Zalman King stars as a man trying to get to the center of what is Blue Sunshine. The paranoid horror thriller gets an ultra-deluxe 4K UHD edition filled with special features from Synapse Films.
The Film
As much as writer/director Jeff Lieberman’s Blue Sunshine is a horror film it plants itself firmly in the paranoid thriller genre as well. Anchored by a truly deranged Zalman King (of 9 ½ Weeks and The Red Shoe Diaries infamy) performance the film is both sobering serious and deathly funny – often at the same time. The weird alchemy raises Blue Sunshine to something altogether unique – the conspiracy thriller satire.
While at a friend’s weekend getaway, Frannie’s (Richard Crystal) hair is pulled revealing his balding head. He runs away embarrassed only to return to kill three of the women. Jerry (Zalman King) sees and chases Frannie only to see him killed but blamed for the murder. This confusing events sets Jerry down a rabbit hole of conspiracies all centered around LSD called “Blue Sunshine”. A conspiracy that includes a hopeful US Congressman (Mark Goddard), his security detail (Ray Young), and the Congressman’s ex-wife (Ann Cooper). As Jerry pieces together the mystery he and his ever-faithful girlfriend (Deborah Winters) may be in mortal danger as they solve the mystery of “Blue Sunshine”.
One may be hesitant to call Lieberman’s film a satire of the paranoid thriller because of how everything is presented with the same tone that something like Three Days of the Condor is presented with. The unintended consequence of this tone is that even the crazier aspect of the film is presented in the same way and feels so overwrought it’s funny. Take the first attack where a woman is literally shoved into a fireplace, she can’t possibly fit. The consequence of this is that one can’t take the film seriously. As a result, the entire film feels skewed to this almost over-the-top tone that’s as funny as it is fascinating.
That isn’t to say the film isn’t entertaining. Blue Sunshine is highly entertaining and compulsively watchable in the weird vibes it gives off. From its LSD poisoning to the psychotic Cronenbergian body horror breakdowns of its characters to the political critiques, to its nightmarish scenes of violence, Blue Sunshine should not work, somehow in spite of itself, it does. There is a fevered dream quality that Lieberman’s film consistently stays true to that solidifies itself a whole rather than a pastiche.
The glue that holds everything together is the freak show performance by star Zalman King. The star is both the best and the worst lead you could possibly have for this film. King’s Jerry is some sort of sweaty alien not of this earth. There isn’t a single human characteristic that King imbues into Jerry through the entire run time. Every action is the exact opposite of what you expect a human to do or say. One would think this stops the film dead in its tracks… no, it in fact aids the film in its lunacy. Regardless of Jerry possibly being an extraterrestrial, his dogged pursuit of the truth is the beating heart of this film. Without King’s weird freakish behavior, the other strange occurrences in Blue Sunshine do not work.
Blue Sunshine at its end only baffles than it does satisfy with a text that tries to explain but only further adds to the WTF nature of the entire proceedings. Those who love fringe genre cinema will have more than likely found a new film to obsess over. Those more accustomed to mainstream genre affairs may just find themselves baffled the same way people scratch their heads at the work of Lynch or Roy Anderson. That isn’t to say Blue Sunshine is of the caliber of those auteurs but somewhere between them and Frank Henenlotter is where Lieberman’s film resides.
The Transfer
The all-new 4K restoration of the original 35mm camera negative mastered in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) is another masterful presentation by Synapse Films. The color, contrast, and black levels look to perfectly represent the film’s theatrical origins. The image is a healthy sharp affair throughout. There isn’t a scratch or blemish present throughout the runtime. The Dolby Vision allows for the retaining all the beautiful black and contrast levels without a hint of artifacting or crushing of the blacks making the 35mm shot film look beautifully representative of its origins. Like Trick or Treat earlier this year, Synapse has another revelatory transfer in Blue Sunshine.
The Extras
They include the following;
- New introduction to the film by director Jeff Lieberman
- Two audio commentaries featuring director Jeff Lieberman
- Archival 2003 interview with director Jeff Lieberman
- “Lieberman on Lieberman” video interview
- Channel Z “Fantasy Film Festival” interview with Mick Garris and Jeff Lieberman
- Fantasia Film Festival 4K Premiere Q&A with moderator Michael Gingold and director Jeff Lieberman
- Anti-drug “scare films”: LSD-25 (1967) and LSD: Insight or Insanity? (1968), courtesy of the American Genre Film Archive
- Jeff Lieberman’s first film The Ringer, included here in two versions: the original uncut version (from a projection print source) and the final release version (remastered in 4K by Synapse Films from the original camera negative) with optional audio commentary on the uncut version by Jeff Lieberman and moderator Howard S. Berger
- Theatrical trailers
- Still gallery
- Liner notes booklet by Jeff Lieberman, featuring a 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
- Limited edition remastered CD soundtrack (13 tracks)
New introduction to the film by director Jeff Lieberman (1:29) – discusses that he did not know that MK Ultra program that the CIA LSD program just a strange coincide
The first audio commentary is an archival one featuring director Jeff Lieberman and historian Howard S Berger begins with a discussion of the moon which features prominently in the opening. Some of the details include the production schedule and how the film that they shot entirely on location in Los Angeles; working with editor Brian Smedley-Aston; the music by composer Don Knight; the casting of Debrah Walter; the difficulties of shooting at night with 35mm; smart casting of the women in the opening set piece – using stunt performers instead of actors to save on costs; the casting and work of Zalman King – including a discussion of directing him and his place in pop culture at the time as star of the Young Doctors – before his writing and TV career with erotic dramas/thrillers; the reason why actor Stefan Gierasch’s character just disappears from the film; the fact that Zalman King’s role could have been Jeff Goldblum and that casting what if; the various issues that came up with making the film and the constant rewriting of the script to fit the budget and locations – because the original was very different and set in NYC; the real life personal incident that informed Lieberman to write the film; the fact that Blue Sunshine isn’t a real drug; a larger discussion of the various locations used in and outside of Los Angeles; a larger discussion throughout of the various actors that appear in the film; and much more.
The second audio commentary is another archival one featuring director Jeff Lieberman and filmmaker Elijah Drenner begins with the opening sequences. Some of the details include where the idea of Blue Sunshine came from – including his personal history and love of paranoid Sci-Fi stories of the 1950s; a great story about the casting Biron James – who the producers didn’t want to cast; the casting of the film – including the casting what if’s; a discussion of the shooting schedule for the film; his collaboration with cinematographer Don Knight – and how it differed from Squirm; the reason why the loosing of the hair was the defining symptom of the illness in the film; the way he approaches the political messages – and his hatred of “preaching”; the production schedule and budget he was given for the film; working with Editor Brian Smedley-Aston; a larger discussion throughout of the various “compromises” he made during filmmaking; a larger discussion of the various locations used in and outside of Los Angeles; and much more.
Archival 2003 interview with director Jeff Lieberman (40:44) – this archival interview with Lieberman does cover some of the similar ground as the two commentaries but adds additional information to some of the stories, anecdotes, and information in those tracks. Some of the details from the interview include the inspirations that helped him create Blue Sunshine; how the success of Squirm helped Blue Sunshine get made; how they approached the film from a more grounded approach; how censorship caused the film not to be sold to a major TV Network; his favorite scene to film; the critical reaction to the film upon release – including the reaction to Cannes, and how that differed from the eventual US release; his thoughts on horror films in the early 2000s – and how much there is to consider technology; his favorite horror films; his thoughts on remakes – and the possibility of a Blue Sunshine remake; and much more.
Channel Z interview with Mick Garris and Jeff Lieberman (14:03) – this archival interview from “Fantasy Film Festival” that was hosted by Garris back in the early 1980s. This is a great interview for the legendary early Cable Channel’s showing of Blue Sunshine giving us not just context but a bit of an introduction, at the time, to Lieberman and his work – including a discussion of his first film Squirm as well.
“Lieberman on Lieberman” video interview (30:13) – in this archival interview the director discusses his entire career up until this point. Discussion points include his early life; self-taught drawing – with a panache for horror imagery; Blow-Up inspiring his life in film; his early work in the film industry which led to working on the 1973 little-seen horror film Blade; the writing and troubles that occurred on that film and how that informed his career; moving to Los Angeles and the studio script work he did – and the old Hollywood tale of getting paid a lot of money for films that never got made; a great John Carpenter story about Blue Sunshine – which lead to another story about Flash Gordon; and much more.
Fantasia Film Festival 4K Premiere Q&A (36:29) – filmed during the 2022 Fantasia Film Festival with moderator Michael Gingold and director Jeff Lieberman. Some of the details include why he took on a more political subject in Blue Sunshine after Squirm; the casting of Zalman King and the rest of the cast – including some great anecdotes and stories about the various actors; some great stories from editing the film; some stories from the stunt work that was done for the film including the high rise jump featured towards the end of the film; the Q&A then opens up for audience questions – as you are aware those go as far as you think they do; and much more.
Theatrical trailers – Theatrical Trailer 1 (2:31); Theatrical Trailer 2 (2:32)
LSD Short Films – the two films can be accessed through the main menu. These anti-drug films are what you expect from these types of scare films. More so, you understand what they are as you realize that they’ve been provided by the always crazy insane folks at The American Genre Film Archive. It should be noted; that we are not condoning drug use.
LSD-25 (26:41) – the short from 1967 is exactly the kind of “documentary” that is to induce fear and nightmares in parents. One should just watch and enjoy the truly deranged editing and imagery of this short “doc”. The wildest choice is the various voice actors they used to portray the various “citizens” on the street who take acid. Also, the parents and squares they interview are as equally dumbfounding. Though the boldest choice is having the voice of LSD narrate the film and how “he” affects the brain and body. A great inclusion for this release considering how much LSD plays a part in the plot of Blue Sunshine.
- LSD: Insight or Insanity? (18:03) – another short “documentary” this one from 1968, that looks at teenagers, youth culture, and drugs specifically … LSD!!! Again, this is focused on the kind of nightmarish imagery and worry that parents shudder in fear.
- LSD: Insight or Insanity? makes LSD-25 look like a level-headed documentary. This one takes the origins of LSD and how that substance helped certain mental illnesses but also in normal people will cause hallucinations – as they feel like they best describe them with accompanying imagery. Though the wildest fact here is that Sal Mineo narrates this piece of fictional non-fiction.
Still gallery (5:37) – the gallery consists of approximately 65 images that range from production stills to artwork and more. The gallery plays automatically with the score by Composer Charles Gross.
The Ringer – which is Jeff Lieberman’s first film and is included here in two versions: the original uncut version (from a projection print source) and the final release version (remastered in 4K by Synapse Films from the original camera negative). They have included an optional audio commentary on the uncut version by Jeff Lieberman and moderator Howard S. Berger.
- The Ringer [Release Version 18:32/Original Uncut Version 19:44] – a spiritual cousin to Blue Sunshine that was once a parody and satire but is literally sixty years later how corporations infect everything. The Ringer is so arched taking the same marketing tactics towards youth culture from everything to nose rings, bands, and of course drugs. Funny how in the six decades since nothing, and I mean nothing, has changed. Note: The transfer for the restoration is as stunning as the release for Blue Sunshine.
- The Commentary track on the uncut version by Jeff Lieberman and moderator Howard S. Berger begins with the origins of the film being an anti-drug film and how he was hired. Some of the details include how he came up with the concept to subvert the anti-drug concept to something very different; what the ringer was and taking the ludicrous, at the time, of a nose ring; the various locations he filmed the short in; who wrote the songs for the short; how many of the marketing tactics were employed by corporations in real life; the casting of the film; the budget for the short; and much more.
Limited edition remastered CD soundtrack – the 13-track CD includes the score by composer Charles Gross and additionally the four songs that appear in the film (including the Puppet songs). Note that this CD is limited to the 4,000 copies of the 3-disc edition of this set. This will be a must-purchase for anyone who loves the film and its score.
The Final Thought
Synapse continues to outdo themselves. Blue Sunshine’s upgrade to 4K UHD is a marvelous, overstuffed edition. Highest recommendations!!!