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Altered States poster

Movies that feel likeAltered States (1980)

A research scientist explores the boundaries and frontiers of human consciousness. Using sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic mixtures from Native American shamans, he explores these altered states of cognizance and finds that memory, time, and reality itself are states of mind.

If you loved Altered States, the closest films we have are Seconds (1966), Eraserhead (1977) and Phantasm (1979). All three share Altered States' dread and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Poison for the Fairies (1986).

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If Altered States hit the spot, these will too

Seconds poster
Seconds
1966 · dir. John Frankenheimer
🍅 79%★ 7.6science fiction · thriller · horror

Both land dread and unease at once

The difference: Easier on the dream logic than Altered States

An unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity; one that comes with its own price.

Eraserhead poster
Eraserhead
1977 · dir. David Lynch
🍅 87%★ 7.2horror · science fictionMax

The same mix in both: ideas, then dream logic

First-time father Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.

Phantasm poster
Phantasm
1979 · dir. Don Coscarelli
🍅 72%★ 6.6horror · science fictionPrime Video

Dread-soaked horror, and it commits to that

A teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers poster
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1956 · dir. Don Siegel
🍅 97%★ 7.7science fiction · horror · thrillerParamount+

Both lean on tension more than on science fiction

The difference: 24 years apart, and the 1950s show

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers poster
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1978 · dir. Philip Kaufman
🍅 93%★ 7.4science fiction · horror

Thriller built on unease, twice over

The residents of San Francisco are becoming drone-like shadows of their former selves, and as the phenomenon spreads, two Department of Health workers uncover the horrifying truth.

Scanners poster
Scanners
1981 · dir. David Cronenberg
🍅 69%★ 6.7science fiction · horrorMax

Cerebral horror in both cases

A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called 'scanning' to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non-Scanners.

Phase IV poster
Phase IV
1974 · dir. Saul Bass
🍅 50%★ 6.4horror · science fiction

Science fiction with a pulse of dread, in both cases

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

Arizona ants mock the food chain on their way to a desert lab to get two scientists and a woman.

Godzilla poster
Godzilla
1954 · dir. Ishirō Honda
🍅 94%★ 7.6thriller · horror · science fictionMax

Thriller with a pulse of tension, in both cases

Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Kyohei Yamane soon discover something far more devastating than imagined in the form of a 50 meter tall monster whom the natives call Gojira. Now the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.

The Incredible Shrinking Man poster
The Incredible Shrinking Man
1957 · dir. Jack Arnold
🍅 83%★ 7.6science fiction · adventure · horror

Horror built on dream logic, twice over

The difference: Leans harder into adventure than Altered States does

A dangerous combination of radiation and insecticide causes the unfortunate Scott Carey to shrink, slowly but surely, until he is only a few inches tall. His home becomes a wilderness where he must survive everything from spiders living in the cellar to his beloved cat.

Poison for the Fairies poster
Poison for the Fairies
1986 · dir. Carlos Enrique Taboada
★ 7.2fantasy · horror

Both lean on unease more than on science fiction

In 1965 Mexico City, Flavia, a wealthy yet lonely schoolgirl, befriends Veronica, a young orphan girl who has a fascination with witchcraft. Veronica convinces Flavia that she is a real witch and forces her to be her assistant. The children's games gradually become more serious and Veronica demands more from Flavia.

Dead of Night poster
Dead of Night
1945 · dir. Charles Crichton
🍅 96%★ 7.5horror · thriller

Tense thriller, and it commits to that

An architect, visiting an English country house, realizes the other guests are familiar from his recurring nightmare. When they share their tales of the supernatural, he is filled with a growing dread.

Silent Night, Deadly Night poster
Silent Night, Deadly Night
1984 · dir. Charles E. Sellier Jr.
🍅 55%★ 5.8thriller · horrorPrime Video

The same horror instincts

After a man dressed as Santa Claus brutally murders Billy Chapman's parents, little Billy then endures the cruelty of a sadistic nun at his orphanage. Years later, when adult Billy has to fill in for an absent in-store Santa, his childhood trauma brings him to the breaking point.

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The best-reviewed films that share Altered States’ defining feeling.