Various individuals begin to lose their hair, eventually going crazy and turning homicidal. It turns out that they are suffering delayed reactions after taking some BAD acid (the titular Blue Sunshine) at Stanford a decade ago. A character named Jerry Zipkin (Zalman King, "Some Call It Loving") comes under suspicion after a friend "wigs" out at a party and kills some of the other people there. So, out of the need to clear his name, and also out of a morbid curiosity, he tries to figure out what's going on.
Cult favorite filmmaker Jeff Lieberman scores again after his great "nature in revolt" horror film "Squirm". Here, he takes a satirical jab at his subjects while crafting a fairly creepy and involving story with some truly memorable images & moments. Granted, the "mystery" becomes apparent to the viewer early on, but Lieberman still takes the viewer on an interesting ride. This includes a scene in a disco, and truly creepy Sinatra and Streisand puppets being utilized at a political rally.
I can't help but feel that future softcore auteur King is miscast in the lead: what with his "Method" acting, he comes off as too eccentric himself, and is also not as sympathetic as he ought to be. But the decent supporting cast is helpful, as it includes Deborah Winters ("The People Next Door"), Mark Goddard ('Lost in Space'), Robert Walden ('Lou Grant'), Charles Siebert ('Trapper John, M. D.'), Ray Young ("Coffy"), Richard Crystal ("Fun with Dick and Jane"), who is the brother of Billy C., Bill Adler ("Van Nuys Blvd."), Barbara Quinn ("The Clairvoyant"), Meegan King ("Humanoids from the Deep"), and cameo appearances by Alice Ghostley ("Grease") and Stefan Gierasch ("Carrie"). That's a young Brion James ("Blade Runner") as the guy doing his best Rodan imitation at the party.
Enhanced by Charles Gross' eerie score, "Blue Sunshine" is another off-the-beaten-track and entertaining effort from Lieberman, that builds to a terrific suspense sequence in a department store.
Eight out of 10.
Cult favorite filmmaker Jeff Lieberman scores again after his great "nature in revolt" horror film "Squirm". Here, he takes a satirical jab at his subjects while crafting a fairly creepy and involving story with some truly memorable images & moments. Granted, the "mystery" becomes apparent to the viewer early on, but Lieberman still takes the viewer on an interesting ride. This includes a scene in a disco, and truly creepy Sinatra and Streisand puppets being utilized at a political rally.
I can't help but feel that future softcore auteur King is miscast in the lead: what with his "Method" acting, he comes off as too eccentric himself, and is also not as sympathetic as he ought to be. But the decent supporting cast is helpful, as it includes Deborah Winters ("The People Next Door"), Mark Goddard ('Lost in Space'), Robert Walden ('Lou Grant'), Charles Siebert ('Trapper John, M. D.'), Ray Young ("Coffy"), Richard Crystal ("Fun with Dick and Jane"), who is the brother of Billy C., Bill Adler ("Van Nuys Blvd."), Barbara Quinn ("The Clairvoyant"), Meegan King ("Humanoids from the Deep"), and cameo appearances by Alice Ghostley ("Grease") and Stefan Gierasch ("Carrie"). That's a young Brion James ("Blade Runner") as the guy doing his best Rodan imitation at the party.
Enhanced by Charles Gross' eerie score, "Blue Sunshine" is another off-the-beaten-track and entertaining effort from Lieberman, that builds to a terrific suspense sequence in a department store.
Eight out of 10.