There is an explicit understanding between those who enjoy watching horror and those who churn it out: If the latter promise to shovel heaps of sex, violence and nihilism into the mix, the former will readily forgive the lack of Shakespearian dialogue or nuanced performances. That said, Luke 11:17 more than holds its own within the confines of its genre. Fans of such already know to what to expect from its time-honored psycho-run-amuck premise…on the other hand, if you find yourself genuinely baffled by what a maladjusted maniac might be intending to do with that blowtorch, please heed this warning: spoilers ahead. And a body count.
Luke 11:17 follows the exploits of Luke Vincent (Ryan V. Cafeo), a self-help guru whose anti-addiction crusade has landed him all the trappings of success — book deals, magazine covers and a small army of gorgeous nymphomaniacs desperate for some one-on-one counseling with the smarmy swami. However, scratch the surface of Vincent’s slick veneer, and you’ll find no shortage of psychological hangups…or track marks. His role as unreliable narrator is employed with relative success here: The series derives some suspense from revealing the degree to which this fellow is unhinged. True to a genre in which nothing is done in half-measures, there’s a logjam of attractive corpses, too.
Oddly enough, the show mines the more genteel pastures of daytime soaps for many of its performers. Cafeo emoted for a nine-episode run on Passions; Bernadette Wilkes once illuminated the set of Guiding Light; and Chrishell Stause was a regular on All My Children. As daytime drama is not often rife with subtle character studies either, it’s a surprisingly well-suited breeding ground for the future heroes and heroines of horror. The performances within Luke are passable, if not peerless, with the exception of the work done by veteran performer Karen Maruyame as Vincent’s therapist (for a paltry two episodes). Maruyame’s comedic turn in shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway? and The Jamie Foxx Show belie an ability to transition seamlessly into more dramatic fare, which she does successfully here.
While Episode 1 is slow to leave the starting gate, Episode 2 landed itself a spot on Wes Craven’s YouTube Halloween 2008 playlist, surely due in no small part to how quickly — and with what a grandiose flourish — the mask of sanity is pried from Vincent’s face. However, the plug from Craven doesn’t appear to have led to a sustainable audience — while Episode 2 had 43,858 tuning in, view counts of the remaining episodes went back to idling in the low hundreds. EDITED TO ADD: Apologies — either our numbers were off, or traffic has increased dramatically: view counts are indeed averaging between 1,000 – 2,000 per episode as of this writing!
Luke 11:17 amply doles out what genre fans have come to expect: edgy camerawork and a foreboding musical score, and as mentioned, there’s some sex, drugs and violence, too. Luke’s worth spending an afternoon with…….. if you like guys with fractured psyches and serious female abandonment issues. Though, you might want to steer clear of his basement.
