Altered

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Horrorphile - December 2008

Altered

December 5th 2008 01:09

After co-directing low-budget cult fave The Blair Witch Project (1999) with Daniel Myrick, and enjoying extraordinary box office success unlike anything since Halloween (1978), it took six years before Eduardo Sánchez directed again. The result was Altered (2006), which was finally released a year-and-a-half after filming was completed, but went straight to DVD. It’s a shame the movie didn’t receive better treatment, as it kicks ass in many ways, but it is ultimately a seriously flawed movie.

Fifteen years ago a group of five close-knit buddies were abducted by aliens. Four of them were released after some rather traumatic prodding and probing. Wyatt (Andy Kaufman), Duke (Brad William Henke), Cody (Paul McCarthy-Boyington) and Otis (Michael C. Williams) are on a dangerous mission. They want revenge for the loss of their friend. The aliens have returned and they’ve caught one of the vicious bastards. The tables have been turned. Or have they? It seems Wyatt knows something about the alien intelligence the others don’t.

Andy Kaufman as Wyatt

Altered is a very ambitious little movie. It cost eight million, but Eduardo Sánchez would like you to think it cost much less as the almost the entire movie takes place at night in dense bush or inside a dimly-lit garage. There are basically only six characters with speaking parts, which includes Wyatt’s girlfriend Hope (Catherine Mangan) and Sheriff Henderson (James Gammon), plus the Foki alien scout (played by stuntwoman Misty Rosas), but that nasty thing only hisses and screeches, bearing its horrendous fangs.

Altered Michael C. Williams, Brad William Henke and Paul McCarthy-Boyington

Otis (Michael C. Williams), Duke (Brad William Henke) and Cody (Paul McCarthy-Boyington)

The screenplay by Jamie Nash appears to be more of a twisted treatise on alien-human relations. There’s an awful lot of dialogue, some of which is utterly risible; when Wyatt confronts the alien who is pinned to the wall of the garage by a harpoon he shouts at it “Enough is enough!” Yeah, right, like the alien is gonna take your complaint on board and consider what’s fair?

While the men have the alien trussed up they bicker about the hows and whys. Why’d the aliens return? How’d they find them so easily? Wyatt reveals he was experimented on more extensively than the others and he discovered he’d had an alien tracking device inserted inside him. He’s been altered, and his resilience has become a strength that prevents him from being contaminated by the alien bacteria. The same can’t be said of poor foul-mouthed Cody who after receiving a flesh-wound in a struggle with the alien begins to decompose.

Hope (Catherine Mangan) knows how to hold her own too

The special effects make-up is excellent, although the alien design itself (woman in a suit with a simple animatronic mask) is nowhere near as effective as it should’ve been. It looks frightening at a glimpse, but very silly when fully revealed (perhaps some CGI would've helped?). For the most part Sánchez wisely keeps the alien in the shadows, or moving swiftly. There’s an outrageous scene of disemboweling that stretches (both figuratively and literally) belief, for its sheer over-the-top gore it packs a punch, but then when the character continues to have a conversation that’s when you start to shake your head.

Altered Andy Kaufman, Michael C. Williams, Brad William Henke and Paul McCarthy-Boyington

The boys got themselves a live 'un!

Misty Rosas as dodgy-looking Foki alien scout

The movie begins slam-bam into the narrative with little regard to back-story, and this provides a heightened level of intrigue, but much of this background is never properly explained, and for the first half of the movie it’s hard to penetrate just what the hell is going on. It is this convoluted contrivance that weighs heavily on the movie. Add to it the unlikable quality of any of the men, plus the peripheral confusion of the girlfriend, and Altered becomes a bit of a task. The best scenes are when the suspicious Sheriff arrives to suss Wyatt out and the subsequent chaos.

Argh! A mutant ninja turtle got me!

Cody's seen better days

The explosive finale is ludicrous and unsatisfying and finishes on a frustrating token resolve and further question mark, not to mention the unintentional comic appearance of the alien spacecraft which bears a striking similarity to a giant frog (!) Altered is a strange brew. On one hand it’s an accomplished piece of science-fiction horror (Sánchez has a solid visual narrative and knows how to generate tension), but on the other it’s a dark and ponderous misfire. If the screenplay hadn’t been so littered with bloated dialogue, character sillyisms, and hadn’t tried to be so conceptually clever it would’ve garnered instant cult appeal. Instead it will be forever compared to Fire in the Sky (1993) and Alien (1979).

Altered is worth checking out on a rainy afternoon if you dig alien-horror (and you could do so much worse with the selection of straight-to-dvd titles), but if you want some seriously bitchin’ alien confrontation then check out Feast (2005). Of curious and amusing note Altered was originally planned as a comedy entitled Probed … and Eduardo Sánchez shares the same birthday as me: 20th December 1968.

Here's one of the original teaser trailers:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

7 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by katyzzz

December 5th 2008 01:42

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Any relation to alt-ed?, sorry darling just could not help myself, brilliant writing as always Bryn, and 10 points is 10 points, not to be sneezed at.

How is married life, just wondering, I've forgotten.

Comment by Damo

December 5th 2008 06:27

For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics

But this looks like fun.

Except for the turtle man.

Who looks like a turtle man of rubber.

Comment by Bryn

December 5th 2008 07:21

Horrorphile

katyzzz ... I almost didn't recognise you in the Darkness. "alt-ed"?? Is that an abbreviation of "alternative education"?

Damo, you'd be right there. The creature is scarier in the context of the movie, of course, but nowhere near as scary as Giger's.

Comment by katyzzz

December 5th 2008 10:52

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Well, he's certainly alternative something, he lives here on Orble, where he delivers witty, clever material, which I mostly DO NOT read, after all I am the Orble wowser, and proudly so, but best ask him what he means, it's a bit hard to tell just what he does stand for, I'd put him in a league with norm, perhaps.

I must start wearing bright yellow if I'm hard to see but I don't think you'll trip over me too often, the house of horrors is too frightening for me.

Of course, perhaps I'd be interested in a starring role, no makeover required.

Comment by Bryn

December 6th 2008 09:30

Horrorphile

katyzzz, you talk in riddles most of the time ... All this obtuse perspective mumbojumbo ... Who is in a league with Norm?? I have no idea who you are talking about.
By the way yellow is a good colour to wear around here as it symbolises "giallo", the cult-classic Italian murder mystery-thrillers of the 60s and 70s (Dario Argento is currently in production on one simply titled Giallo.

Comment by katyzzz

December 7th 2008 01:19

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Alt Ed and Norm are two of your fellow bloggers, I see you do not take much interest in their work and I'll not disagree with that.

You and I appear to be on different wavelengths, unfortunately, You don't comprehend my humour, often a problem in the cyber world.

I love yellow.

I'll set you free, have no concerns about me, I just could not resiest seeing the anomaly in the title, as we have an alt-ed here, he and I are definitely poles apart, but I agree you have better things to do with your time than respond to me.

Sorry about that, this was a once off really, I shall not try again, guess I'll look for irony elsewhere.

I do rather like your ghost like call though, I must admit.

Comment by Bryn

December 7th 2008 22:15

Horrorphile

(ghost-like call): katyzzz, I agree that irony, sarcasm and particularly dry wit is often lost when communicating in the cyberworld (this applies to sms as well as email and online commentary) ... Dems da cyber-breaks.

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