Luther the Geek Blu-ray Review

Troma Entertainment

Blu-ray Release: January 20, 2026

Video: 1.85:1/1080p/Color

Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Subtitles: English

Run Time: 80:19

Directors: Carlton J. Albright

A young country boy is plunged into the depths of homicidal madness after witnessing the strange exploits of a carnival geek, a caged drunk so desperate for whisky that he bites the heads off live chickens in front of a freak show audience. Thirty years later, Luther is all grown up and out on parole, armed with a pair of razor-sharp metal dentures, and terrorizes the citizens of a small town. (From Troma’s official synopsis)

During the ancient early days of the public internet, I once stumbled across a website called Losman’s Lair of Horror (you can still visit it, thanks to the Wayback Machine). The Lair was devoted to cataloging and reviewing films that Losman considered the most disturbing movies of all time. As a young horror fan with a new rental subscription card, I was always looking for under-the-radar titles to add to my watchlist. Alongside notoriously cruel and disgusting films, like Pier Paolo Passolini's Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom (1975), Buddy Giovinazzo’s Combat Shock (1986), Jorg Buttgereit’s Nekromantik (1989), and Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust (1980), was a virtually unknown indie pseudo-slasher called Luther the Geek (1989). 

I eventually found the Quest Entertainment VHS tape for rent in a rundown mom & pop video store and marveled at its unofficial rating of EM: Extremely Mature. If I would’ve read beyond the title and plot description, I would’ve noticed that Mr. Losman didn’t actually recommend watching Luther the Geek and, in fact, refers to it as quite boring. 

The first thing anyone will notice about Luther the Geek is that it is absolutely bloated with filler to cover its barely feature-length runtime (77 minutes, minus credits) . Very little happens over the course of the film and the vast majority of the story is confined to a bland rural farmhouse. The uneven performances (Stacy Haiduk aside) and extremely stiff character interactions follow suit. With the right sense of pacing and tone, this mix of a claustrophobic setting and over-the-top antagonist might’ve worked, but, as is, a lot of time is spent parking cars and putting away groceries. It’s also never clear which moments are meant to be funny and which are meant to be frightening (I’m pretty sure the ending is supposed to be funny…).

At the very least, Luther the Geek looks better than most forgotten Z-grade horror movies from the late ‘90s. Writer/director Carlton J. Albright and first-time cinematographer David Knox put considerable effort into creative and dynamic blocking, lighting, and camera movement. Knox himself eventually became an A-list camera operator, specializing in underwater photography. The gore effects – arguably the only reason to watch the film – are also quite good and well up to the mainstream, late ‘80s standard. Make-up effects artist Mike Tristano had previously worked as an uncredited tech on Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors (1987), Evil Dead 2 (1987), and Phantasm II (1988) in the lead up to this and continues working in effects & prop management to this day.

Albright never directed another film, but he did co-write Max Kalmanowicz’ nuclear zombie epic The Children (1980), a similarly junky, but extremely entertaining entry in the killer kid genre that, like Luther the Geek, was later picked up by Troma for home video distribution. Albright’s only other feature credit is producer on Kalmanowicz’ Dreams Come True (1984).

Video

Luther the Geek hit VHS from the aforementioned Quest Entertainment and Dead Alive Productions (a Mesa, Arizona-based company known mostly for their releases of extreme horror from the German underground, the first two Man Behind the Sun movies, and the Traces of Death series). In 2005, Troma got their hands on it and put out a non-anamorphic ‘director’s cut’ DVD, followed by a widescreen Blu-ray debut from Vinegar Syndrome in 2016. Apparently, VS’ distribution deals with Troma eventually expire, at which point they revert back to Troma.

The good news is that it appears that Troma is recycling VS’ 2K remaster, which isn’t a surprise, considering that VS was reportedly responsible for the 4K Toxic Avenger remasters. I’m sure a side by side comparison would reveal that Troma’s transfer is more compressed (I don’t have the OOP VS disc on hand), but the overall look of this 1.85:1, 1080p transfer is crisp, clean, and nicely detailed. There are signs of compression, mostly noise within the grain, and minor print damage, including white flecks and a handful of blotches. The majority of the film is shot in blinding daylight, which could’ve easily washed-out a lesser transfer.

Audio

As often happens with Troma’s Blu-rays, Luther the Geek is presented in lossy Dolby Digital and its original 2.0 mono. The sound design is rather primitive, made up of a lot of canned effects and fuzzy dialogue captured by a single room mic, so the compression isn’t super obvious, but there are indications in the hissy/clicky vocal performances and condensed dynamic range. Vern Carlson’s synth score is thin and unmemorable, but also exhibits superior musicality to the average zero-budget video fodder. At a minimum, he manages to set the mood during the climax.

Extras

2015 Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray archival extras:

• Carlton J. Albright's intro (0:38, HD) – The writer/director curses his original distributor and praises this re-release.

• Commentary with Carlton J. Albright – Speaking to moderator Joe Rubin (and ignoring some kind of hammering in the background), the writer/director discusses the origin of Luther the Geek, shooting the film on a low budget, the Illinois locations, using community and family members as crew and extras, casting the leads, Vern Carlson ripping off his own score from The Children, distribution woes, and on-set illness due to cast & crew inhaling too much chicken shit dust.

• Fowl Play: An Interview With Jerry Clarke (10:17, HD) – Clarke, who played the doomed state trooper (credited as J. Joseph Clarke) offers a tour of his home, chats about his work as an artist, musician, and (lastly) actor, and shares some behind-the-scenes anecdotes from Luther the Geek.

• A Conversation With Carlton (6:36, HD) – This short interview, in which the writer/director looks back on making the film with university students, is hilariously labeled as “A Conversation with Carlton: An Interview with Carlton Albright” on the menu.

2005 Troma DVD archival extras:

• Lloyd Kaufman DVD Intro – The usual goofball Kaufman antics.

• Interview with Director Carlton J. Albright (5:12, SD)

• Interview with William Albright (2:40, SD) – Carlton’s son chats about playing young Luther.

• Fowl Takes – Four raw outtakes with intro/commentary from Albright

  • The Old Woman Getting Attacked by Luther (2:37, SD)

  • Luther Getting Shot (1:11, SD)

  • Fight Between Luther and the Police Officer (8:49, SD)

  • The Shower Scene (7:30, SD)

• Troma's Freak Show – Clips of carnival acts recorded in what looks like locations around Tromo Studios

  • The Archery Freak (1:45, SD)

  • The Man Who Walks on Blades (1:11, SD)

  • The Sword Swallower (0:52, SD)

  • Tim the Torture King (1:41, SD)

• “Innards!” music video (1:50, HD) – The menu calls this song “Innards,” but the title screen calls it “Tromatized” and credits it to Don P. Hooper, Dan Laureano, and singer Abbie Harper.

• Radiation march promo (00:54, SD)

• Troma in Times Square (1:01, HD) – An ad for the Troma streaming service Troma Now.

• Toxic Avenger series 4K promo

• Coming Distractions trailer reel.

The images on this page are taken from the BDs and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.