It starts off as a great party–just eight people in a secluded lodge. One of the guests suddenly goes on a violent, murderous rampage. There is something wrong with his hair, and pure evil in his eyes. What he does to three of the girls there is too hideous to describe. Falsely accused of the killings, Jerry Zipkin (Red Shoe Diaries’ Zalman King) uncovers the shocking truth about BLUE SUNSHINE!
What We Thought:
I had never even heard of Blue Sunshine and after watching it, it has to have a big time cult following. It’s everything you expect in a cult flick from the 1970s. There are people dancing at a house party, drugs, politicians with a past, a big, bruising body guard and a guy considered handsome who wouldn’t be by today’s standards. It also has an abrupt ending which I liked.
The film is about a group of friends having a good time. One is revealed to be bald, loses his mind and starts killing people. Authorities think it’s Jerry Zipkin because some locals see him in the street. Jerry has to hide out while trying to figure out what’s going on. With the help of a doctor friend and female friend, he puts together the pieces that students who took LSD at Stanford years back are going insane. He needs the proof to clear his name, but with a politician in the mix not wanting his past brought up, Jerry does everything he can to be found innocent.
The movie feels very 70s. The clothing, the dancing, the overacting is very 70s. I also liked seeing 70s California. There is a cool walkover bridge a female character uses that I wish was there during my time in Los Angeles. All the cars are big 70s land yachts and characters smoke and drink whenever. I miss movies that feel authentic.
Drug movies are usually always cult flicks. Blue Sunshine has to be. With tainted LSD coming back to haunt people, it’s definitely something we wouldn’t get today. It feels like a Stephen King story or an episode of The Twilight Zone. For a movie I knew nothing about, I enjoyed it for its campiness factor. If you are a fan already, this is a 3 Disc set with a 4K disc, Blu-ray disc and CD soundtrack. Collectors will eat it up.
The bonus materials for Blue Sunshine include a Blu-ray (1080p), a remastered CD soundtrack, two audio commentaries featuring director Jeff Lieberman, a new introduction to the film by director Jeff Lieberman, an archival 2003 interview with director Jeff Lieberman, a Lieberman on Lieberman video interview, a Channel Z “Fantasy Film Festival” interview with Mick Garris (The Stand) and Jeff Lieberman, the Fantasia Film Festival 4K Premiere Q&A with moderator Michael Gingold and director Jeff Lieberman, anti-drug “scare films” LSD-25 (1967) and LSD Insight or Insanity? (1968), Jeff Lieberman’s first film The Ringer, theatrical trailers, a still gallery, a liner notes booklet by Jeff Lieberman, featuring a chapter on the making of Blue Sunshine from his book Day of the Living Me: Adventures of a Subversive Cult Filmmaker from the Golden Age, and a fold-out poster.
The Nerds Templar 