Customer Reviews

Altered

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The general public (sadly) enjoys only horror movies that deliver tons of action and a incredibly easy story to follow. Luckily for some of us, once in awhile there is a director that dares to challenge us and make us figure out things for ourselves. Altered is such a movie. Aside from the little paragraph on the back of the DVD, we are forced to put together the pieces of why these men are trying to catch this creature and why they need to keep it alive. Blair Witch fans will be expecting this to be a similar movie, but its quite the opposite. Without giving away too many spoilers, we get to see the creature this time around... a lot. Definitley watch this one at night time alone in a dark room for full effect. Haxan delivers once again!

Picked this dvd up on a whim. I personally hadn't heard anything about it, but I saw it was directed by one of the guys who co-wrote and co-directed (whatever that means) The Blair Witch Project. That's not great, but it was something to go on. In the very least it promised that the storyline might be innovative.

I thought Altered was really good! It's a pretty simple plot: three hicks, who have been hunting aliens for seven years, finally catch one and take it to their friend's house. The friend, Wyatt, has had contact with the aliens before, having been abducted nearly fifteen years ago. Most of the hijinks involves these four guys Wyatt's girlfriend and the abducted alien. The story is sort of derivative, combining elements from Night of the Living Dead, the original Alien and maybe a dash of Signs. But this managed to take those pieces and still make a highly suspenseful film!

The characters were fleshed out just enough where you cared what happened to them. Honestly Adam Kaufman's Wyatt stole the show. The man has charisma. As for the rest, in this day and age where every horror character is a sassy b*tch, it was nice to see dialog that was restrained and functional. They still managed to sneak a few jokes in, but they were so subtle and/or situational that it worked pretty well. The only one who comes across as an amateur is the girlfriend. I've seen oak trees that were less wooden than her delivery. Still, considering this was a nobody, no publicity, nothing, straight to video indie flick I'm surprised at how good she was in comparison to other similar projects.

The special effects were pretty good. Everything was hand made special effects, so you don't have any of that fakey CGI smeared around. Movies ten times the budget haven't learned that lesson yet. The character design for the alien was pretty good. It sported an animatronic face and probably a small, athletic bloke in a rubber suit with the result being some of the best monster realism since Aliens. The best part was the disembowel scene; realistic without being disgusting, a chuckling that's-gotta-hurt moment if I ever saw one. Really, this was a pleasant surprise, given where the sequel to the Blair Witch went. Maybe Eduardo Sanchez has a future in horror after all!

This movie brings to the screen what a lot of 'thrillers' have lacked as of late. Tension, suspense, fear, dread... it's all here.
Granted the female actor could have been more in the movie than not, but aside from that it's a great movie.
It brings you in right away and keeps you with the characters. You get to know them and the story that brings them together. Good versus evil.... us versus them. It plays the plot out thoughtfully with the balance shifting many times throughout the film.
The struggles follow logically as control shifts back and forth. The battle escalates til the end. Not giving the ending away here, but it's left open for a follow up. Which I do believe I would like to see.
This is the old fashioned alien... evil... powerful.
Definitely a dark night/popcorn kind of movie with a few jump out scenes.
You won't be sorry you watched this one.

When trying to describe Altered to my friend, I said "It's like someone took Alien, Signs, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and a bad Jeff Foxworthy comedy sketch and put them all into a blender". That gives a fairly accurate picture of the movie.

Plot: It follows the fate of four friends who are haunted by a night years ago when one of their friends died, killed by a mysterious creature. At the time, they were little more than boys, but now that they're men, they're out to exact their pound of flesh from the monster. Yet, things are more complicated than they appear initially, and soon it is evident some creatures are better left undisturbed.

Positives: The monster itself is artfully designed to be rather horrific. A cross being HR Geiger's alien and a classic X-Files alien, it is interesting to look at. Adam Kaufman shows he's all grown up after his Buffy the Vampire Slayer appearances in season 4. His portrayal of the tortured and torn Wyatt is the biggest plus to the entire movie. Also, the ending was well done and entertaining. The special effects for the horrible fates of some of the cast are well executed, they made me a little nauseous (I shouldn't be happy about that, but I am)

Negatives: Some of the plot is trite- going in you know a lot of the cast won't make it to see the end, and about a half hour in, you have a good idea how it will end.

Still, with those few negatives and many positives, I recommend this dark sci-fi horror movie. It is fun and fast paced- a gory, chilling way to spend an evening.

I've been looking forward to this flick since I first heard about it a couple years back. I was a little disappointed that a film that is this good quality can't get a theatrical release while other piece of crap "horror" films like 'Black Christmas' and 'The Covenant' do. I will agree with some other reviewers that the ending felt like it was just slapped on there. Seriously, what was up with the frog spaceship thingy? Other than that it had a lot going for it. Good performances for an independent film and high quality make-up and gore effects. All in all it's worth the rent.

Perhaps violating a review taboo here, but there is a technology gap evident in reviewers' appreciation of this film. Little or no CG effects here; that necessitates more resourceful editing, acting, and attention to detail. (Computer graphics plugged into current films pay off big time with folks who spend a lot of time with games, perhaps less so with more experienced viewers.) ALTERED is a fine little horror gem that delivers what it promises--and maybe a little more.

i never heard of this movie, so far all the b-movies i have seen have good reviews but damn do they suck, but this was a surprise this up there with dog soldiers check this one out!!!!!!!!!!

This was a very enjoyable film about a group of country boys hell bent on revenge for their past abduction. They actually manage to capture an alien and it is definitely pay back time. The story was quite gruesome and definitely not for the squeamish. If flying entrails don't bother you too much you will probably like this film. There is nothing endearing about these aliens who were at least as tough as those featured in the first X-Files movie.

Though only competant work, the graphic special effects were convincing enough to bother me. I would have rated the film at five stars for the new abduction scenario if hadn't been so violent and more than a little warped. However, it held my interest to the end and provided a real twist on the stale alien abduction theme. This movie could have been an X-Files film, just without our two favorite FBI agents.

The story might have been inspired by the reported Travis Walton abduction story about an actual group of mountain boys who in 1975 reported a UFO. One member of their party was missing for days and came back to tell another tale of alien abduction. The film "Fire in the Sky" was made about this reported event.

FIRE IN THE SKY is the comprehensive story of a logger named Travis Walton who mysteriously disappears in 1975 only to turn up bloodied and bruised five days later. Walton and co-workers accidentally discover a UFO and unfortunately they all escape except Walton who is elevated aboard the bizarre aircraft. Onboard he undergoes painful unearthly medical tests.

okay i thought this movie was going to be okay. i figured a little eerie maybe, who knows. well glad i gave it a shot. altered is a movie of a different kind. same stuff just done different, and i liked that. it's about these five guys who were abducted for a few days when they were kids, and as a result one died, and the others were never the same. well many years later the remaining friends come in contact with one of the aliens and take him hostage, while banging him up a bit. now what do they do. one wants to kill him right off, but the others fear all hell will break loose, because where there is one there are others. but all do want to get some sort of revenge for the death of their friend. well they think they're in charge, but the alien is anything but defenseless okay. this thing looks very wicked and evil. they way it runs, damn they look psychotic. just by the look of it you know he's very bad. well unfortunately while in their secluded area the alien becomes unleashed and there's bloodshed here and there. now they have to get rid of it before the others come and find it and them. some scenes are literally gut wrenching. the kills are some good ones. some of this stuff is unbelievable, for real. makes you think about what's out there and kind of creeps you out to know that you can't see them, but they can see you.

I'm very surprised by the negative reviews for this movie, oh well, some people just don't know quality when it's standing in front of them.
If you're interested in horror/science fiction with an element of realism thrown in, then this is the film for you.
From the makers of the Blair Witch Project (which sucked but is still culturally significant) this film takes us to rural farm land where a group of rednecks, united by a horrible past event, go into the woods looking for some revenge on the extraterrestrial jerks who have ruined their lives. They capture one and keep it chained up, bringing it back to their buddy's farm house to exact a little torture on it, but are then one by one picked off in various gruesome fashion.
The great thing about this movie is that there aren't any really big names in it, and yet the actors all turn in great performances. The storyline is ultra creepy, especially if you're at all into UFO/conspiracy theories.
This, and 28 weeks later, are probably the best horror films I've seen in a decade, and is proof positive that you don't have to have a tremendous budget and popular names to make a decent film.
Ignore the negative reviews on this one, there's plent of gore and excellent special effects, if you're still a little undecided, then rent it first, but if you're a real fan of horror, then you'll appreciate this film.