Journey Through Sci-Fi: A Science Fiction Film Podcast · James Payne

Altered States (1980) & Upstream Color (2013): Primordial Goo & Psychic Pigs

·1 hr 29 min·5 clips

Emily tells Eddie their first sexual encounter felt like being harpooned by some raging monk trying to see God.

James and Matt kick off the series as a trip through sci-fi subgenres on screen. Mad science is the entry point. The two films in play are *Altered States* from 1980 and *Upstream Colour* from 2013. That pairing sets up a sharp contrast between a trippy, art-house film and a quieter, more opaque one. They spend time on the dense exposition in *Altered States*. The movie keeps telling the audience what the experiment is doing and where consciousness seems to be headed. Rather than getting in the way, that density becomes part of the ride. The hosts point out that the film moves in a mostly chronological way even while it layers on visions and transformations. They describe the ending as an escalation that feels absurd and, somehow, structurally inevitable. One reading they arrive at is that the final movement is not really about scientific revelation. Instead, it points back to the protagonist’s relationship and his love for Emily. That reading softens the strangeness without fully defusing it. They also admit the ending did not land cleanly for one of them at first. That disagreement gives the conversation some shape. It keeps the episode from sounding too polished. The hosts are comfortable saying when a sequence feels excessive. They are also comfortable revisiting that judgment when a theme starts to click. The episode uses that back-and-forth to frame the movie as a mix of spectacle, panic, and emotional grounding. The conversation also turns toward the broader oddness of the film’s final transformations at home. That domestic setting matters to their reading. They treat it as the place where the film brings the character back down to earth. The episode closes with a nod to the show’s Patreon and a tease for the next pairing of *Ghostbusters* and *The Cabin in the Woods*. Key takeaway: the episode treats mad science as a way into questions of identity, spectacle, and what actually holds a person together. Best audience: listeners who like sci-fi and horror discussion that can handle weirdness and thematic interpretation. It should also suit people who enjoy two-host conversations that think out loud instead of sounding over-rehearsed. Not for: listeners looking for a brisk plot summary with no detours into interpretation.

As heard by us

Two strange films, one thoughtful conversation about transformation, ego, and what pulls a story back to earth.

This episode lines up two very different mad science movies, one built on dense explanation and spectacle, the other drifting into a more trippy, art house register.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you like sci-fi that gets weird, then gets thoughtful.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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