Luther the Geek (1989) Troma Blu-ray Review

Verdict

Summary

A splatter grindhouse cult film that solidified its wild reputation that is very well earned with its disgusting (but convincing) gore, its unconventionally wacky and weird (and actually pretty scary and unsettling) villain, Luther the Geek. The movie has no real redeeming qualities, but it’s well made and effective as a horror / slasher / gore film, and the big bonus is having the starlet Haiduk in her first movie. She’s too good for this material, but hey: It’s a win, so take it. I have to admit that I sort of got on this movie’s bizarre wavelength and had a “good” time, but you’ve to be a certain kind of crazy to enjoy this madness.

Plot:

A lunatic is paroled and gets straight to slaughtering again.

Review:

As a boy, Luther’s life trajectory was altered in a very significant way when two events happen simultaneously: He witnesses a carnival “geek” graphically bite the head off a chicken, and he loses his four front teeth when they’re knocked out when he’s shoved aside while watching the geek. These are his defining moments in childhood that define the rest of his life because he becomes a murderer at a very young age, and his method of killing is to bite them with his metal dentures that he forges for himself and grinds and sharpens to razor blade efficiency. He spends most of his life behind bars, but because he’s nonverbal and is a model prisoner (which seems impossible because he’s clearly insane, clucking like a chicken instead of speaking), the parole board grants him an early parole. His first stop out of prison is a grocery store where he sticks out like a sore thumb. Luther (played by Edward Terry in the role that would define his acting career) is a bald, ugly “freak” for lack of a better word. He has wild eyes, looks homeless, and he’s got those metal dentures, and a stock boy at the grocery store is stunned speechless when Luther eats raw eggs in the most conspicuous way possible. Run out of the store, Luther graphically murders an old lady minding her own business on a bus bench, and then he jumps in a car while a lady is loading her groceries in the trunk. He hitches a ride to her farmhouse where he immediately terrorizes the poor woman, first by sticking the barrel of a shotgun between her legs and then chasing her around, clearly intent on slaughtering her. Unfortunately for her, she has unexpected visitors when her very attractive daughter Beth (played by the stunningly gorgeous Stacy Haiduk who has several eyebrow-raising nude scenes) and Beth’s beau Rob (Thom Mills) show up. This means more terror when Luther goes ballistic and bites, claws, and acts like a deranged chicken (yes, Luther thinks he’s a chicken, which is both hilarious and disturbing). The only way to defeat Luther is to trick him into also acting like a chicken, which finally occurs to one of the characters, leading to an unexpectedly explosive finale.

Troma has just released a great looking Blu-ray edition of Luther the Geek, and I’m certain the film has never looked or sounded better as it does here. It’s presented in widescreen high definition, and comes loaded with bonus features as well.

Bonus Materials