''Altered'' is a 2006 American
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
horror film directed by
Eduardo Sánchez and written by Jamie Nash. It was Sánchez's first solo effort as director, following his co-directing of ''
The Blair Witch Project
''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Josh ...
'' in 1999.
The plot is an inversion of the standard alien abduction formula, as four men abduct a lone alien, planning to wreak revenge on the invading species. In its early stages, the film was entitled ''Probed'', and was intended as a comic homage to the work of
Sam Raimi and
Troma Entertainment
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them pl ...
.
Plot
''Altered'' is the story of four men who seek revenge on aliens, who abducted them and murdered their friend many years ago. As is explained via dialogue throughout the film, fifteen years before the events shown in the film, a group of five friends living in a remote American town were captured and experimented on by aliens while on a hunting trip. Only four of the friends returned alive.
The main character (Wyatt) has since distanced himself from his childhood friends and is shown to have decided to live with the past, albeit in apparent constant
paranoia
Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy co ...
. Two of the remaining three characters, however, have been obsessed by revenge and have persuaded the remaining character that this is the correct course of action to take. The story opens with the tracking and subsequent capture of a lone alien—the consequences of which Wyatt and the three friends soon become deeply involved in.
Cast
*
Paul McCarthy-Boyington as Cody
*
Brad William Henke
Brad William Henke (April 10, 1966 – November 29, 2022) was an American actor and National Football League and Arena Football League player. He was best known for his role as Corrections Officer Desi Piscatella on ''Orange Is the New Black'', f ...
as Duke
*
Michael C. Williams as Otis
*
Adam Kaufman as Wyatt
*
Catherine Mangan as Hope
*
James Gammon
James Richard Gammon (April 20, 1940 – July 16, 2010) was an American actor, known for playing grizzled " good ol' boy" types in numerous films and television series.
Gammon portrayed Lou Brown, the manager in the movies '' Major League'' and ...
as Sheriff Tom Herderson
*
Joe Unger
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
as Mr. Towne
Reception
Critical reception for ''Altered'' was mixed; ''Cinema Crazed'' gave the film a positive review, praising the "good old fashioned special effects mixed with wicked gore", while ''Reel Film'' was more ambivalent, suggesting that the film was "a little too talky for its own good,
utpractically a horror masterpiece when compared to some of its straight-to-video brethren." Roger Moore at the Orlando Sentinel was underwhelmed, reflecting that "too many of the arguments are whispered, too many settings are missing the horrific atmosphere the movie requires," and Scott Weinberg at ''DVD Talk'' described the film as "kind of a mixed bag: half chintzy and raw, half interesting and semi-creepy."
References
External links
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{{Eduardo Sánchez
2006 films
2006 horror films
2006 science fiction films
Direct-to-video horror films
2000s science fiction horror films
Alien abduction films
Films directed by Eduardo Sánchez (director)
American films about revenge
Films with screenplays by Eduardo Sánchez (director)
Films produced by Gregg Hale (producer)
Haxan Films films
2000s English-language films
2000s American films