15 years ago, five men were abducted by aliens and only four of them got to return home. Now, these men have captured one of the aliens who killed their friend and who ruined their lives, and now it's time for revenge. But making things right tends to be harder than the men first had thought.
I'm pretty sure that Altered would've been a blast to see in the theater, but because of big studio suits, the movie ended up being just another straight-to-DVD release. While that is kinda sad and of course is a bad thing for the director as well as the rest of the cast & crew, that doesn't mean that Altered is not a good movie, because that it really is. What makes this movie so cool is the very different take on the whole alien abduction thing where we're used to aliens abducting people, but in Altered, it's the other way around - people abducting an alien. There are all kinds of cases around the world where people claim that they were abducted by aliens, and while some nuts may just be seeking attention, some cases have proven to be hard to fully explain. Anyway, what Altered deals with are a bunch of guys who were abducted when they were kids, but they got to return home and now, 15 years later, they want revenge so they kidnap one of the aliens that once kidnapped them.
Director Eduardo Sánchez was behind the mega indie hit that was The Blair Witch Project many years ago and since that is written on the very cover of Altered, I'm sure a lot of people will rent the film for that fact, as well as others will ignore it for the same reason. But whatever you thought of Blair Witch, I can tell you that Altered doesn't even compare to it, and was not filmed documentary-style either. So forget about that whole Blair Witch-thing because everything's quite different this time around.
 
Another thing that is very good when it comes to what Altered has to offer is that the alien is not some stupid CGI creation, and that alone just makes things so much better. It's a very stylish movie, at least when it comes to the effects and the gore, and the good thing is that it never overdo it and shows blood and guts just for the sake of being nasty; no, it's all justified and works wonders. Another thing that works wonders are the actors, or the actors portraying these characters that are rednecks. They have a very human and realistic side to them and are quite easy to relate to as well as to feel something for. Ordinary people that once have experienced something horrible come together to "make things right" and to get their sweet revenge, but things don't work out exactly as they first had planned.
Three rednecks kidnap this alien, that many years ago killed their friend, and brings the creature to their friend Wyatt who doesn't wanna be part of what the guys are up to at first. Eventually, Wyatt let the boys into his home and soon the alien is chained up on a table while the group decides what to do with it. But the alien's a sneaky little bastard that does everything in its power to escape, and soon the boys find themselves in a whole heap of trouble. While it might not be a scary movie per say, the horror's definitely there at times and so is the gore, accompanied by suspense. What I liked the most about this film was that it was truly easy to sit through, maybe due to the fact that it has plenty of things happening in it from start to finish. Entertaining is the word and with dull never being present, Altered is a pretty awesome ride.
I'm not too into Sci-Fi, but the only thing Sci-Fi about Altered is the fact that it has an alien in it and deals with an abduction kind of story, but other than that, it's pretty suspenseful and gory horror all the way. If you're looking for a great time and an easy enough movie to watch, Altered would be a good pick.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE:
MOVIE YEAR: 2006
DIRECTOR: Eduardo Sánchez
WRITING CREDITS: Jamie Nash
GENRE: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
CAST: James Gammon, Brad William Henke, Adam Kaufman
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 88 min
RATING: 7/10
Altered Website/IMDB Click here
Altered Trailer
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