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Luther the Geek (1990)

Dir: Carlton J Albright

The film opens with a voice-over recounting the times when the Carnivals that toured America had the infamous 'Freak Show' as a main attraction.
In one such show, we see a young Luther spying on a 'Geek', someone who would bite the heads off live chickens and drink their blood, and showing a wild fascination with the unfortunate wretch, even going as far as dipping his fingers in the blood of one of the decapitated chickens and tasting it.

20 Years later, the grown up Luther (now played by Edward Terry) has been incarcerated in a Mental Institution for the murder of 3 people, by biting into their necks.
Amazingly Luther is given Parole, despite the objections of one of the Board who, in an amusingly unexpected outburst, shouts "Up yours you bleeding heart bitch", to the very silly Woman who insists Luther is reformed.

Sure enough, as soon as he is out, Luther is back to his loony ways, eating raw eggs in a Supermarket before moving on to something juicier and eating the throat of an old lady (who is obviously a younger Woman under annoyingly bad old age make-up) with his home made metal gnashers!

He hides from the Police in the car of a Woman named Hilary (Jean Roth), who unknowingly drives Luther to her Farmhouse. Before you can say 'cluck' Luther has bitten the head off one of Hilary's chickens and tied Hilary herself to a bed.

Just then the Woman's Daughter, Beth (Stacy Haiduk) along with her Boyfriend, Rob (Thomas Mills) arrives back home……

 

The acting from most of the cast is wooden, with only Roth as the feisty Hilary, and Terry as Luther really giving their all. Terry especially is delightfully manic and warped as he pulls mad faces, bares his shiny choppers and…..clucks!
In fact he never says a real word the entire film, instead relying on deranged poultry outbursts.
Haiduk is adequate in her role, but it's not her acting that will stick on your mind. She is blessed with marvellously ample charms and thankfully takes great delight in showing them off.

The gore is very well done, with the death of the 'old' lady being a blood gushing highlight, with the sight of stringy flesh hanging from Luther's mouth adding a suitably grizzly garnish.
The various other throat-munching kills are created with gleefully macabre skill, as is a gruesome ripped open chest effect.

There is not much humour on show, as the movie thankfully plays it's ghoulish story line straight (with only the freakish chicken mannerisms of Luther adding an effective streak of trashy black comedy, check out the scene where he leaves his teeth in the wound of one of his victims), but there is a certain comic charm in an unconscious Hilary being awoken by the banging of her Daughter's headboard on the wall as Beth gets down to some badly timed (but very enthusiastic) bonking with witless Rob.

Director, Albright (who wrote the "Midwich Cuckoos" inspired "The Children of Ravensback") delivers some effective touches, like the pre-credit sequence of Luther sharpening his deadly dentures, and even the odd surprise, like Luther's unusually straightforward and determined entry to Hillary's house and some cruel turns of events for some characters, but is sadly lacking in other departments.
The film is generally sluggish, and almost grinds to a halt during an over-extended and quite frankly dull, cat and mouse sequence in the barn (a common fault, that Tobe Hooper so skilfully avoided in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre").

And, even for an exploitation flick, some things beggar belief. That Luther ever fooled anyone into thinking he was reformed when, from the start, he is obviously a complete loon is mystery indeed, and why it takes so long for Beth (who is snapped out of her traumatised state in a matter of seconds by Hilary shouting at her) to try and release her Mother when Luther leaves the house is another. When he leaves them it's still light, by the time Beth does something it's dark!

But generally this is an enjoyable wallow in low budget splatter horror, with a memorable psycho, some nice gore, Ms Haiduk's very pleasing on the eye physique, the Worlds most foolish Policeman and, last but not least, a sequence showcasing the most bizarre heroine/psycho interaction ever committed to celluloid.

In fact, you'd be clucking mad to miss it.