Customer Reviews

C.H.U.D. (Widescreen)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I finally got around to seeing chud after long putting it off. I had wanted to see it because it usually makes most classic horror lists. After viewing it im not sure why it is on any list. There is nothing about this movie that sticks out....in a good way anyways. The monsters looked terrible, they had some glowing eyes that made their fake costumes look even more fake. The movie wasnt tense or scary or funny. There was nothing good here. This movie is way to over rated and people need to stop hyping it up.For some reason it made fangorias top 300 horror movies of all time list and i absolutly do not believe that it belongs there. Its not that i hate the movie, I hate the movies reputation.

When you think of the 1984 horror movie "C.H.U.D.," try and think of an old 1950s or 1960s atomic bomb crazed monster movie. The only difference is that they updated the concept to fit the late 1970s and early 1980's fear of nuclear waste. Most long time fans of horror-I'm talking about fans old enough to watch this junk on cable television around the same time MTV appeared on the scene-have seen this movie before. In some ways, it's a classic even though it isn't particularly gory or scary. I can't tell you how many people I have ran into in the intervening years who have mentioned this movie when a discussion turns to horror films. I always nod my head in understanding and then try to drop in a few titles that better represent the horror franchise. Still, "C.H.U.D." is a charming little film that every new aficionado of shriek cinema should see, and since good old Anchor Bay released it on DVD with a great picture transfer and several fun extras, there's simply no excuse not to watch this one in the near future. It's been years since I saw it, and I was greatly surprised at how much I had forgotten. It's always nice to revisit old friends, eh?

Set in the gritty and grimy streets of New York City, "C.H.U.D." We soon learn something isn't quite right in the city that never picks up after itself. George Cooper (John Heard), a big shot photographer working on a new project concerning the homeless, starts hearing things about missing people. Intrigued, and worried considering some of the vanishing are people he has worked with recently, he decides to quietly start investigating the disappearances. Meanwhile, a city cop named Bosch, whose own wife vanished without a trace some time before, begins assembling reports on sudden disappearances. His superiors could care less since nearly all of these people are vagrants and similar forgettables. Captain Bosch perseveres, always remembering the grief and horror over his own personal tragedy. In order to get information, the good cop pays a visit to A.J. Shepard (Daniel Stern), affectionately known on the street as "The Reverend," a man who runs a soup kitchen to feed the poor. Shepard isn't happy about seeing Bosch, and only reluctantly agrees to help when the cop emphasizes he is truly sincere about solving the mystery. It isn't too long before Cooper, Shepard, and Bosch join forces to defeat an evil lurking under the streets of the city. What could possibly dwell in the sewers under New York City? Why, something called C.H.U.D., of course! When Cooper goes underground to check on one of his pals, he discovers that monsters have been preying on the homeless. These people are so scared they've started arming themselves in order to fend off the evil ones.

The photographer takes a picture of one of the mutilated corpses he finds in the sewer, pictures that ultimately end up in the hands of Shepard and Bosch as they take their case to the chief of police, the mayor, and the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, a guy named Wilson. After an attempt to stonewall these three heroes fails (Shepard threatens to go to the newspapers), Wilson reluctantly reveals that the C.H.U.D. are something called cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers. Wilson claims a small amount of nuclear waste leaked into the sewers of New York and turned a few vagrants into ravenous, glowing eyed monsters with a fondness for human flesh. A mission to flush out the monsters with flamethrowers fails miserably, so it's up to our three heroes to do the job themselves. The C.H.U.D. aren't about to take any attempts to eradicate them lying down, and eventually move aboveground to wreak mayhem on the innocent residents of the city. More painful truths come out when Shepard and Cooper discover that Wilson lied about the toxic waste leak, a truth that is much worse and one that paints the bureaucrat in an extremely unfavorable light. Expect to see plenty of explosions, fires, and general carnage before the credits roll.

"C.H.U.D." is one of those fun movies you just can't help but chuckle over as you watch. The success of the film is mostly due to the cast, especially Daniel Stern as the frenetic A.J. Shepard. The Reverend is a cranky, anti-authoritarian type who just loves to cause trouble. His haircut, a cross between Mark Twain and Don King, adds to the general sense of ridiculousness. When he goes mano a mano with the evil Wilson, you know the common man will finally get his due. Of course, John Heard isn't a slouch either as the outraged George Cooper. Christopher Curry adds a bit of seriousness as the inquisitive Captain Bosch. Be sure and look for John Goodman and Jay Thomas as two cops unfortunate enough to have an encounter with a C.H.U.D. in a diner. The only disappointments in the movie are the lack of gore and the short screen time allotted to the creatures. More C.H.U.D. and fewer messages about the threat of bureaucratic conspiracy and nuclear waste disposal would have made for a better horror film.

Once again, Anchor Bay turned out a great disc. There's a trailer, special effects stills, and an excellent commentary track from director Douglas Cheek, John Heard, Christopher Curry, and Daniel Stern. These guys have a lot of fun taking potshots at the movie and it's amusing to listen to them. Another plus is the amazing picture transfer and audio quality (crystal clear, folks). You just gotta love that cheesy '80s synth score! If you haven't seen "C.H.U.D.," get cracking. This movie definitely falls quite high on the "must see" list. It's not gory and not scary, but it is loads of fun.

Of all the great "guilty pleasure" Saturday afternoon monster matinee features I watched when I was growing up, Doug Cheek's "C.H.U.D." remains one of the most memorable. While it's not quite on the entertaining level of cult classics like "Return Of The Living Dead" and "Alligator", both of which it bares similiar resemblances to, though to be fair, "Return" did come after it, "C.H.U.D." is a fool's treasure in cinematic cheese.

This B-movie gem revolves around a top secret batch of toxic waste that the government goons have disposed of in the city sewers. This little secret is causing some of the city's underground inhabits to mutate into flesh-eating monsters known as C.H.U.D. (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers). It's up to "Home Alone" alumni John Heard and Daniel Stern to stop this menace before it's too late. It's easier said than done though as the police department and an alleged N.R.C. representative want to put a lid on things.

"C.H.U.D." opens up somewhat slowly with a lot of pointless back story but the final half-hour is its "bread and butter". Stern and Heard get chased through the city's crappy sewer system full of toxic waste and decapitated heads while Greist is trapped in her apartment by one of the title monsters, complete with glow in the dark eyes. This movie also boats cameo appearances from such diverse talent as John Goodman, Patricia Richardson, and Jon Polito, to name a few.

"C.H.U.D." actually gets some decent treatmant with this DVD release. You get the movie in its original 1.77:1 aspect ratio with all of the television footage inserted back into it (though it says nothing about that on the cover packaging). There's also an easter egg with an alternate take of Kim Greist's shower scene complete with a nice little breast shot. But the best bonus of all has to be the full-length commentary with the film's director, writer, and actors John Heard, Daniel Stern, and Christopher Curry. These guys literally have a blast ripping into the movie. It's good stuff. If you see only one film about radioactive sewer creatures, make it this one.

Many movies try to teach you important, preachy lessons and disguise them in the trappings of fantasy. CHUD is one of those. Here it is: Homeless people are people too and should not be treated as throw away citizens. But wait! There's more! CHUD manages to squeeze in two lessons for the price of one! Lesson two: Our dependency on products made with toxic chemicals combined with our innate greed is going to be our eventual downfall. Now that we have learned our lesson, start the DVD and just enjoy the fantasy trappings. Because CHUD is a monster movie. A good one.

John Heard (Cat People, Pelican Brief) and Daniel Stern (Home Alone, The Wonder Years) headline a decent cast occupying a New York neighborhood where people have started disappearing. Oh, people have been disappearing for a while, but those others were just homeless people (see Lesson One), but now "important" people are coming up missing. And soon it becomes apparent that creatures in the subways and sewer systems of the city are dining out on the local passersby.

It takes a while before you get a good look at one of the CHUDs (c.h.u.d. representing "canniballistic humanoid underground dwellers"). When you see them though, they are good, original looking monster freaks with glowing eyes and snaggly teeth. Add to that image the fact that they live in those dark places underground and the creep factor is complete. We all know that there are miles of tunnels and passages under our big cities, but no one wants to go down there. In our minds, we see THESE things jumping out at us. A monster movie has to appeal to one of your fears and I guess this is one of mine.

People tend to condemn CHUD for some reason or another. I think it does a good job at creeping you out while providing a solid 90 minutes of entertainment. It won't be shown in your American Cinema 101 class though.

DVD special features include some cool production photos and pre-production looks at the design of the creatures. Audio commentary includes the director and 3 lead actors. Always a plus when they can get the actors to come in and chat. Buy CHUD and I think you will enjoy it. HOWEVER, avoid the sequel "CHUD 2: Bud the CHUD" at all costs. It has almost nothing to do with this film and it is horrible.

C.H.U.D was a great film with over the top notch notch acting. Great affects for a 1984 movie, and great creatures.....but, this film seemed to be missing something. I don't quite know what it is that it's missing. Maybe the plot wasn't right. It just didn't feel like a 5 star movie. It is a great film and you should check into it and see for yourself. John Heard and Daniel Stern (Home Alone actors) are great in this filma and make it enjoyable. The music is pretty good and the creatures in this are awsome for a 1984 movie and are still quite good. I recommend renting it first before you buy it just to make sure you don't feel the thing that's missing in this film. I'm still deciding weather to buy it or not.

f@#$!!??** hilarious film and commentary.

this dvd rocks. the film sucks. . .and is genius.

I first saw this film as a child and it scared the hell out of me. Years later, I picked it up on DVD and it is still just as good. Though the director and actors could have taken this project less-than-serously, they play it straight and I thank them for that. It portays some homeless people get mutated by toxic waste being stored under the New York City in the labyrinth of sewer tunnels under the city. It sounds cheesy, but its not since the film is played very seriously and straight. The film has a great atmosphere with the dark dingy tunnels of the sewers. What a great place to set a monster movie! I mean in reality there are miles of old tunnels under the city. The film just fells dingy and you can almost smell the stale stench. The monsters themselves look very good, espcecially for the budget this movie had. They just don't make movies like this anymore. One complaint I have about the DVD is the commentary. I was really glad they got the entire leading actors to return for it, but I was upset that they spent most of the time bashing the film. A lot of people put some very hard work into this movie, and they just sit their bashing their work. I was not impressed. Its a decent movie that deserves to be looked at.

C.H.U.D. director Douglas Cheeks goes to some pretty extreme lengths to prove there are worse things---far worse---than baby alligators in the New York sewer system.

I love C.H.U.D. The movie is a terrific little slice of pure old-fashioned "mutated homeless guys in the sewers are going to eat the New Yorkers!" horror, and truly they don't make them like this anymore.

Like me, C.H.U.D. is a child of the eighties: this was the horror video we always rented (along with the eighties remake of "The Blob", of course) when we were having a party with girls in attendance. C.H.U.D. is gory, creepy, cheesy, edited for maximum shock affect, and utterly shameless. Oh, it's great fun, too, did I mention that?

C.H.U.D. is like that: a wonderful little nugget of vintage eighties horror, lovingly treated on Anchor Bay's crisp DVD release and chock-full of everything that might appeal to a C.H.U.D.: having just watched the film, I flipped on the commentary (with director Doug Cheeks, John Heard, and Daniel Stern, among others), and it was hysterical---it was so funny it was like watching C.H.U.D. with a group of old friends.

The plot? Alright, if you insist: Detective Bosch's wife, out walking her dog, has gone missing, and Bosch is quick to pick up a pattern, especially when he talks to the Reverend (played to the hilt, with electric hair and inexplicable shirt stains by the great Daniel Stern)and discovers---horrors!---that homeless folks at the Reverend's soup kitchen in the Bowery are disappearing at an alarming rate.

The boys ultimately join forces with John Heard, who plays an artist who takes arty photography of the city's underground poor (who live in the vast, ruinous sewers and subway tunnels of the city); ultimately they discover the horrid truth: a government cover-up, radioactive waste, and another meaning for the acronym C.H.U.D.

The movie, meanwhile, is hysterically funny horror film gold. Cheeks makes the most of his film's low budget, and while he pans the C.H.U.D.'s appearance on the director's commentary, the little creatures are undeniably nasty and impressive. Indeed, C.H.U.D. features some truly terrifying sequences, and the set design and locations (some actually shot in the New York subway system) are suitably claustrophobic. Finally, the movie is full of famous character actors: look for Eddie Jones (who played the Baron Harkonnen in "Dune") and a very young John Goodman (who turns up with 'Roseanne' co-star and 'Murphy Brown' regular Jay Thomas in the famous blood-spattered diner scene).

Drop the lights, break out the popcorn, and put some Duran Duran on the turntable: the CHUDS are coming!

The government decides that the best way to dispose of hazardous waste is to use New York city as a toilet. This works just great, until the underground homeless folks turn into radioactive mutants with a hankerin' for human flesh! John Heard is a photographer who begins to figure out the inane conspiracy with the help of a homeless shelter operator (played seriously by Daniel Stern). Together they take on both the CHUDsters and the equally slimey government operatives. C.H.U.D. has it's creepy moments, as well as being fun to watch. Look for John Goodman's microscopic role as a cop in the diner. May the CHUD be with you...

One of the great horror movies of all times. Will scare the socks off of you. Please watch and enjoy this masterpiece. Douglas Cheek's direction is masterful.