C.H.U.D.
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DVD details
Actor: Christopher Curry, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Kim Greist, Laure MattosBrand: HEARD/STERN/CURRY
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 88 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-01-30
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
DVD Reviews of C.H.U.D.
DVD Review: "Something's gone wrong and it's so bad no one even wants to talk about it!"
Summary: 4 Stars
In the film C.H.U.D. (1984) it's related to us that there are cannibalistic, underground, humanoid dwellers (aka C.H.U.D.s) roaming around in the labyrinth of tunnels and what not beneath the city of New York. Okay...so? I mean would this really be such a shocking revelation? Would anyone actually be blown away by such news? Somehow I doubt it (New Yorkers do seem pretty jaded, and let's face it, if something like this were to happen, it would most likely occur in the Big Apple)...written by Shepard Abbott, and directed by Douglas Cheek, in his one and only feature to date, the film stars John Heard (Heaven Help Us, The Pelican Brief) and Daniel Stern (Diner, Blue Thunder). Also appearing is Christopher Curry (The Return of Superfly), Kim Greist (Brazil, Manhunter), in her film debut, Eddie Jones (Invasion U.S.A.), J.C. Quinn (Brubaker), George Martin (Quiz Show), Jon Polito (Highlander, Miller's Crossing), Frankie Faison (Hannibal), and Sam McMurray (Addams Family Values), with John Goodman ("Roseanne") and Jay Thomas ("Cheers") appearing in cameo roles as a pair of New York City cops.
As the film begins we see a woman walking her foo foo dog down a lonely, darkened city street, and you just know something bad is going to happen...and it does...next we meet George Cooper (Heard) and his live-in girlfriend Lauren (Greist). Seems George, a once prominent fashion photographer, has since forgone the fame and fortune of taking pictures of scantily clad models in pursuit of artistic credibility, his most current project photographing New York's homeless population, specifically those known as `undergrounders', or people who reside within the bowels of the city (the sewers, unused subway tunnels, etc.). We also meet a police captain named Bosch (Curry), who has a personal interest in the recent spate of missing persons being reported to his precinct (mostly the homeless), so much so he interviews A.J. 'The Reverend' Shepherd (Stern), who runs the local bum shelter and believes recent events to be a part of some massive, gooberment cover up, and has the evidence to prove it...Bosch's superiors know more than they're letting on, and seem to be taking their cues from an overly glib, weasely type named Wilson (Martin), who works for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Turns out there are monsters lurking beneath the streets, beings that were once human, since mutated by toxic waste into hideous, flesh eating creatures preying on those homeless who live beneath the streets...and guess what? Given the recent drop in the underground transient population, the creatures have resorted to coming to the surface (through sewer manholes) in order to feed. Through a series of events, both George and A.J. find themselves trapped in the sewers, a reporter gets involved (and eaten), Lauren has a problem with both a clogged shower drain and an unexpected visitor (one who came up through the sewer access point in the basement of the apartment building), while Captain Bosch argues with Wilson as how to best deal with the beasties (Wilson wants to seal the sewers, open up some gas lines, and asphyxiate the nasty despite the inherent danger in blowing up half the city). Oh yeah, we also learn Wilson isn't who he appears to be, and is harboring a much bigger secret than originally thought...
First of all I want to say I thought the creature design to be excellent here. They're appropriately gruesome looking with sharp, pointy teeth, maintaining just enough human characteristics to infer that they once were human (the glowing eyes bit was a nice touch). This was back in the good old days before computer generated effects were affordable enough to be used on as wide scale basis are they are today. The creature shots are limited to mainly shots of their claws, arms, and heads, but there's enough to provide the illusion you're seeing more than you actually do...what we don't see are scenes of the creatures gnawing on the flesh of their victims, but usually only the aftermath in that of dismembered body parts left behind. The plot is somewhat convoluted and draggy given the large number of characters present, and the level of development given to each, but I enjoyed it nonetheless as there felt more attention to substantial details than what one might normally get in a movie like this. The characters played by both Heard and Greist were pretty much of the extraneous type, as they could have easily been removed and we still would have had a viable story, one with a quicker pace, but given Heard was, and is, a relatively well known actor (at least in terms of B films), one would probably want to take advantage of the fact that he'd be interested in appearing in modestly budgeted film. Stern was a whole lot of fun to watch as the altruistic, suspicious, greasy, neo-hippish, don't feed me no bullsh*t homeless shelter operator who knows the score, inherently distrustful of any and all gooberment types. The film does fall back on an old standard in that of gooberment types doing evil and nasty things, but this is offset slightly by limiting the focus on one individual (Wilson), with the local officials coming off as incompetent lackeys, not fully understanding or appreciating the ramifications of blindly following one whose authority would seem to supercede their own. Once they see the lengths Wilson is willing to go to in an effort to cover up whatever nastiness his agency's has been perpetrating on their community, they actually develop a sense of concern for their constituents, if only to save their own ashes during election time. Overall a relatively strong and experienced cast populates the cast, and it shows. The direction by Cheek is solid, and it makes me curious as to why he hasn't done more (his credits since all involve editing). One aspect I really appreciated was the gritty realism added to the film by the various scenes that looked like they were actually shot within a grimy, dirty, rank, filthy, mucky, dilapidated network of tunnels/sewers one would expect beneath a large, metropolitan city. There was one plot element I didn't fully understand and that was near the end. Wilson, in an effort to kill the creatures, has his flunkies seal all the manhole covers within a specific area by parking city trucks on top of them, the intent being to cut off any means of escape, and then flooding the sewers with gas. Apparently the trucks were rigged with explosives on purpose (one of the drivers was warned about looking out for potholes)...why? I have no idea, but an exploding truck does play a part in the climatic finale.
Anchor Bay Entertainment provides a sharp looking widescreen (1.77:1), enhanced for 16X9 TVs, transfer on this DVD, along with a decent Dolby Digital mono audio track. As far as extras, there's an extremely entertaining commentary track with director Cheek, writer Abbott, and stars Heard, Stern, and Curry, along with a theatrical trailer, behind the scenes still gallery, and a 5X7 movie poster reproduction card insert. I've also heard there's a hidden feature in that of an extended sequence of Lauren in the shower, one that uses a body double for actress Greist, but I haven't seen it...the shower sequence included in the film, while fun and bloody, was pointless and most likely thrown in as an afterthought if only to include some skin. This feature was followed up by a sequel titled C.H.U.D. II - Bud the Chud (1989), which I haven't seen.
Cookieman108
Description of C.H.U.D.
No Description AvailableNo Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: HEARD/STERN/CURRY
Title: C.H.U.D.
Street Release Date: 05/04/2004
Genre: HORROR
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