Altered (2006)

(In French, On Cable TV, July 2021) I’ve seen so many generic horror films lately that by the time one shows up with a mildly interesting element, I’m liable to be perhaps a bit too generous about the result. So it is that Altered plays with familiar science fiction horror elements (aliens on earth abducting rural-area people, mind-controlling body implants, alien invasion, etc.) but remixes them into something less rarely seen. Which is to say: our rural rednecks manage, after a few years of trying, to capture one of those aliens, tie it to a table and torture it for revenge. Of course, it’s not that simple, not when some of them have been implanted with a mind-controlling device that makes them into a puppet of the alien if they step too close… For one thing, this premise manages to keep the action in a single location for a surprisingly long time, always helpful for a low-budget film. For another, it’s a premise rife with potential for those fans of body horror — as much as I’m not a big fan of gore, Altered is never as audacious as when it plays with the idea of people self-removing their mind control implants, or an alien puppeteering a character well past the point of unrecoverable body harm. Parts of the film are nausea-inducing, but the science-fictional device of a tortured alien does make it easier to stomach (ahem) than a strictly realistic approach. In other words, Altered stands a cut above most generic horror movies for most of its running time. Unfortunately, a disappointing ending doesn’t quite manage to cap off everything with a strong climax — which is really weird, as one final visual basically begged itself after a running theme in the film’s dialogue. (Ah, why be coy? In a horror film where the characters can’t kill the monster for fear of causing an invasion, anything less than a final shot of a sky filled with descending saucers is a disappointment.)  The success of the film may be a bit easier to understand once you realize that it’s directed by Eduardo Sánchez, one of the co-directors of the infamous Blair Witch Project. Better-than average premise and execution do make up for something worth a look for horror fans and those who want just a slightly different spin on the alien abduction mythology.