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Altered States
Release Date	April 6, 1968
Genre	Science Fiction, Horror
Director	Ken Russell
Screenwriter	Paddy Chayefsky
Stars	William Hurt Blair Brown Bob Balaban Charles Haid Thaao Penghlis Miguel Godreau Dori Brenner Peter Brandon Drew Barrymore
Studio	Warner Bros. Pictures

Warner Bros. released Altered States in 1980. The film was directed by Ken Russell, based on the novel of the same name by Paddy Chayefsky, which was published in 1978. Chayefsky also provided the screenplay, his last.

Summary

William Hurt makes his film acting debut, as Professor Eddie Jessup, a research scientist who uses hallucinogenic drugs and a sensory deprivation tank in his experiments with altered states of consciousness. Blair Brown plays Emily Jessup, his wife, and Drew Barrymore also makes her first film appearance, in the role of their daughter, Margaret. Other major characters include Arthur Rosenberg, played by Bob Balaban, and Mason Parrish, played by Charles Haid.

With his mind cut off from external reality during his immersions in the tank, and under the influence of special hallucinatory mushrooms obtained from a primitive tribe, Jessup explores his inner landscape. He experiences an evolutionary regression, becoming an apeman, leading to a scene in which he is chased through city streets by a pack of wild dogs.

The devolutionary process continues intermittently, eventually getting down to the fundamental protoplasmic matter of creation, from which Jessup can only be rescued by the power of love. The movie's explosive visual special effects provide a psychedelic trip for the viewer that reflects Jessup's experiences as he reiterates the inception of life.

Jessup is widely-believed to have been inspired by Dr. John C. Lilly.

Popular Culture

• In the Further Instructions episode of Lost, Charlie makes a reference to Locke devolving "into a monkey" when he prepares to enter an altered state