Respected scientist and psychology professor Edward Jessup (William Hurt) decides to combine his experiments in sensory deprivation tanks with powerful hallucinogenic drugs, convinced that it may help him unlock different states of consciousness. The experiments are a success at first, but as Jessup continues his work, he begins to experience altered mental and also physical states. As he spends more time in sensory deprivation, his grip on reality begins to slip away.
"It opens at fever pitch and then starts soaring -- into genetic fantasy, into a precognitive dream of delirium and delight." - Time Magazine
"Dependably -- even exhilaratingly -- bizarre. Its strangeness, which borders cheerfully on the ridiculous, is its most enjoyable feature." - The New York Times
"Direction by Ken Russell has energy to spare, with appropriate match-up of his baroque visual style to special effects intensive material." - Variety
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