude in a variety of scenes, something that would be noteworthy today, but wasn't then. There's also a lot of implied sex - when they first meet, and then when she tries to 'get over him', by sleeping around - which is refreshing in this day and age of sexless superhero movies. There's also a lot of arguing about science between scholars, on a mid-ish budget movie, that would be unlikely to happen today either. That's a pity, as cinema is a more interesting art with a healthy independent to mid-level scene.

Oh, Drew Barrymore is there, as one of the kids, she's in it for a mere moment, and is still recognisable. Weird that she's only in her, what, middle age now?

Feel like life is a lie? Check out the other 62 of these I've done. there's been some complaint that I am doing too many English language movies, the people complaining: tau ni ma.