Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

bradman1118 Altered is a horror film by director Eduardo Sanchez (known for Blair Witch Project). Often, straight to DVD "creature features" such as this could turn out terrible, with awful special effects, abysmal acting, and a horrible script. Luckily, that is not the case with Altered. The entire film has a tense and unsettling tone that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. The practical effects were great,and some of the graphic/gore scenes were extremely disturbing. The acting was very good and dialogue between the characters felt natural and realistic, not forced and expositional. The story relies heavily on events that happened before the film and were never shown, however it does a good job of slowly revealing things at a natural pace and not spoon- feeding the audience information to drive the plot forward. My biggest flaw with the movie is the fact that there are some annoying horror cliché moments, the most prominent example being the scene when the power went out for NO reason other than to make the scene more intense. There were also a few predictable moments. There were times where I was thinking "Now this is going to happen" and it did. But to be fair, there were plenty of unexpected moments as well, so that sort of makes up for it. Overall, Altered is a very tense, well-paced, and well-made horror movie that is definitely worth watching.

Woodyanders 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.

Allan MacDonald OK so here is the skinny,This film is excellent, believable characters, great special effects and a solid storyline. But not for the fans of modern age cinema, and I will tell you why. Now we have entire films created on blue screen, digital effects create vast universes to the point that soon there wont be any need for real actors or what is now considered "old skool" special/makeup effects.This film is for fans of things like original X-files episodes, and films like American Werewolf in London. It actually feels like one of those gripping X-files episodes, you didn't get many back in the day when it was at its hight of popularity but occasionally there were episodes that had you at the edge of your seat and pulled you in. This is one of those.It's horror, sci-fi, and drama rolled into one. It has a small feeling of hearkening back to films like Stand By Me, and IT. Using the dynamic of grown men who had a tormenting childhood and or significant event which changed them forever.A great film almost passed by in the horror scene and definitely well worth the watch.

Jim McCormick Decided to go through my Netflix streaming last night & watch a film. Of course, I went right to the horror section. There sat "Altered," a film I thought about watching several times in the past, but passed it up for something else. Well, all I got to say is, I waited way to long to see this film! "Altered" is a mean, lean, sci-fi/horror machine! There is no fat to be found here! Five friends get abducted by aliens 15 years before. One of them dies. One of them lives & hides. Three of them go out in the wilds of Florida to hunt down one of the aliens for fifteen years, & are finally successful. What transpires afterwards is a taunt horror thriller that delivers in spades! The acting is top notch, though I have to admit, the first twenty minutes I thought this was going to be a dumb redneck film? I'm sure glad I continued watching, because there is definite method to their madness, as the script reveals real people, not just another hillbilly stereotype exploitation film! After succeeding in capturing an alien, the three friends start to realize exactly how foolish they've been, that is, all except for one, whose brother was killed by the aliens. He was blamed for his brother's death, even by his own father, & put in prison. His performance may be the finest of all the fine performances here, as he spews hatred for the alien, wanting it to feel all the excruciating pain he went through. A portrait of pure unadulterated revenge, where nothing or no one is going to stand in his way of satisfying it. Also of note is a girlfriend, who gets caught up in this & takes matters in her own hands, literally. A strong female protagonist performance, a rare thing in low budget sci-fi/horror films. All this makes for a very good character study of a group of friends splintered emotionally, & how their forced to deal with the tragedy of the past, & impending the doom of the future."Altered" is no big budget film, but the special effects are fine & the aliens look good. I've seen better make up in higher budget films, but still, the aliens were malevolently convincing.If you want a white knuckled sci-fi/horror thriller, "Altered" is as better than most films of its ilk in the last ten years. A superior effort, especially when you consider it was released straight to DVD!