The absorbing questioning of television, media and business ethics in Paddy Chayefsky’s acerbic Network provide little hint of the mind-blowing antics of his follow up, Altered States, directed in his US debut by Ken Russell. William Hurt stars as the scientist using a sensory depravation tank and some prime peyote to experiment in regression. That he unleashes a monster is no surprise, but Russell’s film is much more cerebral that the lurid visuals suggest, zooming in with relish on a hallucination of a nine-eyed goat. There’s down to earth support from Charles Haid (Renko in Hill Street Blues) and the always entertaining presence of Bob Balaban, but Hurt fills out his lead character with convincing zeal and doubt, anchoring the film’s serious intent. Any films that sets up the question of discovering a final truth, and then answering it, risks derision, but Altered States stimulates both the mind and the intellect, although not always at the same time.
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