C.H.U.D., not to be confused with the website, is one of my favorite B-80s-horror-movie. I thin I can attribute this because of how much hype I have heard about this movie and then finally seeing it… it lived up to its rep for being a cult classic. Now, it may not make any of my top 10 lists I enjoy this movie for a number of reasons and a few of them are bad.
The movie is about a strange occurrence that has been happening in New York; several people, including several homeless men, have been disappearing near the city sewer and train tunnels. Now it’s up to a photographer and a soup kitchen owner to find out what’s happening, but when they realize that the creatures that live in the sewer are more dangerous then they thought… things get out of control. Things begin to get stranger when the city takes over.
What I really enjoyed about this movie were the special effects and the creature designs for the CHUDS. They are really reminiscent of sewer monsters, being deformed, yellow eyed, moaning, green slimy monsters. Though they weren’t really scary and you barely saw them in the movie… it was quit the treat to finally see what these mutants looked like. I wouldn’t say it was the best design but cool nonetheless.
I really enjoyed the characters in this movie because, for a low budget movie, it really focuses on the characters, their relationships, their purpose and the development of them… but, I think this could also be a down side to this movie. For the first 2 halves of the movie, it’s spent on the characters and it isn’t until the end where you finally have some action as well as seeing the CHUDS. That’s my biggest complaint: more character development rather than creature.
One big factor that contributes to my liking of this film is the music. It’s synth music but it sounds very industrial… dingy, it has the epic siren sounding guitar in the background and it forebodes the fact that there is danger beneath us. It’s well crafted and certainly haunting.
Overall, this movie, for what it is, is pretty good and that’s a fun little b-movie that does have some mild scares for younger audience. Although, it spends too much time on character’s then on the main creatures and the acting is somewhat decent. I enjoyed the fact that the creatures are really just mutated humans and I really enjoyed the anti-waste theme too. I really have to file this under my guilty pleasures but it’s still a great piece of 80’s cheese nonetheless.
