C.H.U.D. - Film Review

Ever since Outland, I've been searching for that next hidden gem however the road to quality film viewing is paved with potholes like Leviathan and Split Second. This one had been on my to-do list for quite a while, but something about it always gave me pause to actually press the "play" button. I'm thinking it was probably the trailer showing a grimy Daniel Stern running around in a grubby tank top, but it turns out this film had a lot more to offer than just poor hygiene.

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Where You Can Find It: I viewed this one on Amazon Video where it is available for free to all Amazon Prime members.

General Information 
C.H.U.D. (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers) is a science fiction horror movie that was first released on 31 August 1984. It was directed by Douglas Cheek and distributed by New World Pictures as part of a limited theatrical release. In 27 September 1989, the sequel, C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D., was released as a straight-to-home-video production (however it has no narrative ties to the original). With a meager budget of $1.25 million, it hauled in $4.7 million domestically and has since established itself as a cult classic. It holds a middling 57 Metascore on Metacritic and a particularly gruesome 29% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes. One final thing I'd like to mention about this one is that it has probably one of the biggest rosters of B-list actors from the decade with it also being one of John Goodman's very first films (he's the cop in the diner that hits on the waitress).

The Story

Beneath the grimy streets of South Manhattan, a lamp-eyed terror stalks the grimy pipe-ways and tunnels. The homeless have been disappearing, and now others are too. Ex-con, A.J. Shepherd (played by Daniel Stern), has noticed the disappearances and enlists the help of NYPD Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry), who recently also lost his wife to the mysterious terror. Together, the duo will cross paths with reluctant photographer, George Cooper (John Heard), and try to figure out the source of the evil lurking underground. Their investigation will bring them toe-to-toe with monsters and a government conspiracy that threatens all of New York City.

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Bosch and A.J. are on the prowl for radioactive cannibals

One of the things I love most about this film's plot is that it presents its story with multiple protagonists that each have highly differing perspectives and motivations. Bosch (no, not that Bosch) wants to figure out what happened to his wife; A.J. genuinely cares about the homeless people of his neighborhood; and Cooper feels ties to some of the homeless as he's used them for his photography business. They give the story plenty to drive with, which generally makes up for the wholly unremarkable antagonists.

Considering this is a movie about monsters living under Manhattan, I don't really expect hard-hitting depth to the overall plot, however it severely suffers from an inability to explore the themes and events it presents. Many scenes end abruptly while major character developing actions are left ignored. One scene I specifically remember involved Cooper's wife, Lauren Daniels (Kim Greist), having blood sprayed on her face while in a bathroom, but then the film cut away before we could properly see how she reacted to this, and the next time she was seen she seemed to have forgotten the event entirely. This problem is so bad that it actually impacts the climax as the main threat is almost completely forgotten and the credits roll after a secondary threat is hilariously dealt with. Not since Hard Ticket to Hawaii have I seen a movie legitimately forget about its own plot.

Special Effects/Atmosphere

With only around $1.25 million for a budget, C.H.U.D. visibly wears its limitations on its sleeve when it comes to special effects. The monster design is atrociously bad as the cannibals look like generic goons from Power Rangers while many of the interior set-designs look unrealistically like film sets. To his credit, Douglas Cheek does a pretty good job of keeping the monsters out of focus and out of sight for much of the movie, but there's a handful of scenes where they're clearly visible. The external shots of New York City and the underground scenes are pretty darn good though, and I really liked the pyrotechnics used although I didn't realize NYPD had ready access to flamethrowers...

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Somebody call for a bigger budget!

The Acting

I've seen Heard, Stern, and Curry in a host of small roles on television and film, but it was nice to see them all get a chance to shine and really strut their stuff as leading men. John Heard is arguably the best of the three and I think his performance as Cooper helped make the character multi-faceted. Daniel Stern gets plenty of material to work with, but I just don't know if he was cast in the right role for this. A.J. comes off as whiny and shrill through much of the movie, which certainly doesn't help the scenes where he's making impassioned speeches about caring for the homeless. Christopher Curry's no-nonsense style works great for Bosch, but I feel like he dropped the ball in a character defining moment near the end of the film where he comes to terms with the loss of an important character. I'm not sure if I should blame Curry's acting or Cheek's direction, but Bosch's colleagues looked more bereaved than he did and it made the scene unintentionally comical.

Outside of the main three, I wasn't especially blown away with anyone else's performance. This is Kim Greist's film debut, however I feel like she was more hired for her looks than her ability to act. I was excited to see John Goodman, Frankie Faison, and Sam McMurray, but they didn't get enough of a chance to do much with the roles that they had. Now that I think about it though, I think Faison probably would've been perfect for the role of A.J. Shepherd as he certainly has the charisma. I am pleased to say that John Goodman did great with the incredibly limited amount of material that was given to him.

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John Goodman was so much happier before Roseanne...

The Best of the Best: The solid combination of multiple protagonists.

The Worst of the Worst: The part where the movie decided to roll credits instead of resolving the plot.

Calhooey Score: 5/10 - Average

Would I Recommend?

C.H.U.D. is the epitome of B-movie schlock, but it has some interesting moments. I expect a lot of the movie's problems comes from its incredibly small budget as the limitations start to become really evident in its final act. I'd recommend this as something to enjoy with friends, or if you're into cheesy monster movies.

-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------

• It's crazy how they depicted Soho since I was just there less than a month ago. I don't recall seeing underground dwelling cannibals, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for them next time.
• They did not waste any time getting the action going in this movie, did they? I feel bad for the dog.
• I think the best part of this film's narrative was when Wilson misdirected everyone as to what C.H.U.D. actually meant in order to hide his real mission. It's too bad that level of writing didn't extend to the rest of the plot.
• Frankie Faison dying in this somehow made me feel better about his shenanigans in The Wire.
• I'm assuming the budget ran out around the time John Goodman showed up since that's around where the "invisible gas" was used and we stopped seeing the monsters.
• So Wilson is definitely a dirt bag, but he wasn't the main antagonist. How is the movie over when we don't even know if the cannibals are actually dead? This would be like rolling the credits in Aliens when Burke dies.
• Also, why did Wilson's truck explode? That is not how trucks work.

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------

(1) TMDB. (n.d.). C.H.U.D. film image. Retrieved from: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/23730-c-h-u-d.

(2) IMDB. (n.d.). A.J. and Bosch in sewer image. Retrieved from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087015/mediaviewer/rm29110784/.

(3) Gifer. (n.d.). Phonebooth abduction gif. Retrieved from: https://gifer.com/en/gifs/chud.

(4) Wolf71. (2014). John Goodman in C.H.U.D. image. Reddit. Retrieved from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087015/mediaviewer/rm29110784/.