So I was going through The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film many many years ago and one movie jumped off the page and into my head. It was called "Blue Sunshine," and the description was quite simple, something like "Tainted LSD causes people to go bald and become blood-thirsty maniacs." Naturally I was drooling...
It took me over ten years to track the movie down and I must say- it was worth the wait. "Blue Sunshine" is both the title and the type of LSD with supposedly scary side-effects. The movie begins with a very clever sequence in which we tilt down from the full blue moon to three seemingly-unrelated sequences... in time they'll come together. Its clear from the very beginning that director Jeff Lieberman has every frame planned, and this holds true throughout: the movie is built like a brick house- simply, logically, building tension, with no wasted scenes or dialogue.
The cinematography is great as well: Lieberman lights the whole frame, and you notice little details and textures that add to the mood. This lighting style also helps the movie stay young- aside from the fashion and cars you'd have no idea it was filmed in '76. But the best part of the movie are the scares- in major and minor keys... a man losing every hair on his head in one shot... a psychotic murderer forcing a woman's body BACK into a roaring fire as she tries to crawl out... a babysitter going insane while the children she's watching chant "We want Doctah Peppah! We want Doctah Peppah!" The disco finale is classic, and makes a sly statement about disco music and 70's culture as a Blue Sunshine user goes bats in a shopping mall nightclub. The movie ends rather quickly, and while some people complain about this, I prefer a clean break over a drawn-out exposition-filled "wrap-up." "Blue Sunshine" is not for everyone... if you don't like psychotronic movies (exploitation films, horror movies, sci-fi, etc) you won't be interested. But if you're looking for a good nightmare seek this movie out! GRADE: A