C.H.U.D. (1984)

best movie i've ever seen.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

"C.H.U.D." is a tedious horror movie with an undeserved cult following.It is like a more horror-oriented version of "Ghostbusters", which was released the same year. It has a similar "average guys vs. the government bureaucracy" plot, but without any laughs.Daniel Stern makes a surprisingly good off-beat hero, but after all these years since I first watched the movie, I had completely forgotten John Heard was in it. This is not a good thing, considering he is the protagonist.It's an odd movie which has a protagonist who is basically unnecessary to the plot, but that seems to be the situation here. They should have had greater faith in Stern and let him carry the film.The plot concerns a government cover-up of mutant homeless people living in the sewer. There is an obvious allegory here about our treatment of the homeless, sweeping this problem under the rug where it just might get worse... though maybe not this worse, but you get the idea.Anyway, there is surprisingly little violence in "C.H.U.D.". It's also not in the least scary. With a plot this silly, you'd expect some humour, but there is also very little of that. What you get is long stretches of tedium and then some sub-par violence, and a pretty goofy looking monster.

Wonderfully goofy sci-fi / horror monster movie stars John Heard and Daniel Stern as George Cooper and "Reverend" A.J. Shepherd, two NYC denizens. They soon learn of the existence of monsters living in the foul, dripping catacombs beneath the city. Monsters that are now coming up to street level to munch on human flesh. Police captain Bosch (Christopher Curry, a friend of Heard and Stern) realizes that something will have to be done about the spate of disappearances that result. They all find out that there's a bigger plot underlying it all.While the cast charge that the movie would be better if the monsters *weren't* so goofy looking, the C.H.U.D.s lend this low rent movie a great deal of cheesy charm. They have big, bulky bodies, glowing eyes, and can extend their necks if they take a notion to do so. Director Douglas Cheek (another member in the circle of friends that made this classic) and company gain memorable atmosphere by shooting on and under NYC. It's quite the grimy, aesthetically unappealing tale indeed, all enhanced by delightful electronic music. And it all comes complete with a subtext about society's treatment of the homeless.Heard and Stern, especially Stern, are very amusing to watch, with the absolutely lovely Kim Greist cast as Heards' wife, a fashion model. One truly amazing thing about the actors & actresses assembled is how many familiar faces there are in supporting and bit parts, from future stars (like 'Home Improvement' wife / mom Patricia Richardson, 'Roseanne' husband / dad John Goodman, and Jay Thomas) to top character actors like George Martin, Peter Michael Goetz, John Bedford Lloyd, Jon Polito, Vic Polizos, Eddie Jones, Sam McMurray, J.C. Quinn, Ray Baker, Graham Beckel, Bill Raymond, and Frankie Faison. Heards' sister Cordis plays a cop; the first on screen victim, Laure Mattos, is Sterns' wife.The script (on which Curry and Stern worked, uncredited) has some priceless lines, especially when Stern saves Heards' ass and Heard improvises.To somebody such as this viewer, it's immaterial how "good" or bad it is. All that matters is how damn entertaining it is!Followed by "C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud" five years later.Eight out of 10.

C.H.U.D. (1984) ** (out of 4) Police Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry) begins to investigate the disappearance of his wife and soon realizes that even more people are missing. Soon he teams up with a photographer (John Heard) and a soup kitchen owner (Daniel Stern) and the trio try to uncover what is behind all the people disappearing.C.H.U.D. has become a cult favorite over the years thanks in large part to its effective poster and the fact that it has a pretty nice cast who would go on to become well known. For me the film is a decent "B" picture but nothing more as there's really not anything too special here. Fans of the low-rent 80's horror movies will probably want to check it out but the film should've been much better than it actually is.The problem I have with the film is that so much of the action takes place off the screen. We know what the monsters are doing yet we never really see any of it for the first hour as they are kept off screen with the viewer only getting a couple brief looks at their arms. This here was probably done because of the budget but there's just not enough attacks going on to keep you entertained. I'd also argue that there's no suspense or tension to be found anywhere and it certainly doesn't help that it's dragged out for 96-minutes.The cast is certainly a lot better than the actual material. Curry makes for a good lead and I thought he gave a good performance. Future HOME ALONE stars Heard and Stern are both entertaining here and you'll want to keep you eyes open for a young John Goodman. The monsters, once we do finally see them, look pretty good but sadly their appearance happens way too late into the picture.

Enjoyable '80s horror flick about mutated humans living underneath the streets of New York City. They're called C.H.U.D.s (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers). Christopher Curry plays a police captain investigating a series of disappearances, which leads him to Daniel Stern's homeless shelter. Stern believes a government cover-up is afoot and, sure enough, he's right. Turns out the government's been dumping toxic waste into the sewers. Who knew? John Heard is also in this as a photographer and Kim Greist is his model girlfriend. Their scenes together are some of the weaker parts of the movie as most of them have nothing to do with the C.H.U.D. storyline and are just there to add an unnecessary subplot. Separately the two do contribute, though. Heard plays a significant role in the climax and Greist has two of the movie's most effective jumps, first in a shower scene and later in a fight against a C.H.U.D. But Curry and Stern have the more interesting parts, in my opinion. A few other great character actors round out the supporting cast. John Goodman and Jay Thomas appear in early roles as cops in a diner.It's a leisurely-paced movie with a few good shocks and cool effects. Love the C.H.U.D. costume. The movie has an amateurish quality about it at times but that works in its favor, I think. There's a griminess about it that can't be easily faked. You certainly don't see movies that look like this in today's era of horror, where everything is smoothly polished with an over-reliance on CGI. It's a good film I definitely recommend for patient viewers. Followed by a terrible comedy sequel, C.H.U.D. II - Bud the Chud. Avoid that.