C.H.U.D. |  | Director: Douglas Cheek
Actors: John Heard, Daniel Stern, Christopher Curry, Kim Greist, Laure Mattos
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $2.91
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Rating:  56 reviews
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 88 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: ANBDV11327D
UPC: 013131132793
EAN: 0013131132793
Theatrical Release Date: August 31, 1984
Release Date: January 30, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 05/04/2004 Run time: 96 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
Douglas Cheek's grotty urban horror fable C.H.U.D. deserves to be seen in its natural habitat--a Times Square grind-house theater--but horror enthusiasts will have to enjoy this widescreen version from the comforts of their own homes. John Heard stars as a former fashion photographer now pursuing a "real" career in photojournalism. While working on a piece about the homeless, he discovers that toxic waste, stashed in New York's sewer system, is turning tunnel squatters into the title acronym (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers). Teaming up with frazzled soup kitchen capo (and fellow Home Alone alumnus) Daniel Stern, Heard uncovers a government conspiracy behind the mutations; horror fans will know exactly how the government handles its uncovered wrongdoings. While Gary Sherman's Raw Meat (1973) remains the final word in homeless horror films, C.H.U.D. has a threadbare charm, thanks to Cheek's poker-faced direction, the endearingly slap-dash effects (courtesy John Caglione Jr. and Ed French), and game performances by a surprisingly A-list cast, including appearances by John Goodman, Jay Thomas, Patricia Richardson, and Jon Polito. Anchor Bay's DVD is uncut and retains all of the cutting-room footage added by New World Pictures to beef up the butchered TV version; furthermore, it features a rollicking commentary by Cheek, Heard, Stern, cast mate Christopher Curry, and writer Shephard Abbott, which is worth the purchase price alone. Easter-egg hunters should click on the C.H.U.D.'s glowing eyes in the main menu for a longer version of the grotesque shower scene. --Paul Gaita
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 56
"They're not staying down there anymore!" May 28, 2009
M. Ryan Fairbanks (Cleveland, Ohio)
C.H.U.D is low budget, cult classic horror at its finest. With an excellent cast, and cinematography that aids in creating a genuinely dark atmosphere, it has a lot to offer for those who demand more than cheap action and gore in their horror. Although that's not to say C.H.U.D is without any blood or explosions either.
John Heard stars as a photographer who has been assigned to take photographs of the local homeless population, the only problem is that he can't seem to find them anywhere. Suspicion is further aroused when a group of the regulars at a soup kitchen stop showing up, particularly the ones that dwell in the sewer systems beneath the city. With inexplicable disappearances occurring all around the city daily, the police lieutenant decides to examine the phenomenon a bit more closely. The pieces slowly begin falling into place upon discovering a large toxic waste dump in the heart of the sewers that is transforming the homeless into C.H.U.D, or Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. Now they must put a stop to the blood thirsty creatures beneath the streets before any more citizens become meals.
C.H.U.D is one of those movies you either love or hate. It is an admittedly slow paced movie with more than a few breaches of logic, but looking past these flaws, the low-budget horror movie charm of C.H.U.D is undeniable. The cast here is excellent, especially Daniel Stern as AJ the hippie cook at the soup kitchen. Between Stern, Curry, and Heard, C.H.U.D has likable protagonists that you can root for. The photography of the filthy streets of the city and the slimy sewers is another noteworthy aspect of the movie. It effectively captures a very dark and gritty urban feel that easily enables you to put yourself right into the setting. As for the CHUD's themselves, they don't get a whole lot of screen time throughout the movie, but the makeup/gore effects are interesting and have a lot of charm, especially the glowing eyes. The delicate yet spooky synthesizer score also compliments the film nicely.
C.H.U.D is one of the low budget greats of the 80's, and while it has gained a cult following it is still quite underrated in the grand scheme of things. This is must see material for horror lovers that can appreciate the more subtle aspects of the genre.
 Terrible. May 24, 2009
the smart guy
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a fan of 80s horror I need to put this out there. CHUD is a terrible move, poorly made, lacking in horror, slow paced, bad acting, bad script, and poorly filmed.
 C.H.U.D. DVD review May 17, 2009
Joseph D. Toth
I'm a very serious movie collector. I'm fond of the movies that came out in the 1980's. I was really pleased to see that this DVD was available from Amazon. I immediately purchased a copy to replace one that was stolen years ago.
A fun movie that centers around creatures living in the sewer system. The same creatures are responsible for people dissapearing. A must see 80's movie.
Reporter Joseph Toth
Washington Micro Bank BBS
Good 80's Horror Flick. April 20, 2009
Salazar (Colorado)
I rented this in the 80's and always wanted to see it again. It was ok this time around. But seemed much better way back when the idea of toxic waste turning people into monsters was a newer concept.
Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Fun March 29, 2009
Robert I. Hedges
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I saw "C.H.U.D." in the theater when it was first released, and hadn't seen it since. I remembered it as a basically decent horror movie with a good cast and silly monsters. I recently decided to order the DVD, and found a movie both similar to and different from what I remembered from 1984. The movie is still a basically decent low-budget horror film, but seems much campier in retrospect; the cast is still far above average for a horror movie of this budget; the monsters, however, now look way beyond silly. I especially like the glowing eyes and prosthetic neck lengthening which somehow I had forgotten all about.
Fashion photographer John Heard teams up with underground soup kitchen maverick Daniel Stern to investigate the Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers which are responsible for widespread mayhem in New York City. There is a government cover up, romance, and other various and sundry subplots, but I don't want to spoil the fun for you. The special effects are pretty cheesy (I especially like the helmets that look like a claustrophobic combination of aquarium and petporter), but the entire budget for the film was only $1.3 million. Given that, the picture is much better than you would expect, although perfectly fine performances are frequently interrupted by vicious bits of overacting. The film definitely has an eerie quality, partially due to the atmospheric sets, locations, and lighting, and partially due to the weird electronic music which is vaguely unsettling.
For those of you who saw this in theaters, this did not seem to be the same version originally released, although I was unsure until about halfway in when John Goodman and Jay Thomas appear as cops in a diner and are attacked by C.H.U.D. This is the shot that the theatrical version ended with, but is in the middle of this version. This version also seemed longer to me, with extra scenes I didn't recall. The commentary track confirmed that this was a very different version than released, and furnished a lot of interesting information about the movie.
This DVD features several extras, including a trailer, some still photographs, and a commentary track by the cast and director. The commentary track is far and away the best reason to buy this DVD. The commentary is both hilarious and enlightening, and they have brutal fun teasing each other, so much so that the track has an MST3K-esque quality about it. They detail how the film was made and reveal things like the fact the term C.H.U.D. was originated in a drunken stupor, with no concept of what it even stood for, and that the C.H.U.D. costumes took ten percent of the film budget and that between takes the actors inside them (who didn't even get credits) had to sit down and breathe from an oxygen mask. The commentary is all in good humor, and it's clear that they all like each other and like the project.
"C.H.U.D." is certainly not one of the best films ever made, but it is a fun trip back to early 1980's low-budget filmmaking, and will be enjoyed by horror and camp enthusiasts alike.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 56
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