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Altered States Movie Poster
Plot, Details & Awards

Altered States

R In Theaters 01/22/1991 , 103min.
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Plot & Details

In this 1980 sci-fi horror film, William Hurt plays Eddie Jessup, a scientist obsessed with discovering mankind's true role in the universe. To this end, he submits himself to a series of mind-expanding experiments. By enclosing himself in a sensory-deprivation chamber and taking hallucinogenic drugs, Jessup hopes to explore different levels of human consciousness, but instead is devolved into an apelike monster. Director Ken Russell helmed Altered States from a script by Paddy Chayefsky, who adapted his own novel of the same name. Unhappy with the finished product, Chayefsky had his name replaced with his pseudonym Sydney Aaron.
  • MPAA Rating: R
  • Genre(s): Horror,Foreign
  • Run Time: 103min.
  • Theatrical Release Date: 01/22/1991
  • DVD Release Date: 12/29/1998
  • Director(s): Ken Russell
  • Starring: William Hurt , Blair Brown , Bob Balaban , Charles Haid , Drew Barrymore
  • Themes: Experiments Gone Awry
  • Tone: Chilly,Creepy,Hallucinatory,Menacing,Ominous,Paranoid,Tense
  • Keywords: consciousness,drugs,experiment,hallucination,homemaker,mutant,obsession,repression,rescue,roommate,science-runs-amok,scientist,sexual-fantasy,woman,writing
  • Language: English

Awards

Academy Awards

Year Award CategoryCast & Crew Result
1980 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound Les Fresholtz Nominated
1980 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound Michael Minkler Nominated
1980 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Original Score John Corigliano Nominated
1980 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound Willie D. Burton Nominated
1980 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound Arthur Piantadosi Nominated

Golden Globes

Year Award CategoryCast & Crew Result
1980 Hollywood Foreign Press Association New Star of the Year - Male William Hurt Nominated
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