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Something is happening to the homeless folks in New York City, and the NYPD really don't seem to care. Then one night the police Captain's wife disappears in the same area where a lot of missing homeless people was last seen. Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry) suspects a serial killer, and has his eyes set on a photographer who has been seen previously with a lot of the missing people. John Heard play's Cooper, the photographer in question, and we know he's innocent from the beginning. He's just been taking photos of these people for a magazine article. Nonetheless he gets pursued by Bosch, which also attracts the attention of a nosey reporter. Another player is A.J (played by the always great Daniel Stern) or "The Reverend" (hey, great name!) which is what he's referred to at the soup kitchen he works at. A.J. is the one who's been calling in all the reports of missing homeless. He is truly concerned about the missing people, and is a genuinely good person. A.J. informs Bosch that the people who are missing are the people who live underground in the labyrinth-like sewers of New York. Bosch ends up teaming with A.J. to find clues—seeing as though A.J. knows the people, and his way around the underground.
Cooper is totally unaware of the situation until he's taken underground by a homeless lady whom he bails out of jail for trying to steal a gun. Why'd she want a gun? To protect herself, and her friends from the creatures in the sewer--that's why, duh. She takes Cooper to her underground home, and there he meets her friend; another homless person with a huge bite taken out of his leg.
A.J. soon ends up sharing some interesting info with Bosch. Seems every year the government does radiation tests under the city for a about a week, this year they've been testing for almost a month and are still testing. Radiation testing equipment, and apparel have been littered all over the sewers for some unknown reason. Soon more and more reports of missing people and "monsters" are reported. Bosch (whom up till now has been pursuing this on his own time) decides he has to go to the Chief of Police with his information.
In a great scene, Bosch and A.J. confront the Chief of Police and Wilson, the head of the nuclear commission. They threaten to go the media if nothing is done. Eventually Wilson has to spill the beans about C.H.U.D., which he explains means: Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. ---
Time out…
Okay, now up until this point, the movie has had a serious tone. It's not campy, it's well acted, and there's great character development. The film, almost come across like a thriller more than a horror movie. Once that line is uttered (what C.H.U.D. stands for) the movie switches gears, and we now have a semi-campy kind of film. Brilliant!
Soon the C.H.U.D.s make their appearance, which leads to a lockdown of the sewer, with A.J. and Cooper trapped and fighting for survival. It all leads to a killer plot twist that I won't reveal here.
I had not seen this movie since I was a little kid. It had been so long it was completely new to me. I have to say; I was very surprised, I was quite entertained. All the reviews I read about C.H.U.D. on other sites, and books, mostly pan it. I have no idea what movie they were watching. Sure it's a goofy premise for a movie but who cares? It's fun. Though not scary, it is still very suspenseful. The creatures are very cool looking in an old-school-creature-feature kind of way. You gotta’ love the glowing yellow eyes (they go off when they're killed like someone unplugged a lamp). I love cheesy flicks like this, and let me stress—this is some very well done cheese. The acting is top notch for a horror movie, the script is well written, and even the score's kind of cool (more so if you’re an 80’s freak like me). The gore, tough sparse, is excellent. I applaud the director, and cast for taking such a corny plot, and playing it completely straight.
I think for most movie fans, C.H.U.D. is kind of a middle of the road kind of film, and that may be true. A lot of that may fall on the shoulders of it’s director, Douglas Cheek. C.H.U.D. was his one and only major feature, with only a TV show called Vegetable Soup and a TV movie from 2003 to his credit. I find that a tad surprising seeing as though this film does have a very professional look and a decent sense of quality to it. The performances of the cast probably help that sense of quality. John Heard, whom has had a great career in TV and film since appearing in C.H.U.D., gives probably a better performance than the film even deserves. What can I say about Daniel Stern—he’s just great; kind of a one-note actor, but he plays that one note really well. Neat little bit-o-trivia; Roburt Englund was originally supposed to play the part of A.J., but was committed to another film from 1984—thankfully he didn’t take Stern’s role, and the world now has the one true Freddy Kruger. Christopher Curry is another screen veteran that kind of got his big break w/this film, he and Kim Griest round out the main players, but we do get a brief appearance from a young (and then fairly unknown) John Goodman.
C.H.U.D. did well in theaters, and did spawn a sequel, C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud, which I haven't seen in years as well. I've seen a lot of horror movies in my day, and have smoked a lot of weed, so some of these films become a blur. I have fun rediscovering them though. I've seen a lot of horror movies in my day and have smoked a lot of weed, so some of these films become a blur. I have fun rediscovering them though. I've seen a lot of horror movies in my day and have smoked a lot of w…okay maybe I should cut back on the weed.
C.H.U.D. trailer