Metamorphosis in Werewolves, Human-flies and Sundry Creatures
February 4, 2026 Gerald Large
Ken Russell's film Altered States (1980) follows Dr. Jessup, a psychopathologist who, after participating in an Indigenous Hinchi ceremony involving the hallucinogenic mushroom Amanita muscaria and using isolation tanks, undergoes repeated physical transformations into a caveman. The film explores themes of consciousness, spiritual self-discovery, and monstrous metamorphosis, culminating in Jessup's struggle to reclaim his contemporary human form. The analysis interprets the narrative as a depiction of psychophysical transformation driven by psychedelic and sensory-deprivation experiments.