Rating: 
Summary: Movie is awesome
Review: not much else to say i guess, i dont have the DVD yet. i agree about the ending being a cop out, but nonetheless, this movie is a must own for anyone into bizzare movies.
Rating:
Summary: Movie is awesome
Review: not much else to say i guess, i dont have the DVD yet. i agree about the ending being a cop out, but nonetheless, this movie is a must own for anyone into bizzare movies.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful performance Zalman King & Alice Ghostley!
Review: Terrific film from Jeff (Squirm & Just Before Dawn) Lieberman. Very relaxing and engaging quality to this film. Fantastic performance from Zalman (Red Shoe Diaries) King & Alice (New Faces) Ghostley. The company that produces this DVD really went all out to make it the best possible--great picture, wonderful sound, lots of extras, metallic packaging that really, truly goes the extra mile. Try other Lieberman films, he's every made a bad one. Glad to see this one back, and on a really awesome DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful performance Zalman King & Alice Ghostley!
Review: Terrific film from Jeff (Squirm & Just Before Dawn) Lieberman. Very relaxing and engaging quality to this film. Fantastic performance from Zalman (Red Shoe Diaries) King & Alice (New Faces) Ghostley. The company that produces this DVD really went all out to make it the best possible--great picture, wonderful sound, lots of extras, metallic packaging that really, truly goes the extra mile. Try other Lieberman films, he's every made a bad one. Glad to see this one back, and on a really awesome DVD!
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting 70's horror film
Review: The first horror movie about going bald, Blue Sunshine is an original and interesting b-grade horror film. At one time this used to be shown regularly on channel 9 in Southern California (where I saw it as a kid)and has now resurfaced in a quality remastered DVD package with some good extras. The story is really about the delayed effects of some bad acid called Blue Sunshine, which, years after taking it, suddenly makes you hairless and homicidal. The film has a cool, creepy style to it and the performances are good, except for Zalman King who is really jaw-droppingly over the top in some scenes. However, director Lieberman's audio commentary helps to illuminate why he's so bad, and is generally interesting throughout. Also included is a 30 minute interview with Jeff Lieberman that is very good. He has some interesting things to say about his films, his career and the film business in general. His first 16mm short film, The Ringer, is on the DVD as well. I couldn't get into it, but you might get a kick out of the 70's fashions and hairstyles. There is a CD of the film's soundtrack as well. If you've never seen this before, you might want to rent it or get it used (like I did). I hadn't seen it in years, but it doesn't quite hold up over time that well- a lot of it doesn't really make much sense. Let's just say I still like the film,...
Rating:
Summary: Tune in, turn on, and get bald...
Review: The late 60's...a time of rebellion, psychedelic rock 'n' roll, free love, and day trippin' with the help of mind bending, consciousness altering narcotics. To quote Timothy Leary, counterculture icon of the time, "We are now in the psycho, chemical age. In the future it's not going to be what book you read, but what chemical do you use to open your mind to accelerate learning." But what of the harmful effects? Oh, we were warned...Jack Webb did so on a weekly (or weakly, if you're so inclined) basis on TV's Dragnet. Even Wavy Gravy warned us to avoid the brown acid. Sometimes we found out where it was at wasn't where it was really at, if you get my drift. Blue Sunshine (1976) tells a story that involves the physical and psychological effect of a particular kind of drug many years after its' initial use. The film starts out at a party, a real groovy happening, that soon evolves into a massacre as a guy, who looks a lot like actor John Cryer but isn't, becomes unglued and goes on a psychotic killing spree. Jerry Zipkin, played by Zalman King, who was at the party, soon finds himself in the position of being falsely accused of the crimes and on the run from the police. Jerry, unable to fathom why his friend went completely bonkers and killed those people and then attacked him, is searching for answers in a desperate attempt to not only clear his name, but also learn exactly what happened. As Jerry delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, more unusual killings occur. The nature of the attackers is similar, right down to certain physical characteristics, alopecia (a loss of hair), glassy-eyed stare, super human strength, and homicidal tendencies. It's soon found that all the people who went schizoid have a common denominator in that they all attended the same university at the same time and all have a link to a politician currently running for congress. Will Jerry learn the meaning of Blue Sunshine before any more killings take place, and before the police capture him? Blue Sunshine, written and directed by Jeff Lieberman, does have Hitchcockian elements with the whole `falsely accused man trying to clear his name' theme, but also adds horror elements, giving the film a nice slant and a sense of originality. Lieberman also wrote and directed the creepy crawler Squirm (1976), a horror pic about flesh-eating earthworms. Blue Sunshine also stars Deborah Winters as Jerry's girlfriend Alicia Sweeney, Mark Goddard, who many, including myself, remember as Major Don West in the 60's television sci-fi show Lost in Space, as politician Edward Flemming, and character actor Charles Siebert as Detective Clay. Siebert's name may not ring any bells, but if you've watched television in the 70's, you will most likely recognize his face as he appeared on show like All in the Family, The Rockford Files, Police Woman, Barnaby Jones, Good Times, and a slew of others. While the film does contain some plot holes, they are easy to overlook, especially as the story tends to move pretty quickly, and the instances where the psychosis sets in, causing various individuals to lose it and go on a murderous rampage are exceptionally creepy. This is especially true of the scene with the woman babysitting the two, highly annoying children and her chasing them around with a large knife. Surprisingly, there is very little gore involved, much less than I had expected. Zalman King's performance is fairly odd and discordant, along with the delivery of a lot of his dialogue. It's hard to describe, but I had the feeling he seemed always just of out sync with the film, creating a bizarre element that would normally work against a picture, but here, it seemed to complement the plot as it unraveled. The film did seem to end rather abruptly, hinting at the chilling notion that the instances of violence may only be the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. The film, which has been out of circulation on home video for about a decade, looks really clean and clear in this anamorphic wide screen (1:78:1) release. Some very minor speckling and damaged to the print is evident, but one of the special features shows a comparison to the original print and this cleaned up print, exhibiting the amazing restorative work done, supervised by the director himself, on the film for this release, which entailed about 17 hours of intensive labor. Other special features include a new Dolby Digital created especially for home video environments, the original mono soundtrack, a full commentary by director Jeff Lieberman, an original short film directed by Lieberman, a still gallery, the original theatrical trailer for the film, comprehensive liner notes, and a 30 minute video interview with the director. This is a two disc set, with the film and special features on the first disc, the second disc being a never before released original sound track CD. All in all, an excellent release of a creepy, rarely seen film that looks at the possible residual effects of the free love generation. Cookieman108
Rating:
Summary: Tune in, turn on, and get bald...
Review: The late 60's...a time of rebellion, psychedelic rock 'n' roll, free love, and day trippin' with the help of mind bending, consciousness altering narcotics. To quote Timothy Leary, counterculture icon of the time, "We are now in the psycho, chemical age. In the future it's not going to be what book you read, but what chemical do you use to open your mind to accelerate learning." But what of the harmful effects? Oh, we were warned...Jack Webb did so on a weekly (or weakly, if you're so inclined) basis on TV's Dragnet. Even Wavy Gravy warned us to avoid the brown acid. Sometimes we found out where it was at wasn't where it was really at, if you get my drift. Blue Sunshine (1976) tells a story that involves the physical and psychological effect of a particular kind of drug many years after its' initial use. The film starts out at a party, a real groovy happening, that soon evolves into a massacre as a guy, who looks a lot like actor John Cryer but isn't, becomes unglued and goes on a psychotic killing spree. Jerry Zipkin, played by Zalman King, who was at the party, soon finds himself in the position of being falsely accused of the crimes and on the run from the police. Jerry, unable to fathom why his friend went completely bonkers and killed those people and then attacked him, is searching for answers in a desperate attempt to not only clear his name, but also learn exactly what happened. As Jerry delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, more unusual killings occur. The nature of the attackers is similar, right down to certain physical characteristics, alopecia (a loss of hair), glassy-eyed stare, super human strength, and homicidal tendencies. It's soon found that all the people who went schizoid have a common denominator in that they all attended the same university at the same time and all have a link to a politician currently running for congress. Will Jerry learn the meaning of Blue Sunshine before any more killings take place, and before the police capture him? Blue Sunshine, written and directed by Jeff Lieberman, does have Hitchcockian elements with the whole 'falsely accused man trying to clear his name' theme, but also adds horror elements, giving the film a nice slant and a sense of originality. Lieberman also wrote and directed the creepy crawler Squirm (1976), a horror pic about flesh-eating earthworms. Blue Sunshine also stars Deborah Winters as Jerry's girlfriend Alicia Sweeney, Mark Goddard, who many, including myself, remember as Major Don West in the 60's television sci-fi show Lost in Space, as politician Edward Flemming, and character actor Charles Siebert as Detective Clay. Siebert's name may not ring any bells, but if you've watched television in the 70's, you will most likely recognize his face as he appeared on show like All in the Family, The Rockford Files, Police Woman, Barnaby Jones, Good Times, and a slew of others. While the film does contain some plot holes, they are easy to overlook, especially as the story tends to move pretty quickly, and the instances where the psychosis sets in, causing various individuals to lose it and go on a murderous rampage are exceptionally creepy. This is especially true of the scene with the woman babysitting the two, highly annoying children and her chasing them around with a large knife. Surprisingly, there is very little gore involved, much less than I had expected. Zalman King's performance is fairly odd and discordant, along with the delivery of a lot of his dialogue. It's hard to describe, but I had the feeling he seemed always just of out sync with the film, creating a bizarre element that would normally work against a picture, but here, it seemed to complement the plot as it unraveled. The film did seem to end rather abruptly, hinting at the chilling notion that the instances of violence may only be the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. The film, which has been out of circulation on home video for about a decade, looks really clean and clear in this anamorphic wide screen (1:78:1) release. Some very minor speckling and damaged to the print is evident, but one of the special features shows a comparison to the original print and this cleaned up print, exhibiting the amazing restorative work done, supervised by the director himself, on the film for this release, which entailed about 17 hours of intensive labor. Other special features include a new Dolby Digital created especially for home video environments, the original mono soundtrack, a full commentary by director Jeff Lieberman, an original short film directed by Lieberman, a still gallery, the original theatrical trailer for the film, comprehensive liner notes, and a 30 minute video interview with the director. This is a two disc set, with the film and special features on the first disc, the second disc being a never before released original sound track CD. All in all, an excellent release of a creepy, rarely seen film that looks at the possible residual effects of the free love generation. Cookieman108
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Trip
Review: This film deserves at least one star for one reason and one reason only: the cameraman did manage to keep it in focus. I don't believe I've ever seen a concept with such strong potential so completely bungled. Ex-hippies turned yuppies turned crazed baldheaded killing machines who don't like disco? Who wouldn't want to see this story told? It's no mystery why Zalman King gave up his acting career to become a softcore director. What is a mystery is how Robert Walden managed to be in this atrocity and "All the President's Men" in the same year!
Rating:
Summary: Bad Trip
Review: This film deserves at least one star for one reason and one reason only: the cameraman did manage to keep it in focus. I don't believe I've ever seen a concept with such strong potential so completely bungled. Ex-hippies turned yuppies turned crazed baldheaded killing machines who don't like disco? Who wouldn't want to see this story told? It's no mystery why Zalman King gave up his acting career to become a softcore director. What is a mystery is how Robert Walden managed to be in this atrocity and "All the President's Men" in the same year!
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