Altered States

Overly familiar medical/paranoia/institutional 70s thriller every now and then reminds itself that it is directed by Russell, and goes off the deep end into bat-shit craziness – I’ll confess the point and motivation for Hurt’s character to do what he does was lost on me at a certain point (this despite a lot of clunky expository dialogue), but then the wacky colour and light show, spiced up with some typically Russell flavoured sex and gross-out, would pull me back in. A puzzler in a way, but worthwhile – hold on for the final act! (though that ending is a deflating needle pop).