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Blue Sunshine | Year: 1978 Directed: - Jeff Lieberman Actors/Actresses: - Zalman King as Jerry Zipkin - Deborah Winters as Jerry's girlfriend Alicia Sweeney An Undiscovered Gem Of '70s Horror Movies! Jeff Lieberman's BLUE SUNSHINE is the ultimate anti-drug message and a fine horror movie. It's all about an LSD-type drug made in 1967 made in Stanford University that causes the user to spontaneously go berserk (and bald) ten years later to the date of its ingestion. Now a friend (RED SHOE DIARIES Zalman King) of one of the users must get to the bottom of this tangled web. The best thing about BLUE SUNSHINE is that Lieberman evokes Alfred Hitchcock almost without trying; one of his inspirations was Brian DePalma (who made CARRIE the same year this was made) and Lieberman lays on the style much like DePalma did. BLUE SUNSHINE is also a brilliant commentary on the transition of the social climate from the 1960's to the 1970's and the consequences of the '60s movements, mainly drug-related, and it's just as relevant today (especially after 28 DAYS LATER) as it was in 1976! The music is also creepy and creates the perfect atmosphere of tension and paranoia necessary for the subject matter at hand (the soundtrack is included in this fine DVD limited edition). BLUE SUNSHINE is a movie that is definetly worth discovery, especially with remakes of '70s gems THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and DAWN OF THE DEAD! Definetly check this one out; your life may depend on it! Don't Believe the Hype I bought this movie sight unseen based soley on its concept and reputation. My bad. This movie takes an interesting concept and sinks it with pedestrian direction and a reluctance to see its story through. It is a shame because they could have made a truly interesting film without maxing out the budget. The director, Lieberman, seems reluctant and unwilling to truly deal with the dark/silly idea at the core of his story. 60's college radicals drop some acid called Blue Sunshine. Ten years later it catches up with them-their hair falls out and they become kill crazy lunatics. This is a great jumping off point for either incisive social satire and/or over the top horror thrills. This film provides neither. It is much too timid to deliver on the horror(the kids survive the attack by their babysitter?!) and it does not follow through on the satire either(so yesterday's drug dealers can become tomorrow's politician...And?...). Oh, and its true, Zalman King is godawful in the lead. Somewhere on the disk they make mention of the fact that a network TV station wanted to buy this film and air it as a TV movie of the week. It makes sense. In fact, if it were a TV movie of the week I would have been more impressed. But no, this is supposed to be a lost gem of an exploitation film and let me tell you it is not. It takes a great concept and renders it impotent by running it through the hack-Hitchcock treadmill. Boring. Worth a rental maybe but do not buy it unless you are a Fan. Tune in, turn on, and get bald... The late 60's...a time of rebellion, psychedelic rock 'n' roll, free love, and day trippin' with the help of mind bending, consciousness altering narcotics. To quote Timothy Leary, counterculture icon of the time, "We are now in the psycho, chemical age. In the future it's not going to be what book you read, but what chemical do you use to open your mind to accelerate learning." But what of the harmful effects? Oh, we were warned...Jack Webb did so on a weekly (or weakly, if you're so inclined) basis on TV's Dragnet. Even Wavy Gravy warned us to avoid the brown acid. Sometimes we found out where it was at wasn't where it was really at, if you get my drift. Blue Sunshine (1976) tells a story that involves the physical and psychological effect of a particular kind of drug many years after its' initial use. The film starts out at a party, a real groovy happening, that soon evolves into a massacre as a guy, who looks a lot like actor John Cryer but isn't, becomes unglued and goes on a psychotic killing spree. Jerry Zipkin, played by Zalman King, who was at the party, soon finds himself in the position of being falsely accused of the crimes and on the run from the police. Jerry, unable to fathom why his friend went completely bonkers and killed those people and then attacked him, is searching for answers in a desperate attempt to not only clear his name, but also learn exactly what happened. As Jerry delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, more unusual killings occur. The nature of the attackers is similar, right down to certain physical characteristics, alopecia (a loss of hair), glassy-eyed stare, super human strength, and homicidal tendencies. It's soon found that all the people who went schizoid have a common denominator in that they all attended the same university at the same time and all have a link to a politician currently running for congress. Will Jerry learn the meaning of Blue Sunshine before any more killings take place, and before the police capture him? Blue Sunshine, written and directed by Jeff Lieberman, does have Hitchcockian elements with the whole 'falsely accused man trying to clear his name' theme, but also adds horror elements, giving the film a nice slant and a sense of originality. Lieberman also wrote and directed the creepy crawler Squirm (1976), a horror pic about flesh-eating earthworms. Blue Sunshine also stars Deborah Winters as Jerry's girlfriend Alicia Sweeney, Mark Goddard, who many, including myself, remember as Major Don West in the 60's television sci-fi show Lost in Space, as politician Edward Flemming, and character actor Charles Siebert as Detective Clay. Siebert's name may not ring any bells, but if you've watched television in the 70's, you will most likely recognize his face as he appeared on show like All in the Family, The Rockford Files, Police Woman, Barnaby Jones, Good Times, and a slew of others. While the film does contain some plot holes, they are easy to overlook, especially as the story tends to move pretty quickly, and the instances where the psychosis sets in, causing various individuals to lose it and go on a murderous rampage are exceptionally creepy. This is especially true of the scene with the woman babysitting the two, highly annoying children and her chasing them around with a large knife. Surprisingly, there is very little gore involved, much less than I had expected. Zalman King's performance is fairly odd and discordant, along with the delivery of a lot of his dialogue. It's hard to describe, but I had the feeling he seemed always just of out sync with the film, creating a bizarre element that would normally work against a picture, but here, it seemed to complement the plot as it unraveled. The film did seem to end rather abruptly, hinting at the chilling notion that the instances of violence may only be the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. The film, which has been out of circulation on home video for about a decade, looks really clean and clear in this anamorphic wide screen (1:78:1) release. Some very minor speckling and damaged to the print is evident, but one of the special features shows a comparison to the original print and this cleaned up print, exhibiting the amazing restorative work done, supervised by the director himself, on the film for this release, which entailed about 17 hours of intensive labor. Other special features include a new Dolby Digital created especially for home video environments, the original mono soundtrack, a full commentary by director Jeff Lieberman, an original short film directed by Lieberman, a still gallery, the original theatrical trailer for the film, comprehensive liner notes, and a 30 minute video interview with the director. This is a two disc set, with the film and special features on the first disc, the second disc being a never before released original sound track CD. All in all, an excellent release of a creepy, rarely seen film that looks at the possible residual effects of the free love generation. Cookieman108 Buy Blue Sunshine at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Blue Sunshine Search with the Priority Search Engine on Blue Sunshine This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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