Altered States Page #7

Synopsis: It's the late 1960's. Just for a lark, graduate student Eddie Jessup, known for being unconventional, brilliant and slightly mad, conducts experiments with an isolation chamber, using himself as the subject. His experiences in the chamber cause him to hallucinate, much of the imagery being religious-based despite he not being a religious man. Seven years later, he is a respected full professor in the Harvard Medical School. Believing he has lost his edge and has fallen into an unwanted state of respectability, Eddie decides to resume his work with sensory deprivation, this time using hallucinogens, specifically untested ones used in mystical Mexican rituals, to enhance the experience of being in the isolation tank. After initial tests, he claims he entered an alternate physical and mental state. Although unbelieving of Eddie's claims, his colleagues Arthur Rosenberg and Mason Parrish, as well as Eddie's wife, Emily, who is in her own right a respected academic, are concerned for Eddie'
Director(s): Ken Russell
Production: Warner Home Video
  Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.9
Metacritic:
58
Rotten Tomatoes:
86%
R
Year:
1980
102 min
1,698 Views


- Yes.

Arthur, I'll call you back

when I'm more awake. Everything's fine.

God, I wonder what time it is.

I should call the kids.

I can't tell you

how much you mean to me...

...how much l need you and the kids.

I just wanted you to know that.

You saved me. You redeemed me

from the pit. L was in it, Emily.

I was in that ultimate moment of terror

that is the beginning of life.

It is nothing.

Simple, hideous nothing.

The final truth of all things

is that there is no final truth.

Truth is what's transitory.

It's human life that is real.

I don't want to frighten you, but I'm trying

to tell you is at that moment of terror...

...is a real and living horror,

living and growing within me now.

And the only thing that keeps it

from devouring me is you.

Why don't you just come back to us?

Hmm. It's too late.

I don't think l can get out of it anymore.

I can't live with it. The pain is too great.

Defy it, Eddie.

You made it real. You can make it unreal.

If you love me, Eddie...

If you love me- Eddie, defy it!

Argh!

Ugh!

I love you, Emily.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote

Paddy Chayefsky

Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for Best Screenplay. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "Altered States" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/altered_states_2609>.

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