A rash of bizarre murders in New York City seems to point to a group of grotesquely deformed vagrants living in the sewers. A courageous policeman, a photo journalist and his girlfriend, and a nutty bum, who seems to know a lot about the creatures, band together to try and determine what the creatures are and how to stop them.
John Heard Daniel Stern Christopher Curry Kim Greist Laure Mattos Brenda Currin Justin Hall Michael O’Hare Cordis Heard Sam McMurray Vic Polizos Eddie Jones Frank Adu Ruth Maleczech J.C. Quinn Frankie Faison John Goodman Jay Thomas Bill Raymond George Martin Jon Polito Ivar Brogger Hallie Foote John Bedford Lloyd Peter Michael Goetz Patricia Richardson Ray Baker Lou Leccese James Dudley Show All…
C.H.U.D. - New Yorkin alamaailma, Tromos kato apo tin poli, К.Г.П.О., C.H.U.D. - Panik in Manhattan, New Yorkin alamaailma, CHUD, C.H.U.D. - Caníbales Humanoides Ululantes Demoníacos, 地下怪物, Бъд Канибала, Τρόμος Κάτω από την Πόλη, C.H.U.D. - A Cidade das Sombras, C.H.U.D
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Germany16
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A way slower burn than you'd think a movie called C.H.U.D. would have but it sort of works. Everybody learns as a child how horror is often a reflection of the anxiety of the times. Like how in the 50s people were afraid of communism or in the 30s people were afraid of Halloween decorations. Interesting to watch a movie grapple with homelessness and how the sociopaths in power are genocidally callous in their dealing with it. A few years later Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would mine a lot of this same visual language to address anxiety around badass teenagers who live in the sewers.
Douglas Cheek directed only two films over the course of his career: 1) a 2003 PBS documentary that details the lives of Saint Peter and Saint Paul and which has fewer than 50 total reviews on IMDb, and 2) a mid-80s urban enviro-horror/sci-fi schlockfest creature feature where two future Home Alone cast members (John Heard & Daniel Stern) team up to expose a city-wide political cover-up operation courtesy of The System™️ and defeat the literalization of society’s undesirables, aka homeless people mutated by toxic waste into slimy orc-looking rubber suit monsters with enormous claw-hands and fluorescent green sludge for blood. Personally, I think this campy ass product of 80s outrage & paranoia totally rocks (and its abrupt unresolved ending is absolutely hilarious), so maybe I should check out that cute lil Christian doc too?
Ok... real talk... the trailer for chud scared me as a kid more than most trailers.... when the famed trailer voice guy says "They're not staying down there.. anymore" i still get faint 9 year old heebie jeebies. I love this movie.
I can’t EVEN believe I’ve never seen this before. I mean, I’ve known about it since I was a kid but I just never got around to it and that’s too bad because it’s really pretty fun!
The plot is about some underground creatures that are terrorizing New York...and this is early 80’s NY so it’s super scuzzy. There are shades of Jaws and Alien here and even a touch of Salem’s Lot so if you took those movies and blended them together then poured it into a city sewer system that’s pretty much what you would have here!
I really liked the glowing eyed creatures in all their rubbery, Vaseline-covered 80’s glory. They were definitely creepy looking. There are…
Takes a bit too long to get to it and even when it does it definitely could have used some more actual nasty creature-feature action mayhem, especially since what we do see of the slimy, gory FX work is actually pretty good! But as far as diet Larry Cohen/Frank Hennenlotter goes this slow-burn, scuzzy NYC monster B-movie (with some half-baked satirical angle about how we treat the homeless like radioactive toxic waste) has enough gruesome aftermaths and strangely sad performances and mood occasionally to make it worthwhile. Closer to something like Street Trash or Slugs rather than Basket Case or It's Alive, depending on your preference for stuff like this.
The glowing eyes of radioactive rubber monsters, drooling and covered in lube elevated by the piss-soaked graffiti and seedy passersby of scuzz-coated 80s NYC sending ripples of heroin swirls through the puddle of stagnant liquid sludge with every footstep.
Plughole blood explosions and hanged teddy Westies. Heirarchies of the homeless stretching into subterranean nightmares of government waste disposal. Underground sets as labyrinths of death and beheadings and stretched neck viscera.
The jagged teeth of the dehumanised and the dehumanisers bared and casting forth the lightness of the darkness of that special warm magic that only the true colours of 70s/80s New York underbelly thru grindhouse glasses can bring. Try chiselling that fucker off the wall, it's rooted and rotted and pulsating in the very core of the foundations.
"A Cannibalist Humanoid Underground Dweller okay? A C.H.U.D." -Dude,
I don't think the model and the photographer know the actual meaning of the world "nude."
People are being killed by some sort of underground monsters... just another day in New York City am I right? Anyways, a Police Captain with no personality, homeless Jesus, stereotypical photographer, and preggers model join together to get to the bottom of things. This is a fun practical effects monster flick with an early 1980s exploitation flair. It's no Q, but for me it's fun. People saying this is slow are absolutely right but that just nevers bothers me as much. I love watching all of the tropes play out.
A movie called fucking CHUD from 1984 has a more progressive discussion about abortion and a woman's right to choose than any discussion we're seeing today in government. What a time to be alive.
Oh my GOODNESS!!! I cannot believe this is the first time I've watched this film. It is COMPLETELY up my street! A perfect blend of dingy crime investigation/drama/horror. It has well fleshed out likeable characters, perfect pacing, cute monsters, nice splat, grubby arseholes and all that beautiful, beautiful 80s GRAIN, oh how I adore thee <3 So many familiar faces and I particularly loved the guy who ran the soup kitchen who was one of the shits from Home Alone and a really sympathetic copper for a change. I was going to give it 4 and a half stars but screw that my mind is blown, wow :D
HoopTober 20/31
✔️1 horror film from 1984
✔️2/3 films from New World Pictures
I mean, where does all the toxic waste go? They have to put it somewhere, right?!
This was a fun film, definitely longer than it needed to be, with somewhat campy & semi effective creature effects. The story has a bunch of holes in it, but I kind of expected it to. I probably wouldn’t have watched it if I wasn’t participating in HoopTober, so this was certainly a treat.
***Spoiler Below***
TR: the dog. does not. survive.
