C.H.U.D.
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Movie Reviews of C.H.U.D.
Movie Review: Best Movie With Daniel Stern You'll Ever See!
Summary: 4 Stars
Admit it, you love C.H.U.D. Hell, every healthy red blooded American does. It's the story of toxic waste that's turning homeless folks who live underground into glowing eyed beasties that rise from the sewers.......AND KILL!!!! A fashion photographer, a paranoid hippie and a police captain all find out about this, as well as the government coverup. These three characters all have run ins with the creatures at various points. The police captain is trying to do what he can within his power, and the photographer(John Heard) and the paranoid hippie(Daniel Stern) take to the sewers and find out just what C.H.U.D really is. There's also a subplot involving Heard and his fashion model girlfriend. It doesn't seem terribly necessary, but it's a painless addition to the movie and develops Heard's character a bit more.
This is one of those rare B monster movies that many critics actually liked. It's easy to see why because it's handled quite well. The acting, writing and directing are better than one would expect from this kind of film. Besides the concept of toxic waste monsters and a few other things, the movie doesn't really come across as campy or laughably bad(you know it has something going for it if my mother stayed up til 2am to watch it). The subject matter is treated with as much realism as possible, but a few chuckles do slip through when they creatures are onscreen. That's another thing, don't expect to see alot of the creatures. There's actually quite a bit of dialogue in this film and the actual creature carnage is kept to a minimum. The movie focuses a bit more on the investigation and coverup of the situation. There is one out of place scene with Heard's girlfriend that exists solely for more C.H.U.D screen time. This scene brings to mind the Hare Krishna zombie scene from Dawn of the Dead. It doesn't seem within the C.H.U.D's modus operandi to go exploring apartment complexes, but at least we get to find out that they can stretch their necks to absurd lengths.
C.H.U.D. is definitely a classic. If you missed it as a kid, it's better late than never to catch it now, coz as you can probably guess, some pinheaded schmuck is remaking it.
Movie Review: C.H.U.D. DVD Review!
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Movie Review: I've actually begun to enjoy it...
Summary: 4 Stars
The underground-dwelling homeless people of NYC have been exposed to toxic chemicals and have mutated into cheesy-looking but highly amusing monsters who periodically come up to street level to gobble up human victims.
My reception to this 1984 horror picture, when I initially reviewed it at imdb.com was lukewarm, but it's grown on me since that first viewing. (I know, I have to accept that people will attack my credibility if I keep changing my mind on films that I disliked at first.) It's still glorified 1980's style horror junk, but it's ENJOYABLE junk.
When you listen to the side-splitting commentary by stars John Heard, Daniel Stern, and Christopher Curry, director Douglas Cheek, and original writer Shepard Abbott (what kind of name is that - SERIOUSLY?) the value easily goes up a notch. The film was obviously a labor of love for all concerned - this junk was made with HEART.
Things I didn't know: Cordis Heard, who plays the policewoman Sanderson, is John H.'s older sister, and Laure Mattos, who is the very first victim of the movie, is Stern's wife. Also, Stern's brother David was one of a handful of production assistants. Just listen to the guys talk over the closing credits - when David's name comes up, Stern playfully snarls, "a**hole!"
As many of you know by now, what is truly incredible is the wide assortment of familiar faces throughout the film, including some prolific character actors (you may not recognize future film slimeball Jon Polito - he's much thinner and has a full head of hair!) and some future sitcom stars, some of whom were personally selected by the leads. In fact, Christopher Curry, an unknown at the time, wouldn't have gotten his role if his friends Heard and Stern hadn't insisted that he be cast.
The commentary alone makes it worth buying. Also included are the obligatory theatrical trailer, and a decent behind-the-scenes photo gallery, including the original C.H.U.D. design concept.
This DVD gets four out of five from me.
Movie Review: An entertaining trash sci-fi/horror film cult classic.
Summary: 4 Stars
The Plot:In the city of New York City, in the dark, disgusting labyrinth of tennels beneath the street of NYC. Since of couple of weeks, disapperence of homeless people and citizens are gone without a trace of evidences. When a Kiitchen cook(Daniel Stern) discover some of his usual people are missing and including Cop detective(Christopher Curry), his wife is missing. Since another person(John Heard) an professional photography also believes some of the homeless people are missing too. When one of them discover there some radioactive activity going on the underground of the city. The stranger and the situation goes darker and worse and unexpected is not always what is seems to be.This film is surprisngly well written and directed with an good plot and at times mixed with an tongue in cheek humour and also good performances from Heard, Stern, Curry and also Kim Greist(Who plays Heard's girlfriend).
DVD`s has anomorphic widescreen(1.75:1) format, DVD is also in it Original 2-channel mono soundtrack. The best surprise the film is a Director`s Cut with 8 mins of additional footage but this version is complete re-edited as the director originally intened. Also this DVD edition has running commentary track by the director-Douglas Cheek, screenwriter-Shepard Abbott and Actors-Heard, Stern and Curry. This film is a little clever B-movie, which of kinds of films that reminds of that silly fifties movie and with an excellent make-up monster effects. Grade:A-.
Movie Review: C.H.U.D.
Summary: 4 Stars
New York City is under attack by monstrous mutant creeps that are venturing out of the sewers and killing people in the streets! When a photojournalist and a crackpot soup kitchen chef discover that a payload of industrial waste has been transforming the city's homeless into Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, the government will stop at nothing to quiet them and destroy all of the remaining evidence. John Heard and Daniel Stern top this cult favorite creature-feature which plays on the environmental horrors that lined many other films from the 70's and 80's. While the majority of the violence is implied off-camera, C.H.U.D. alludes to a great deal of murder and mayhem caused by the glowing-eyed and razor-clawed monsters that make several brief appearances throughout the film. The real villains calling the shots behind the scenes are the politicians and government officials that have been accepting bribes from top companies in exchange for the disposal of toxic chemicals in the sewers. These subterranean settings make for an ominous mood, with the low lighting, cramped quarters, and many twists and turns creating the perfect stage for unexpected scares. C.H.U.D. provides plenty of light humor and a high level of camp without ever crossing the line into B-movie cheese, making it an enjoyable and creepy late night monster movie!
-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies