Tripping on BLUE SUNSHINE in 4K

BLUE SUNSHINE (4K UHD)

1977 / 95 min

From Synapse Films

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

If the name Jeff Lieberman doesn’t quite ring a bell, his best-known film is probably the 1976 creepy-crawly feature, Squirm. He was never particularly prolific, but cranked out a few interesting things over the years. And though he’ll never mentioned in the same breath as Carpenter or Craven, most of his movies are pretty entertaining (if you’ve never seen 2004’s Satan’s Little Helper, you owe it to yourself to seek it out).

Lieberman’s second film, Blue Sunshine is built on a great premise, that of several people losing their hair and turning homicidal 10 years after dropping the same batch of LSD. After a guy named Frannie brutally kills three people during a party, good buddy Jerry Zipkin (Zalman King) tries to stop him, but during the struggle, Frannie dies. Now the prime suspect in the murders, Jerry goes on the run with the help of girlfriend Alicia (Deborah Winters). 

But when he learns of similar incidents, Jerry’s compelled to find out how the killings are connected. He eventually determines they all bought the same acid, called Blue Sunshine, during college, which was sold to them by Edward Fleming (Mark Goddard), who’s now running for a senate seat. Somewhat amusingly, the more Jerry investigates, the more guilty he appears to the police. 

Hair today, gone tomorrow.

Narratively and aesthetically, Blue Sunshine reminds me of the type of B-movies David Cronenberg and Larry Cohen were making at the time. It’s never as weird and bloody as Cronenberg, nor as cheeky and goofy as Cohen, but certainly cut from similar cloth. As such, it’s pretty fun and fast moving, though never as "trippy" as one might anticipate from the premise. That’s not to say the film doesn’t have its share of wild, campy moments, like when those affected by the drug finally snap and go apeshit, or better yet, King’s chuckleworthy overacting.

While Blue Sunshine isn’t quite as much grassroots fun as Squirm, Jeff Lieberman has put together a more accomplished film…tighter direction, better writing and (mostly) decent performances. And of course, it’s just offbeat enough to have continued appeal to the cult crowd. Speaking of which, Synapse Films really pulled out all the stops for its 4K release. Both the 4K and Blu-ray discs boast a great new video restoration, in addition to two audio options, DTS HD Master Audio and 5.1 Surround. The third disc is a 13 track CD of the original soundtrack and I wish more boutique labels would do this.

The set is also loaded with interesting bonus features, most of which prominently feature writer-director Jeff Lieberman. It’s also elaborately packaged, with the case, slipcover and sturdy box each featuring different art work. Finally, a foldout poster is included. Considering Blue Sunshine’s relative obscurity - maybe even in cult circles - we’re getting a hell of a lot of bells & whistles dedicated to a single, decades-old low budget film. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

4K & BLU-RAY COPIES

CD SOUNDTRACK - Contains 13 tracks of the original Charles Gross Score. A pretty good listen.

INTERVIEWS - 3 separate interviews with writer-director Jeff Lieberman, one of them featuring director Mick Garris.

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL Q&A - Shot during Blue Sunshine’s 4K premiere, featuring ex-Fangoria editor Michael Gingold and writer-director Jeff Lieberman

THE RINGER - An 1972 20-minute short by writer-director Jeff Lieberman. There are two versions, the original and one that’s remastered 4K with optional commentary.

LSD SCARE FILMS - LSD 25 and LSD: Insight of Insanity are two shorts from the 1960s (of course) about the perils of dropping acid. Great fun!

2 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - Both feature writer-director Jeff Lieberman.

OPTIONAL INTRO - By writer-director Jeff Lieberman.

SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKLET - Features an excerpt from Leiberman’s autobiography, Day of the Living Me: Adventures of a Subversive Cult Filmmaker from the Golden Age.

TRAILERS

STILL GALLERY

FOLD-OUT POSTER