Blue Sunshine is the kind of film that starts with a party, throws a psychotic break, a dash of LSD, and a whole bunch of people growing bald and losing their damn minds—and if that doesn’t scream cinematic greatness, I don’t know what does. Written and directed by Jeff Lieberman, this schlocky 70s horror thriller (with just enough LSD-induced paranoia to make your head spin) has earned a cult following. However, the real question is—should it? The answer, my dear reader, is a resounding, “Only if you like your horror with a side of bald maniacs and unexplainable rage.”
The Plot: It’s Like Requiem for a Dream, But With More Baldness and Less Meaning
The film opens with a bang—a jazz singer, Frannie Scott, trying to serenade a room full of partygoers with a little tune, only to have his hair mysteriously come off in a failed attempt at kissing his friend’s date. One minute, he’s crooning, the next minute, he’s hacking people to death with all the subtlety of a toddler with a machete. Frannie ends up dead under the wheels of a truck, and guess what? He’s not the only one with a sudden, inexplicable murderous rage. In comes Jerry Zipkin (played by Zalman King, who seems to have spent most of his time in this film looking perpetually confused), the man wrongly accused of these crimes.
Turns out, there’s a secret at play—Blue Sunshine, a special strain of LSD that’s turning people into homicidal maniacs years after they’ve taken it. Oh, and it also makes them bald. Nothing says “horror” like a bunch of psychotic bald people running amok.
So, what does Jerry do? He spends the rest of the film running around, trying to clear his name, avoid getting murdered by people with shiny, hairless heads, and ultimately try to figure out who’s behind this drug-fueled nightmare. The answer, naturally, lies with Ed Flemming (Mark Goddard), a politician who’s as slippery as a greased weasel and just as untrustworthy. After Jerry tracks down Flemming’s estranged wife (because that’s where all the best investigative leads come from), she decides to try her best “nanny from hell” routine, attempting to murder two kids in a hair-raising (pun intended) sequence of events.
As Jerry continues his search for answers, he discovers that there’s only one way to stop the madness: get a bald maniac to confess. And what better place to find a bald maniac than at a mall disco? I mean, it’s 1977—where else are they going to hang out? That’s where we get our now-legendary line from a random mall patron: “There’s a bald maniac in there, and he’s going batshit!” Honestly, it should be the tagline for the film. It would certainly be more memorable than the movie itself.
The Acting: If Confusion Was an Art Form…
As for the acting? Well, let’s just say this film didn’t win any Oscars. Zalman King is, bless his heart, a very confusedJerry Zipkin. He spends the whole movie acting like a man who’s constantly forgotten his lines, but at least it adds an aura of mystery. Meanwhile, Deborah Winters as Alicia Sweeney does her best to look concerned while also simultaneously trying to figure out why she’s involved in this mess at all. The standout performance, however, comes from Ray Young as Wayne Mulligan, the human embodiment of “bald rage.” When he finally goes on his rampage at the mall, it’s both hilarious and horrifying in equal measure. I think he’s supposed to be a villain, but honestly, I’m just rooting for him to knock over a few more shopping carts.
The Ending: More Questions Than Answers (But At Least It’s Over)
The film’s climax is nothing short of bizarre—Jerry does his best hero impersonation, tracks down Wayne Mulligan (paralyzes him with a dart gun), and the film’s epilogue tells us that Wayne is sent to a sanitarium, which seems like a real letdown considering the ridiculousness of the whole movie. The film ends with the cryptic statement that “255 doses of Blue Sunshine are still unaccounted for,” which just feels like a poor attempt to justify a sequel no one asked for.
Final Thoughts: Watch It If You Want to Die Laughing (Or Crying)
In conclusion, Blue Sunshine is a horror film that should be studied for its sheer audacity rather than its execution. It’s like someone had an idea for a terrifying movie, but the script was written by a group of people who had just discovered LSD and were watching Jaws on a loop. You can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all—bald maniacs, LSD-induced psychosis, and Zalman King wandering around looking lost are the highlights here.
So, if you like your horror films with a hefty dose of confusion, questionable logic, and more bald people than you ever thought you’d see in one sitting, then Blue Sunshine is for you. If not? Well, there are better ways to spend 78 minutes of your life than on this… unless you really enjoy watching the slow unraveling of a plot that never really goes anywhere.
