Truly Dreadful Film

Nice effects though.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I like Eduardo Sanchez, the director of 'Blaire Witch' and 'Lovely Molly'. Sure, 'Exists' wasn't too good, but of the four movies I've seen of his, 3 were really great.'Altered' is a sci-fi/thriller/horror hybrid. In a nutshell, it's a movie about a few hillbillies who capture an alien in the woods years after having been abducted and experimented upon by the same extraterrestrial menaces. They bring the captured yet alive E.T back to one of there friends house, where horror and havoc ensue. I'm not going to go too much into what happens from there as that would be giving away the movie, but the plot is simple enough to be interesting without getting convoluted. The first thing I liked about this movie is that it clearly had a pretty limited budget. IMO, that worked out in Sanchez's favor, for instead of gratuitous use of CGI for effects, we get good old fashioned puppets, costumes and great make-up. It looks like a really good horror movie from the late 80's/early 90's which was a golden age in terms of special effects for the horror and sic-fi genre IMO.Most of the film takes place in one of two rooms, which creates a sense of claustrophobia and tension. Ridiculous as the premise may sound, it is not a light-hearted or campy movie. There is a constant sense of dread and fear, and the actors do there job without too much backstory to lend towards this effect. I also must commend the make up artist and costume designer. The Alien looks great, probably the best portrayal of an E.T since H.R Giegers' Alien design. The gore is noteworthy as well if you're into that kind of thing. When one of the red-necks becomes infected, it truly is pretty sickening .Unlike a lot of his other films ('Blaire Witch', 'Exists' and 'Lovely Molly') there is no 'found- footage' angle or use in 'Altered', which is a nice change of pace. I've said it before, so excuse me for being redundant, but while I don't mind the 'found-footage' technique when it's applied in a way that makes sense, it's nice to see a talented director like Sanchez step out of what I imagine might be his comfort zone and achieve with some grace, a traditional movie in terms of cinematography (it looks great btw).Fans of Sci-FI and Horror will both like this movie. It's kind of sad to think that this one's probably been overlooked, and truth be told, had I not known who directed it, I would never have rented a movie with a cover which screams 'B-MOVIE'!.My only complaint is that I wish it was a bit longer, but really, everything was quite satisfactory. A nice change of pace for the director of 'Blaire Witch'.

In fact... the alien in 'Altered' doesn't so much want to borrow a landline to call his mates, as batter you to death with the mouthpiece and then eat your remains while you're still warm. In short, this film contains the most angry extraterrestrial since that invisible one in the jungle that gave Arnie and his mates such a hard time.We treated to the tale of a handful of your stereotypical 'rednecks' from the 'deep south' of America – you know the types – the ones who we always laugh at when they go on the Jerry Springer show and claim to have been abducted by aliens and had a dodgy encounter with an anal probe. Anyway, these are our heroes, only they really did come into contact with beings from another world (and they probably wished that it was only anal probing that was on the menu!). In short, they drew the short end of the straw during first contact and now they're out for revenge. And, by way of an amazing coincidence, several years later they go on a hunt to their local woods and only go and capture an alien alive. Then they take him back to one of their houses and decide what to do to him.But – guess what – the slimy, green man with big teeth only goes and gets loose. All hell follows.'Altered' is hardly a classic film that will stand the tests of time for its acting, plot, originality, or generally any other praise-worthy point. But it isn't half good fun.Growing up with the exploits of Scully and Mulder during the nineties, I have fond memories for alien abduction stories. Whether they're real or not, they make a good yarn. And this one is no different. It's totally UNoriginal, but none the worse for it. It's basically a slasher film, but, instead of not knowing who the insane killer is stalking our heroes, we know from the start – the alien. It's just a question of killing the slippery little thing (and obviously staying clear of his razor-sharp teeth and claws).It's actually quite fun to root for the rednecks. I seem to have lost count of the amount of times they've been portrayed as the baddies. Now we get to see them hold their own against a hideous alien with more teeth than all of them put together. There's no real outstanding performances, although I had a strange liking for the big, dumb 'Duke.' The alien himself is seen in all its glory and is basically a man in a rubber suit, but he does his job. In fact, some of the special effects (or should I say 'gore?') are pretty impressive. So, if you like your slasher films with a healthy dose of sci-fi in there you could do worse that watching this little gem of a B-movie.Plus, special mention to the 'rope-pull intestine' scene – still makes me squeamish and I've seen this film a few times now.

Directed by Eduardo Sanchez, "Altered" is an unconventional alien abduction movie. Here a band of foul-mouthed rural folk, all of whom have been repeatedly abducted by extra-terrestrials, concoct a plan to vengefully capture and torture an alien."Altered's" first half unfolds like John Carpenter's "The Thing", mixing gritty realism with paranormal suspense. Its second half then indulges in much gore, blood and violence. Because our human victims have been so abused, so psychologically altered by their abductions, this violence seems almost cathartic. The film's ancestor seems to be "I Spit on Your Grace", an infamous rape-and-revenge movie.7.5/10 – Worth one viewing.

Four men are determined to get revenge on the vicious alien life form that held them all hostage and killed their friend. However, the quartet all find themselves in considerable jeopardy after their plan doesn't work out the way that they expected it to. Director Eduardo Sanchez, working from a tight and gripping script by Jamie Nash, relates the involving story at a snappy pace, ably crafts a tense and spooky atmosphere, maintains a dark, grim, and serious tone throughout, builds plenty of nerve-rattling suspense, and delivers a handy helping of shockingly gross'n'gruesome gore (one guy gets a hideous flesh-eating infection after he's bitten by the alien). Moreover, the evil extraterrestrial is convincingly brought to terrifying life by a guy in a funky rubber suit and proves to be a truly formidable piece of nasty work. The excellent acting by the capable no-name cast keeps the movie humming: Adam Kaufman as the troubled Wyatt, Catherine Mangan as Wyatt's feisty girlfriend Hope, Brad William Henke as the sensible Duke, Michael C. Williams as bumbling wimp Otis, and Paul McCarthy-Boyington as the reckless and belligerent Codi. Veteran character actor James Gammon likewise registers well as the crusty Sheriff Henderson. The loyalty displayed amongst the main characters gives this picture additional touching depth and resonance. The succinct 88 minute running time ensures that this film never becomes tedious or overstays its welcome. Steve Yedlin's sharp cinematography makes stunningly effective use of shadowy lighting. The shuddery score by Tony Cora and Exiquio Talavera does the skin-crawling trick. A worthy shocker.