Titled: Altered; Cast: Adam Kaufman Catherine Mangan, Paur McCarthy-Boyington, Brad William Henke, Mike Williams, James Gammon, Misty Rosas; Director: Eduardo Sanchez; Producers: ; Screenwriters: Jamie Nash, Eduardo Sanchez; Music: Tony Cora, Exiquio; Editor: Michael Cronin; Genre: Horror; Cinematography: Steve Yedlin; Distributor: Rogue Pictures; Location: Florida, USA; Running Time: 90 min.;
Technical Assessment: 3
Moral Assessment: 2 ½
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above
Three friends, Cody (Paur McCarthy-Boyington), Duke (Brad William Henke) and Otis (Mike C. Williams), succeed in capturing an alien in the middle of the forest . Not knowing what to do, they take it to the house of a common friend Wyatt (Adam Kaufman). Later on, it is revealed that all of them were abducted by the same aliens 15 years ago, and Cody’s brother Timmy failed to return. With the alien in captivity in Wyatt’s garage,Cody wants to kill it in revenge for Timmy but Wyatt argues that this will only bring the other aliens after them. But the captured alien succeeds in taking over Wyatt’s girlfriend, Hope’s (Catherine Mangan) mind and then infecting Cody with its bite, causing him to start mutating. With tension between the members of the group rising, Wyatt thinks that the aliens, who left him altered in some way during their abduction before,have returned for him, despite his attempts to hide and run away.
Altered pales in comparison with its director’s hit horror flick, The Blair Witch Project. This time, there is a certain amount of gore and a real alien is seen in the movie. The attempt is not a total failure though for it is able to evoke a certain amount of fear from the audience. But the script is a bit talky for a horror film and the excitement fails somewhere in the middle. The film is able to catch up towards the end. However, the “altered” subplot or main plot remains to be ambiguous in the entire storytelling. The acting is commendable and all characters are consistent up to the very end. Given the apparent limited resources of the film, it is impressive that it is able to come up with effective visual effects and true-to-form aliens.
Altered is another horror, sci-fi thriller focusing on the presence of aliens on earth. This time, they are more than just external forces but they have turned into internal monsters that haunt every human being they encounter. Self-preservation and survival is a human instinct and there is still no clear cut moral argument as to how humans should treat aliens. In case human life is in danger, it may be morally acceptable to kill a creature that harms, but how can we be certain that humans have not also violated the aliens in any way? It is remarkable to note how the characters in Altered have turned into savages both for survival and revenge. In the end, Altered is about the various “aliens” inside every human being. Some may have destroyed us, the more sophisticated ones may have altered us, but ultimately, with faith and perseverance, we all can win over these aliens since the human being, still, is made superior over any other creatures. The very young audiences should be guided while watching, given the horror, gore, violence, sexual content, alcoholism and strong language used in the film.
