By – Gareth Jones

For fans of psychedelic horror from the 70s, crazy overacting by Zalman King, alopecia

Jeff Lieberman has become a bit of a cult diretor for two films he directed in the 70s and one in the 80s, Squirm (1976), Just Before Dawn (1981), and most impressively with Blue Sunshine in 1977. All were innovative low-budget genre films that showed great creativity and a sense of humor. Blue Sunshine is the best of the three and fits in very nicely with other conspiratory psychological thrillers from that era such as The Parallax View, The Conversation, and even Nashville in that it takes the audience through the environs of Los Angeles and framed in a political election run. It also pairs nicely with David Cronenberg’s body horror films and his masterful King adaptation The Dead Zone. Now, I am comparing Blue Sunshine to these films, but it definitely is still a lower level film with cheesy acting and effects, but it also has some incredibly creepy images and ideas intermingled with the silliness.

The opening credits introduce us to a series of folks who are having headaches and some minor hair loss. The film continues at a party at a cabin with folks drinking, dancing, and singing.  One particularly strange foreshadowing is the character of Tony, played magnificently in a very short time by Brion James, famous for Blade Runner and many other classics. He appears to be high on LSD and acting like a bird perched on a chair.  It is played for humor as folks laugh at him, but of course it also alludes to the central theme of the film, bad LSD, the titular Blue Sunshine.  Suddenly, while singing “Just in Time” by Tony Bennett one of the jovial members of the party, Frannie, goes bonkers and his hair completely falls off his head revealing just a few strands.  As with all of these sequences that follow, at first it is comical, but then it moves into the deeply disturbing.  Frannie ends up killing several folks at the party, and is eventually killed by Jerry Zipkin when he is thrown in front of a truck.  The murders all get blamed on Jerry and the rest of the film involves Zipkin trying to find out what happened to his friend and to uncover the larger issue of multiple people having psychotic breakdowns.  It all leads to people who took a particularly nasty strain of LSD called Blue Sunshine and the political connections.

One of the highlights of the film is the over the top performance by Zalman King as Jerry. Yes, the Zalman King who is famous for soft-core hits like Red Shoe Diaries.  Here, he acts like he is from a different era. He has all the melodrama of a character from the silent era. It is a sight to behold.  There are also wonderful cameos by anyone who watched a lot of 70s television including Robert Walden and Alice Ghostly.  They do bring a level of professionalism that raises the film considerably.  Also of note is Ray Brown as the hulking former football player/bodyguard. He was also known for playing Bigfoot in “Bigfoot and Wildboy” a Kroft TV show.

The other marvelous aspect of this film is the soundtrack and score by Charles Gross. It was released a few years ago by Mondo and it is a haunting mix of disco, psychedelic, and macabre horror.  Give it a listen on its own if you get a chance.

Overall, Blue Sunshine has maintained its cult status for good reason.  It captured a moment in the 70s where the drugs of the 60s were crossing over with political cynicism.  The effects are cheesy at times, just like the acting, but it still leaves a lasting impression of anxiety and haunting images.  I hope to one day see it on the big screen.

Available on Shudder