Each week, at-home critic Denise Purvis dons the guise of the Rental Reviewer and explores the best (and worst) of paranormal pop culture movies.Altered
This alien abduction movie has been brought to you by Eduardo Sánchez, director of The Blair Witch Project (promoting motion sickness for 10 years going!)
The plot: It revolves around Wyatt (played by Adam Kaufman), who was abducted 15 years ago with his group of friends. One of Wyatt's friends never survived the experience, so when the group - being the good old boys they are - hunt and capture one of their alien abductors, it's time to get revenge.
The scene: Things get really creepy when the alien tracking device Wyatt digs out of his intestines starts clicking in its Mason jar (seems like an unsafe place to keep an alien tracking device to me, but would you expect him to keep it anywhere else?)
The take: Altered is dark, frightening and is in the low-budget realm just like its Witch sister. But instead of the shaky handheld camera work you would expect from Sánchez, it's shot with concise and oddly-surprising poignancy. The film is mostly set at the home of the main character Wyatt, which makes Altered captivating and intimate.