Luther The Geek — Luther The Geek ( Blu Ray)

Luther The Geek is a late 80’s mix of slasher and low-key dark humour, with a rewarding mix of tense stalk 'n' slash atmosphere, red spurting gore, and creepy derangement. The film's title character is a great/ unsettling killer, with his metal dentures, balding/wild-eyed redneck look, and penchant for ripping into the necks of both humans and chickens alike. Here from Troma is a Blu-ray release of the film, which has a fair selection of extras, though I believe these are all ported over from previous releases of the picture.

Luther the Geek is from the year 1989 been largely filmed in rural Illinois and Iowa. It was directed/ written by Carlton J. Albright- this was his one and only directorial credit, though he wrote the script for the creepy zombie kids movie The Children (1980).

The film opens with pre-credits detailing what a Geek in travelling freakshows would have been- basically a caged, highly deranged and mentally unwell man who would bite off the heads of chickens.

As we get into the film, we get a flashback to the 30’s, where we see a group of people pouring into a barn to see one such geek. Among their number is a small boy- he gets pushed over, his teeth getting knocked out- after the crowd has dispersed, he makes his way up to the cage- putting his hand in and licking the blood left over by the decapitated bird. We then move forward to the 80s, where a prison/psychiatric board are debating whether they should let Luther out. In the end, it’s decided he’s fine/ safe to do so, but boy, when we meet him, it’s clear he is far from fit for release.

So the first time we meet the now grown-up Luther(Edward Terry), he’s shambling through a supermarket- looking very mentally unwell, first putting on a pair of shades, then wandering over to the eggs to start biting off the tops of them, and drinking down their raw insides.

Understandable he’s thrown out- he goes to sit on a bench, offering an old woman an egg- she pushes his arm away, and he proceeds to tear into her neck with his crude metal dentures lined mouth.

He panics as the people/ cops turn up, so he hides in the back of the car of forty-something mom Hilary (Joan Roth). And the rest of the film takes place in and around her isolated house/ farm.

As the film unfolds, we get more deranged/ odd behaviour from Luther- he never speaks, but instead croaks like a chicken. We get some nicely tense stalk and hide scenes, where a selection of other characters turn up at the farm. And we get some arterial spurting gore- be it from human necks, chicken props, or bitten off fingers.

Terry is excellent as the truly unhinged/ demented Luther. The surrounding cast is fine for a low-budget film. The pace/ direction of the film kept good/ even throughout.

I recall seeing Luther the Geek stills in Fangoria in the 80’s, and thinking wow, that's a gnarly and nasty looking killer. So, it’s great to finally see the film after all these years- and I must say it’s lived up to the promise of said stills- and it most certainly stands as an effective & deranged late 80’s slasher film, with some nice touches of low-key dark-as-night comedy. There’s no doubt that Luther is a distinctive/distributing slasher killer, and it’s a real pity this was his one and only film.

Moving on to the extras- and as mentioned, these are ported over from previous editions of the film. First off, there’s a commentary track featuring director Carlton J. Albright and Joe Rubin of Vinegar Syndrome. Then there’s the following: intro with Lloyd Kaufman (5.07), intro with director Carlton J. Albright (0.36). Classic interview- interview with director Carlton J. Albright(5.12). Interview with Will Albright- who played young Luther(2.40). A Conversation with Carlton ( 6.35). Fowl Play- interview with actor Jerry Clarke(10.17). Fowl takes- a selection of four cut scenes. An original trailer, and seven general Troma-related short extras.

If you enjoy gnarly and troubling slashers with dark humour touches, then Luther The Geek will most certainly be for you. This recent Troma release serves up a decent enough scan, and a good enough selection of archive extras