Review of Altered States (1980) by Compi24 — 08 Oct 2020

Wild, weird and impossible to get through without thinking about if/how many times Joe Rogan's watched it, Ken Russell's "Altered States" hurls the classic "mad scientist" horror formula down the rabbit hole of psychedelic drugs, churning it all together with some truly impressive visual effects, evocative imagery and appropriately frenetic editing.

There's another genre element in play here that I won't spoil, but once you realize the filmmakers at hand are serious about its implementation, it makes for quite the provocative development. It's not a profoundly satisfying watch on the whole, with the film's ending leaving more questions (and not the right ones) than answers, but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a whacky, trippy, less character-focused stimulation of the senses.