Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
Day 13/21: C.H.U.D. (1984)
Who made it?
Director: Douglas Cheek (Vegetable Soup)
What’s it about?
A rash of bizarre murders in New York City point to a group of deformed vagrants living in the sewers. So, a cop, a photographer and his girlfriend with the help of a crazy bum team up to investigate and stop the cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers or C.H.U.D if you’re feeling fancy.
It’s trash, but it’s fun trash! It’s the 80s, so besides slashers, creature features were all the rage, and everyone was trying to create their own memorable group of monsters. It’s also an easy fit as New York City in that period wasn’t what anyone would call…clean. The thing about C.H.U.D. that most surprised me was how earnest it all is. With a modest budget the practical effects aren’t what anyone would call amazing, but the cast is a solid one. It will have you saying “Hey! It’s that guy!” over and over again with Home Alone alums John Heard and Daniel Stern in leading roles, as well as John Goodman of Roseanne fame in his feature film debut. The movie, for all its over-the-top nature, also seems to be trying to shine a light on issues like homelessness and environmental damage.
The C.H.U.D’s design isn’t anything too special, but the gory kills more than make up for that, not to mention after watching this cult classic you can easily see how it inspired future movies like Jordan Peele’s Us (there’s a VHS copy of this movie that can be seen in Peele’s) and maybe the Ninja Turtles too!
Favourite Scene
Once the creatures decide to take their issues above ground, one of them go after John Hurt’s girlfriend in their apartment. It leads to some pretty gnarly practical effects and a very nice decapitation scene via sabre.
Fun Trivia
“C.H.U.D.” is an acronym for “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller”, but it also means “Contamination Hazard Urban Disposal”, as one can (barely) read on the crates full of toxic materials.
And you can feast on more horror content below:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More