rwinburn Review of Altered States

Altered States (1980)

Still one of the scariest, most intelligent thrillers ever made

[8/10 · 7 November 2004]

After seeing this film again after 24 years (!) I am amazed at how well it still holds up. The script is packed with scientific jargon yet still crackles and propels the story along at a fast pace. Superb acting, compelling special effects and an incredibly eerie musical score (by Penderecki?) bring it all together as a thriller that is satisfying both intellectually as well as viscerally. The only flaws that stand out to me are the unnecessarily abrupt ending (were they worried about total running time?) and the grand-daddy FX sequence that gets a bit hokey and is clearly derivative of Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Regardless, I consider "Altered States" a must see for the fascinating story, compelling acting, direction, music, and visual imagination.