The sideshow was once a staple of the circus life with their array of human and animal oddities. When I met Sid Krofft (Land of the Lost) at a convention last year, he talked about his time in the circus. He was part of the sideshow early on in his career. He wasn’t an oddity. He did an early version of his puppet show on a small stage away from the big tent. During his time in the sideshow, he was constantly reminded that he was not to fraternize with the big tent performers. Sideshow people were not well respected. And among sideshow people, the one they didn’t respect was The Geek. This was the bottom of the barrel of performers. Normally the Geek was someone who had let the liquor control their lives. They were broken and needing a drink really bad. What did they do to get a taste of booze on their lips? They bit the heads off live chickens. There was not much to their act other than total degradation. It truly seemed like the stage where a man was reduced to being an animal. And you could watch it for only a nickel. Luther the Geek brings the most fearful aspects of the geek into a horror movie.
As a small child, Luther is taken to see a real-live geek that’s inside a sideshow cage. The event is extra traumatic for the kid since in the chaos of seeing the geek bite the head off a chicken, Luther gets his teeth smashed in on a wagon wheel hub. This causes Luther not only want to bite the heads off chickens but enjoy the taste of human blood. Even stranger is the kid gives up speaking like a person and just clucks away. Luther ends up behind bars for attacking people in the neck using his special metal dentures. But after 20 years behind bars, a parole board decides that Luther (Edward Terry) should be free range once more. He’s been a model prisoner. When he springs the coop, Luther reverts to his biting ways. He causes a scene when he visits a supermarket and checks out the egg section. He attacks an old lady in the parking lot. Before the cops can grab him, Luther sneaks into the car of an unsuspecting shopper and heads out to the countryside. He’s found a great victim in Hilary (Joan Roth) because she has chickens on her property. She’s also got more potential victims for the killer when her daughter Beth (Superboy‘s Stacy Haiduk) drops by with her boyfriend Rob (Thomas Mills). Even though the glass is broken in the kitchen door, Beth thinks mom forgot her keys again. Things seem calm. They can still hear the hens outside. Little do they know that not all that clucks wears feathers. Will this family survive Luther’s visit?
Writer-director Carlton J. Albright nails the utter fear of encountering a real sideshow geek. This film could have felt like a bit of a prolonged joke with a serial killer who clucks. But when Luther flashes his metal chompers; there’s a quite a bit of fear projected from the screen. Edward Terry knows how to keep his character scary. Both Joan Roth and Stacy Haiduk show fear when he attacks. There’s an interesting visual of mom tied on top of the bed while the daughter hides under the mattress not sure if Luther is going to return. Unlike so many horror films where the madman attacks after dark; Luther initially terrorizes in broad daylight. I’m guessing this is because chickens sleep at night. The shots of Luther biting necks are appropriately bloody and gory. The ending is an interesting twist that I won’t spoil. The film taps into the nightmare of the sideshow and neighbors raising chickens. Luther is a brilliant low budget horror film that doesn’t go cheep (had to make that joke – it was just perched there).
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfer brings out the disturbing nature of Luther’s metal dentures. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. You’ll hear all of Luther’s clucking clearly. The movie is subtitled.
Lloyd Kaufman’s Classic Intro (5:07) has the head of Troma at his desk pumping up the geek. He also promotes Killer Nerds.
Carlton Albright’s Intro (0:38) points out how Quest Entertainment screwed up the film’s original release. He’s happy Troma has put out the film.
Director’s Commentary with Carlton J. Albright has him get into the wild stories of working on an indie horror film at the end of the ’80s. He gets into his auditioning the guy to play the original geek. This was a long day shoot. He also goes into how the original distributor ended up in jail. Edward Terry mainly acted off-off-Broadway and was pals with Al Pacino. Joe Rubin of Vinegar Syndrome is the moderator for the commentary.
Classic Interview with Carlton J. Albright (5:12) seems to be taken from an earlier Troma release. The idea for the film came when Albright had to explain to his kids what “Geek” really means. They thought it was only a different name for a “nerd.” It sparked the idea that there was a horror film in it. This led to the steel teeth concept for Luther. He had a Chicken McNuggets idea for the film that they couldn’t shoot.
Classic Interview with William Albright (2:40) who played Little Luther. It’s been a while since William was little. He was around the set during the film a lot since dad was the director.
A conversation with Carlton (6:35) has him mention he went to the writer’s workshop at Iowa and studied under Kurt Vonnegut. He had 8 students from the school intern on the film years later. The bathroom was a set and not inside the farmhouse.
Original Theatrical Trailer (2:26) gives us the history of the sideshow Geek before we get glimpses of the nightmare to come.
Fowl Play: An Interview with Terry Clarke gets into the chicken wildness.
Fowl Takes has Carlton J. Albright discuss four scenes including Luther vs. the cop (8:50), old woman getting attacked (2:38), Luther getting shot (1:12) and the bathroom (7:30).
Troma’s Freak Show has four freak talents including The Archery Freak (1:49), Man Who Walks on Blades (1:11), the Sword Swallower (0:52) and Tim The Torture King (1:41) for your viewing pleasure.
INNARDS! Music Video (1:50) is a song about Troma filmed at Troma’s offices.
Radiation March (0:54) is a modern dance number.
Troma In Times Square (1:01) is filmed on location. This is for Troma’s streaming service.
Troma Entertainment presents Luther The Geek: Tromatic Special Edition. Directed by Carlton J. Albright. Screenplay by Carlton J. Albright. Starring: Edward Terry, Joan Roth, Stacy Haiduk, Thomas Mills, Jerry Clarke, Tom Brittingham and Carlton Williams. Running Time: 81 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: January 20, 2025.
