Altered

After being "taken" by aliens 15 years ago, a group of good ol' boys decide to capture an alien themselves. Not really believing they will succeed, the guys actually do trap one and take it to a reclusive friend who seems to know an awful lot about the aliens. Made on a low budget, "Altered" does an admirable job sustaining tension, dropping just enough hints along the way to keep us engaged. Being that "The Blair Witch Project" wasn't really directed so much as improved, I had my doubts about Eduardo Sanchez's credentials, however, he displays a canny sense of the genre. Make-up and visual effects were superb belying the production's budget. Although the script was the weakest link in this alien stew, the film remains engrossing. Lead performance by Adam Kaufman is excellent. He carries the film well. Once again Eduardo Sanchez creeps us out by setting the film in the woods. This guy must really hate camping! A genuinely scary movie that won't disappoint its audience.

7.2/10 As a huge fan of alien films, I've seen many lists and articles including this as a very underrated gory alien offering on a small budget. The director Eduardo Sánchez, who has definitive experience in crafting simplistically effective creepy films on tight funds clearly shows that talent here once again in even better fashion than Blair Witch Project. The overall story takes some time at first to develop within the group of 4 friends and their "guest". As pieces start falling together and developing it gets damn right insane and visceral and the tension gets extreme. I thought the action packed finale was spectacularly executed and satisfying and made up very well for the duller first half. The practical creature effects on the alien are top notch and very impressive for the production budget, as well as the brutally disgusting gore effects which do not let up for the entirety. The dialogue was absolutely ridiculous at times especially with the Cody character but it gave the film a certain personality and comedic aspect at times. The setting was a bit too limited as it was essentially shot in a couple rooms of a house but that's to be expected on a lower budget. The scenes where they were out in the forest at night were very ominous and I think they could've expanded the overall setting by utilizing that environment more. Overall this was a surprising alien film that shows you can do a lot with a little with the right people on board. I also recommend Sánchez's Bigfoot film "Exists" for a similarly solid story on a humble budget.

What Altered lacks in budget, it makes up for in atmosphere and tone. The story follows the lives of four men who were abducted by aliens as children. The fifth member of their group was killed during this event. Three of the men have spent the last 15 years of their lives trying to capture one of their captors. To their surprise, they manage to do so! However, capturing the alien is as far as their plans have ever gone. What to do with this being becomes the focus of the story, as well as revealing the back story of their past through heated dialogue. Their alien hostage proves to be far more dangerous and menacing than they ever expected. It seems that all horror films these days tend to inject ridiculous humor into their script. Altered stays on point, the serious tone remains throughout the entire film. This was a rare and welcome surprise. This film also manages to do something with its characters that I have rarely seen before. The characters that I really disliked in the first 20 minutes of the film I found myself having great sympathy for by the end. Such character development is very rare in low budget horror. The gore FX were excellent, and the makeup work was second to none. There's no doubt in my mind that this film will become an instant cult classic, if not already.

Apparently, various crew members have posted comments and reviews on IMDb...that, ONLY, would explain the glowing responses to this really bad hunk-a-junk flick. Horrible acting...terrible script...it's all here.

"Blair Witch" was indeed a one-hit wonder.

This film cribs every scene; there isn't an original idea to be had in the 80 minutes of running time.

It's nice to see "Blair"'s Michael Williams back in action, however.

Not sure why IMDb lists the budget as $8 million - it's obviously incorrect.

Skip this one - watch "Blair" again.

UPDATE: One of the producers contacted me directly, to berate me for this review. That's kinda sad.

Seven years after the incredible success of indie horror film The Blair Witch Project, director Eduardo Sánchez returns with this effective sci-fi chiller that proves that he still has the ability to creep out the audience.

In Altered, a group of men, who were abducted by aliens when they were young, face a night of terror after they manage to capture a nasty extra-terrestrial. Sánchez, once again working on a low budget, manages to create a truly scary film with some nifty effects to boot.

Using the trusty old 'man in a rubber suit' method, rather than dodgy CGI, Sanchez delivers a convincing and rather nasty little ET which is the stuff of nightmares; this is the kind of toothy critter that thinks nothing of disembowelling its victims and then playing a game of tug of war with their entrails!

With a lean running time of only 84 minutes, the film never has time to get boring. The cast give good performances, the direction is solid, the creature is creepy and a guy gets a flesh eating disease and disintegrates during the course of the film. What more could you ask for?