Another one of those “classic” horror movies that I have never managed to see. I always thought this was a campy horror comedy, I had no idea how wrong I was. More surprising was my feelings on the movie when the credits rolled.
George Cooper is a photographer. He used to do a lot of high profile modeling shoots but recently found that to be not what he wanted and did a piece on the homeless. Now living in the heart of the New York city with his girlfriend and model Lauren, he is trying to recapture that magic again for a followup piece on the same people. Unknowingly he is swept up in a series of mysterious disappearances involving not only the homeless but other regular city dwellers. Cooper along with a soup kitchen worker, A.J. and police Captain Bosch are trying to put all the pieces together and figure out what’s going on.
C.H.U.D. was not at all what I expected it to be. Where I thought there were going to be over acted cartoonish acting, there were serious roles. I figured this movie was (since it was made in the 80’s) playing off all the other campy horror movies of the times (Toxic Avenger, Critters, Goulies etc.) but it went completely the other direction. Maybe it was my misconception of the film or the fact that I was expecting schlock and got serious, I don’t know, but I actually liked C.H.U.D.
The story itself is actually pretty good. A bunch of toxic, radioactive waste is being dumped in the sewers of New York and is turning normal people into the titular “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers”. Granted, it’s not really believable, but it’s portrayed well enough on screen. Daniel Stern, though not his first Hollywood role as AJ “The Reverend”, this was easily his most tolerable role I have ever seen him in. There was even a cameo appearance from John Goodman. The only real drawback from in the movie is the C.H.U.D.s themselves. They were big rubber monsters with glowing yellow eyes. Your basic 80’s special effects monsters. Now, I’m not saying that C.H.U.D. should be reconsidered as a noteworthy movie, but maybe it’s not as bad as some people think.
C.H.U.D. has probably one of the biggest “The Hell?!” kind of endings I have seen in a good long while. At the end, there is no real resolution for the monsters. The bad guy that perpetrated this crime on the homeless is dead, but that’s about it. Basically the movie ends and the directors and writers just said “yeah don’t worry about all those monsters.” It was kinda funny. All in all C.H.U.D. is a much better movie than I personally gave it credit for. Now the sequel “C.H.U.D. II: Bud the CHUD” looks to be more in line with my expectations, but I’ll probably never watch that one. If you have never seen this cult classic, it’s worth a gamble. It’s way better than some of the movies I’ve seen already. And what’s up with this alternative poster?
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