Luther the Geek - The Inzomniac's Movie Madness Review.

Luther the Geek
USA 1988. Director: Carlton J. Albright
Cast: Joan Roth, Stacy Haiduk, Edward Terry, Jerome Clark

Literally, a geek was once an attraction at the circus who bite the heads of live chickens and drank their blood in front of a jubilant crowd (no, not Ozzy Osbourne, smartypant). On one of these occasions a little boy named Luther is watching the performance of the night and is seduced by what he sees. But somehow he is pushed to the ground, strucks his face into a rock and loses his teeth. Years later, Luther, now with a brand new set of teeth made of steel, is livng in a mental asylum but is eventually released because of good behaviour. However, as soon as he is out he bites a woman (or a man in women's clothes) in the neck and watches her bleed to death. He then escapes in a car to a solitary house on the countryside. There he terrorizes the family living there, killing everyone except the mother (Joan Roth in a good Dee Wallace wannabe performance). All along the way Luther chuckles and giggles like a stung chicken. Happy days are here again.

Luther the Geek is, thankfully, rather short, only about 78 minutes in uncut form. But it still feels like director Albright stuffed in everything he could think of to fill the running time. For example there is the obligatory "let's make love although there is a serial killer in the neighborhood-scene" which is just distracting. And there's a lot of running in a dark cow-house. However, the film manages to make up it's share of decent scares soon enough. The filmmakers also manage to let the story move without turning up the volume and turn into a special effects-orgy, obviously due to the low or non-existing budget the guys had to work with, but still. The locations are moody and claustrophobic, and there's plenty of nailbiting atmosphere. Although Stacy Haiduk, who plays the daughter in the house, only got the part because of her gigantic honkers. She must have, since no other talent is evident whatsoever. As the bloodthirsty Luther Edward Terry is convincing and makes a rather frightening (or at least piss ugly) appariation. Even if he does look like an old Michael Berryman on a diet. Summary: The plot and the material on offer is just enough for a 30 minute short, but if you like your psychopathic killers rough and disturbing this sometimes inspired, sometimes tedious lowbudget classic at least delivers the stuff when it's supposed to.