'Altered States' trivia and fun facts

Dante's Inferno

Some footage of "hell" in the hallucinations are from the movie 'Dante's Inferno' taken from a dream sequence.

Columbia Pictures

The film was produced originally at Columbia Pictures, which would later end its participation with it, before Warner Bros. bought the rights.

Arthur Penn y John Dykstra

Arthur Penn was originally slated to direct the movie but resigned. Then special effects whiz John Dykstra also resigned from the film.

Magic mushrooms

In his autobiography, director Ken Russell claimed he tried psychedelic inducing "magic mushrooms" during the making of the film, which resulted in a bad trip.

27th choice

Ken Russell has alleged in interviews that he was the 27th choice for director stating that the Warner Brothers studio only hired him after 26 other directors had passed on the project.

Ken Russell drunk

Ken Russell was often drunk throughout production.

Time

The film was selected to be included in "Time" magazine's Top Ten Best Films List for 1980.

Pioneers

This film was an early user of primitive CGI.

Debuts

Film debuts of both William Hurt and Drew Barrymore.

Isolation tank

In a 1981 interview with 'The New York Times', actress Blair Brown said many of the actors and crew tried out the isolation tank. William Hurt actually hallucinated, while Brown found it very peaceful.

A virtual pariah

The film's box office failure and Ken Russell's onset behaviour, including a row with Paddy Chayefsky led to the director becoming a virtual pariah in Hollywood.

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