Blue Sunshine: Standard Edition – Synapse Films (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1977
Director: Jeff Lieberman
Writer: Jeff Lieberman
Cast: Zalman King, Deborah Winters, Mark Goddard, Robert Walden, Charles Siebert, Ann Cooper, Ray Young, Alice Ghostley, Stefan Gierasch, Richard Crystal

Release Date: March 13th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 94 Minutes 49 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English, DTS-HD 5.1 English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $39.95

"It starts off as a great party—just eight people in a secluded lodge. One of the guests suddenly goes on a shockingly violent, murderous rampage. There is something wrong with his hair and pure evil in his eyes. What he does to three of the girls there is too hideous to describe. Falsely accused of the brutal killings, Jerry Zipkin (Red Shoe Diaries' Zalman King) goes on the run. More bizarre murders occur, and while trying to clear his name, Jerry discovers the shocking truth: The people losing their hair and turning into violent psychopaths may be connected to a drug each killer took a decade before. A drug known as "Blue Sunshine." Did you ever hear the words "Blue Sunshine"? Try to remember...your life may depend on it." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "4K restoration of the original 35mm camera negative mastered in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)."

Blue Sunshine comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 92.3 GB

Feature: 65.9 GB

The transfer looks excellent; it is easily the best Blue Sunshine has ever looked on home media. Flesh tones look healthy; colors are nicely saturated; image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid; and the image always looks organic.

Audio: 5/5 (Both Audio Tracks)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in English and a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English. Both audio tracks sound excellent. Dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, ambient sounds are well represented and the score sounds appropriately robust. Included are removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras for this release include reversible cover art, an image gallery with music from the film playing in the background (stills/posters/lobby cards/home video art/articles), theatrical trailer #1 (2 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), theatrical trailer #2 (2 minutes 32 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), two Anti-drug “scare films”: LSD-25 (26 minutes 41 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles) and LSD: Insight or Insanity? (18 minutes 3 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), two versions of The Ringer, a short film directed by Jeff Lieberman: the original uncut version, from a projection print source (19 minutes 44 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles); and the final release version, remastered in 4K by Synapse Films (18 minutes 32 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Jeff Lieberman for the original uncut version of The Ringer,  Fantasia Film Festival 4K Premiere Q&A with moderator Michael Gingold and director Jeff Lieberman (36 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Channel Z “Fantasy Film Festival” interview with Mick Garris and Jeff Lieberman (14 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival interview with Jeff Lieberman titled Lieberman on Lieberman (30 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with Jeff Lieberman from 2003 (40 minutes 44 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a new introduction to the film by Jeff Lieberman (1 minute 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Jeff Lieberman and film historian Howard S. Berger, and an audio commentary with Jeff Lieberman and filmmaker Elijah Drenner.

Summary:

Blue Sunshine was written and directed by Jeff Lieberman, whose other feature films include Squirm, Just Before Dawn, and Remote Control.

A man wrongly accused of multiple murders frantically searches for the truth that will exonerate him.

Although billed as a horror film, Blue Sunshine is better described as a psychological thriller that incorporates body horror elements. While there are several outbursts of carnage, it is primarily a dialogue-driven narrative in which its protagonist, a wrongly accused man, spends most of the duration asking questions and putting everything into focus. That said, the few moments of carnage are sufficiently gory and at times jarring.

Why are so many people having psychotic breaks? Besides all of them losing their hair, what else connects them? While all these events ultimately trace back to a drug called Blue Sunshine, several unresolved questions remain. The most significant of these is why a drug taken by these individuals ten years ago has suddenly begun to produce side effects now. Although there is text at the end of the film that tries to neatly explain what has unfolded, it feels more like a compromise than a definitive answer to what happened.

All around, the cast are excellent in their roles, especially Zalman King (Some Call It Loving) in the role of the wrongly accused man. While some might say that performances veer into over-the-top territory, considering many of the key characters are suffering the side effects of a hallucinogenic drug, their minds would not be unbalanced. That said, the most balanced performance is Zalman King, whose character never breaks from reality.

Blue Sunshine is a film that relies heavily on mood, and its eerie opening setup does a phenomenal job setting the stage for what follows. Another strength of the narrative is how it always holds your attention by keeping you guessing where it might go next. The visuals and composer Charles Gross's exemplary score create a perfect fusion that greatly heightens the mood. Ultimately, Blue Sunshine’s positives far outweigh its negatives, notably its ability to create an unsettling atmosphere.

Synapse Films gives Blue Sunshine a definitive release. Highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer