Lucker (1986)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Johan Vandewoestijne

Writers:

Johan Vandewoestijne (written by)
John Kupferschmidt (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1986 (Belgium)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

A serial killer awakens from a coma and escapes from a mental hospital to kill a survivor of his slayings years ago, all the while stalking, terrifying, and killing women on the way.

Plot Keywords:

Mental Hospital | Survivor | Victim | Stalking | Escape

Cast

Nick Van Suyt	...	John Lucker
Helga Vandevelde	...	Cathy Jordan
Let Jotts	...	Prostitute
Marie Claes	...	Sharon
Martine Scherre	...	Christine
Carry Van Middel	...	An
John Edwards	...	Friend
Tony Castillo	...	Dealer
Veerle Dendooven	...	Nurse
Frans Schepens	...	Agent
Werner Onre	...	Man reading newspaper
Nico Karadjian	...	Dealer
Eddy Cosaert	...	Driver
Heidi Callewaart	...	Video customer
Francis Impe

Also Known As:

Lucker the Necrophagous (International: English title)

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

Belgium

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Finland:K-18 | Australia:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Kortrijk, Belgium

Company:

Desert Productions

Trivia:

The producer destroyed all of the negatives after the film was finished, so finding a completely uncut copy is very difficult.

Goofs:

Plot holes: Lucker is a fugitive escaped from a mental clinic. The police are beginning a massive manhunt for him, and have starting points from where his victim's bodies were found (he never leaves that general area). Yet he still manages to stay in an apartment room for a week without leaving, or without the police showing up. Several people in his immediate vicinity have seen him, and the authorities surely have photos of him. If Lucker were to stay in the same place the whole time, the police would have most definitely found him within that week.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Nurse: What's wrong with him?
Bobby: Suicide attempt.
Nurse: Hmm. Who is this guy, anyway?
Bobby: His name is John Lucker. A few years ago, he murdered eight girls. Raped them afterwards. And when I mean afterwards, I mean while some of the corpses were decomposing!

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

Soundtrack:

Theme from Lucker

I love the smell of rotting corpses in the morning…

Some people have seriously sick and twisted world perspectives!! The beautiful country of Belgium (where yours truly lives) is terribly small and "Lucker" is the ONLY sicko-cult gem that was ever made here. Yet, I had to move heaven and earth in order to finally obtain a copy! Eventually, I had to contact writer/director John Vandewoestijne personally, so that he could send me a DVD of it (he's a really nice guy although the content of his film leads you to suspect otherwise!). Well, it was definitely worth going through all these efforts but only because I'm a die-hard fan of this type of extreme horror movies. This is one messed up piece of independent film-making, I assure you. We're introduced to quite possibly the sickest villain in horror cinema history, a thirty-something serial killer/necrophiliac named John Lucker. He awakes from a coma in a private clinic and immediately escapes the facility, killing and raping a couple of doctors and nurses on his way out. Once Lucker is back at large in his old city, he finds out that one the victims of his first killing spree, eight years ago, survived his deadly assault and he can't cope with that. He perpetrates into her apartment building and patiently plots to settle the old score. Meanwhile, he feasts his perverted lusts on the severely decomposing corpse of a prostitute he killed earlier. "Lucker" is a film experience unlike anything you ever had before in your life. It's mean, sadistic and the constantly disturbing atmosphere doesn't really allow you to breath. Other infamous video-nasties (like "Maniac" or "The Prowler") simply pale in comparison with "Lucker" and it actually made them look like soft, ordinary midweek TV-thrillers. The only movies that slightly live up to this are the ones made by German weirdo Andreas Schnaas, only "Lucker" doesn't feature that typically pretentious "oh look at me, I'm so nasty"-attitude Schnaas' movies suffer from. This is one of the most low-budgeted movies ever released but that's not what counts. You don't require money and fancy visuals in order to deliver a shocking picture and Johan Vandewoestijne terrifically proved that here. The extended necrophilia-sequence definitely is the grossest thing I ever saw. The finger-licking moment (you'll know when you see it) stands as the only sequence ever that managed to make my stomach turn upside down. You can either take that as a recommendation…or a warning.