Blue Sunshine (1977)

A bizarre series of murders begins in Los Angeles, where people start going bald and then become homicidal maniacs. But could the blame rest on a particularly dangerous form of LSD called Blue Sunshine the murderers took ten years before?

Director:

Jeff Lieberman

Writer:

Jeff Lieberman

Stars:

Zalman King, Deborah Winters, Mark Goddard

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zalman King	...	Jerry Zipkin
Deborah Winters	...	Alicia Sweeney
Mark Goddard	...	Edward Flemming
Robert Walden	...	David Blume
Charles Siebert	...	Detective Clay
Ann Cooper	...	Wendy Flemming
Ray Young	...	Wayne Mulligan
Alice Ghostley	...	O'Malley's Neighbor
Stefan Gierasch	...	Lt. Jennings
Richard Crystal	...	Frannie Scott
Bill Adler	...	Ralphie
Barbara Quinn	...	Stephanie
Adriana Shaw	...	Barbara O'Malley
Bill Sorrells	...	Ritchie Grazzo
Jeffrey Druce	...	Junkie (as Jeffry Druce)

Storyline

At a party, someone goes insane and murders three women. Falsely accused of the brutal killings, Jerry is on the run. More bizarre killings continue with alarming frequency all over town. Trying to clear his name, Jerry discovers the shocking truth...people are losing their hair and turning into violent psychopaths and the connection may be some LSD all the murderers took a decade before.

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Plot Keywords:

lsd | political campaign | election campaign | politician | murder | 

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Taglines:

1967...doctors and scientists predicted it...1977...the NIGHTMARE has begun!

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 May 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Adistaktoi dolofonoi

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$550,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ellanby Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stephanie's two children in the film had to be dubbed by Lieberman's three year old daughter. The reason for this was the parents of both the child actors pulled them from the shoot after seeing the potentially disturbing attack scene being shot. Unfortunately the two children were taken before they could be looped for the audio.

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Goofs

The voice dubbing for Stephanie's kids often doesn't match the footage.

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Quotes

Wendy Flemming: [in tears] Stephanie, something's wrong with me and I don't know what it is. I've been having these awful nightmares, these headaches, the hair, it's driving me up the wall.
Stephanie: Have some coffee.

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Crazy Credits

'Blue Sunshine' [soundtrack] performed by the Humane Society for the Preservation of Good Music

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Connections

Featured in Remote Control (1988)

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Soundtracks

Just In Time
Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Music by Jule Styne
Licensed by Chappell and Co. Inc.

User Reviews

Jeff Lieberman--underrated and overlooked director

A small group of Stanford college grads, who had taken a bad batch of LSD called "Blue Sunshine," start feeling the side-effects ten years later. Instead of bad acid flashbacks, they start losing their hair and deteriorate into erratic, sweaty, screaming, zombie-like killers that hate loud sounds.

Ambitious low-budgeter has decent performances, a few good shocks and an interesting plot to offset some dated aspects to the story (like an unintentionally funny attack at a disco) and a seemingly incomplete ending (that seems to suggest this is based on an actual case!). Political satire remains relevant today and when one of the affected lurks around a mall at the end, DAWN OF THE DEAD (which was made later) will instantly come to mind.

Star Zalman King, also in GALAXY OF TERROR (1981), went on to direct and produce a record number of 90s erotic movies and TV series (RED SHOE DIARIES). The director also made SQURIM, JUST BEFORE DAWN and REMOTE CONTROL, all above average low-budgeters.

Score: 6 out of 10