During the ’70s, health class was dominated by watching old 16mm films about the dangers of drugs. We saw a quite a few films that swore if you smoked weed, you’d be in a hippie house tying up a vein in less than a week. While they tried their hardest to keep us off the devil’s lettuce and becoming horseheads, the one drug they really scared us with was LSD. The films featured weird psychedelic light shows and people freaking out. The two biggest warning they’d scare us was a fear that the drug would mess up your chromosomes and flashbacks. Somehow the drug had the ability make you have children with three arms. The flashback was the idea that days, months or perhaps years after your trip, the drug will reactivate and cause you to freakout while driving your children to school. I’m guessing you’ll already be freaking out since your kid with three arms won’t stop slapping their siblings with five eyes and gills in the backseat of the station wagon. I have never done LSD, but I’ve been around people who dropped acid. Their kids don’t appear to have chromosome issues and none of them have experienced an acid flashback while waiting in line at Starbucks. I almost feel ripped off by those “educational” films. Jeff Lieberman was able to take the “educational” fears of LSD and turn them into Blue Sunshine, a paranoid masterpiece horror film dosed with science fiction.
Tensions seem to be rising in Los Angeles. Wendy Fleming (Ann Cooper) is getting frustrated in her babysitting gig when the kids recognize her soon-to-be ex-husband Edward (Lost In Space‘s Mark Goddard) running for Congress. It gets worse when one kid pulls a hunk of her hair out. Why is she going bald so suddenly? Another family is losing it during breakfast. Deep in the country, there’s a wild party going on. When Frannie (Richard Crystal) gets a little too frisky with a lady during his Frank Sinatra impersonation, her boyfriend grabs him and unexpectedly pulls off his wig. It’s a rather freaky moment. Frannie rushes out of the house. Jerry Zipkin (Zalman King) and others go out looking for him. Frannie returns to the party and proceeds to attack the remaining guests. Jerry finds Richie in the midst of the mayhem. They run outside where Richie gets hit by a truck with Bill Alder (Van Nuys Blvd) in the front seat. When Alder sees what’s gone down at the party, he accuses Jerry of being the killer. Jerry escapes and wants to clear his name since the cops also suspect him. He finds himself looking for clues to prove his innocence. What he quickly discovers is a Stanford connection and the words “Blue Sunshine.”
Even though the film is about LSD, writer-director Jeff Lieberman keeps the film tightly wound with the paranoia. Jerry digs into the mystery of what went down at Stanford in the late ’60s between the classmates and it’s properly shocking. Zalman King plays the paranoid fugitive with the right amount of spooked stares. It is odd seeing him act since I know him as an erotic thriller director from Two Moon Junction, Wild Orchid, Lake Consequence and his legendary cable show Red Shoe Diaries (which he produced with his writer wife Patricia Louisianna Knop). Mark Goddard is beyond convincing as the creepy politician. He really screwed up by not actually running for Congress after this film. It’s good to see Bill Alder, who was the king of Crown International in the ’70s with The Van, Pom Pom Girls and Malibu Beach. Alder went onto a career designing golf clothes and accessories for Nike and Tiger Woods. Making a neighborly appearance is Alice Ghostley best known for Bewitched and Grease.
Blue Sunshine is more than a horror film with a science fiction twist. It’s what we’re living in now. Nobody in 1977 could imagine politicians being drug dealers. That would be disqualifying. And yet now we’ve got Washington D.C. being run by people who have been busted by the cops for dealing or outed by their classmates for selling drugs at the Stanford of Cambridge, Massachusetts. At once point the candidate screams, “It’s time to Make America Good Again!” Sound familiar? Edward’s campaign slogan is “Here Is The Future” and this is sort of our future. Turn on any news channel and it does feel like we’re on a bad LSD trip. We’re living in the rays of Blue Sunshine.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfer is a 4K restoration of the original 35mm camera negative mastered in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible). It looks sharp and you can see all the details in the shopping mall disco. The Audio is Lossless English DTS-HD MA original theatrical mono. There’s also a 5.1 surround sound mix supervised by director Jeff Lieberman. Both will have you tripping out. The movie is subtitled in English.
Blu-ray has the film and special features.
Two audio commentaries featuring director Jeff Lieberman. The first is with historian Howard S. Berger and the second is filmmaker Elijah Drenner. Lieberman points out that the film opens with the moon to hint at the bald heads to come. He talks about the issues with shooting in an active hospital. he points out the puppeteer’s cameo in Ed Fleming’s commercial. He also shows his performance.
New introduction to the film by director Jeff Lieberman (1:29) has him thinking about the time he wrote the script. He points out interesting Stanford trivia that you won’t hear on college football broadcasts.
Archival 2003 interview with director Jeff Lieberman has him talking about what inspired him to make Blue Sunshine. He talks about teachers freaking him out with “Duck and Cover” drills.
“Lieberman on Lieberman” video interview (30:13) has him using the slate board from Squirm to open the talk.
Channel Z “Fantasy Film Festival” (14:03) has Mick Garris interview Jeff Lieberman on the legendary L.A. based movie channel. They talk about horror films. Lieberman talks about how the set up and pacing of a comedy is the same as horror. Garris would go on to become a Master of Horror.
Fantasia Film Festival 4K Premiere Q&A (36:29) with moderator Michael Gingold and director Jeff Lieberman sitting on the front of the stage. Has Lieberman explaining that Mark Godard cribbed his speech from Ike. They talk about going from Squirm to Blue Sunshine. He points out that the film is a commentary on the hippies who sold out for straight jobs. He talks about Zalman King. Turns out Richie Crystal is Billy Crystal’s brother.
LSD Short films feature LSD-25 (26:41) from 1967 and LSD: Insight or Insanity? (18:03) from 1968. These might be a few of the films were scared straight while watching in 1977. The first has a guy with a goatee taking a groovy trip after scoring some LSD pills. We get to see an authentic headshop from the hippie era. I would recommend watching these films before turning on the Blue Sunshine to get your head in the right place.
The Ringer (19:44) is Jeff Lieberman’s first film remastered in 4K by Synapse Films from the original camera negative. It opens with someone shooting up smack. It includes an Uncut Version, The release version and Jeff Liberman’s commentary about the production.
Theatrical trailers include #1 (2:31) has it predicted by doctor’s and scientists and #2 (2:32) has them talking about the words “Blue Sunshine” and baldness.
Still gallery (5:37) includes press photos, behind the scenes shots, posters from around the world, lobby cards, press kit photos, VHS covers from around the world, the press kit and novel cover.
Liner notes booklet includes Jeff Lieberman’s 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.
Limited edition fold-out poster is suitable for framing.
Limited edition remastered CD soundtrack with 13 tracks is perfect for your next party in the countryside.
Synapse Films present Blue Sunshine: Limited Edition. Directed by Jeff Lieberman. Screenplay by Jeff Lieberman. Starring Zalman King, Deborah Winters, Mark Goddard, Robert Walden, Charles Siebert, Ann Cooper, Ray Young, Alice Ghostley, Bill Adler & Brion James. Running Time: 95 minutes. Boxset Contents: 1 4K UHD, 1 Blu-ray & 1 CD. Rating: Rated R. Release Date: April 15, 2025.
