‘C.H.U.D.’ plays out on the conventions of a sci-fi B movie premise - grotesque
mutated creatures that are the result of the government carelessly storing its
toxic by-products in the sewers. Although, it also employs the execution
of the horror genre - the monsters are more demonic in appearance and there is
an array of mutilated bodies sprinkled throughout.
There are many good reasons why the film has deservedly achieved a cult classic status since its home video release twenty-eight
years ago. With a premise like this, it
all could have easily turned out to be a cheesetastic piece of schlock but it
is surprisingly anything but with a serious approach to the material. The
screenplay features fantastic characterization, sharp witty dialogue and a
pitch perfect pace brought to the screen effectively with tight direction
making for highly suspenseful viewing with solid acting that really brings to
life the colourful characters all supplemented by an atmospheric musical score.
Hideously deformed homeless people living in
the sewers of New York City murder its citizens above. Photojournalist George
Cooper (John Heard), police officer Bosch (Christopher Curry) and vagrant A.J.
Shepard (Daniel Stern) who runs a local soup kitchen try their hardest to put a
stop to the terrifying danger.
Opening with the first kill a
woman walking her dog in the quiet of night is attacked by something as she
walks past a manhole. We see the huge claws of a creature come out and grab her
pulling her in and the dog too after. We then meet George (Heard) and his
fashion model girlfriend Lauren Daniels (Kim Greist). George is a former
fashion photographer who has now moved into photojournalism for the sake of
artistic integrity and most recently has shot an article on the “undergrounders”
a term used for the vagrants living in the sewers of the city.
Police captain Bosch (Curry) has taken a
special interest in the recent spate of missing person’s cases involving the
city’s underground homeless. He wants to warn the public by going to the press
but his superiors tell him no way. Suspecting that they know more than what
they let on he goes to see A.J. (Stern) nicknamed “The Reverend” who
runs a homeless shelter. Many of his regulars have not been in since people
started going missing and he is understandably just as concerned. It turns out
that the woman taken down under was Bosh’s wife. The mutant monsters are running
out of vagrants to feed off in the sewers and are now coming up to the surface
for their food. A.J. believes that the whole thing is a government cover up and
he has evidence to back it up.
The vagrants are arming themselves and when
an old bag lady tries to steal a police officer’s gun, she calls George to bail
her out of custody as they met while he was shooting his piece on her and the
rest of the underground dwellers. She takes George underground to see her
brother who she was trying to get the gun for as he was attacked by one of the
creatures taking a huge chunk out of his leg. Bosch and A.J. now working
together go to see the government higher ups and one in particular Wilson (George
Martin) who works for the Nuclear Regulatory System seems determined to put a
halt to the investigation. By chance, they come across one of his files during
the meeting that reads “C.H.U.D.” and according to Wilson, it is an
acronym for “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller”. However, A.J.
and George find out later that Wilson was lying when they are both trapped in
the depths of the city at the same time. The real meaning of “C.H.U.D.”
is “Contamination Hazard Urban Disposal”. He has been illegally storing
toxic by-products in abandoned subway tunnels turning all the vagrants that
have encountered it into the bloodthirsty monstrosities.
Despite some well-directed tension filled
scenes, the movie suffers from some shabbily executed sequences as well when it
comes to the action of the horror with the added negative of some equally
shabby editing. Although first and only time feature filmmaker Douglas Cheek
distracts us from this by utilizing the screenplay’s strengths engaging us with
the characters while the pace moves along at a rapid rate. All the performances
are strong with the actors playing their roles convincingly as if they really
care for these characters and in turn making us care for them. While lacking
complexity they shine through with their personalities - selfless, strong and
witty. While we are allowed to spend much time to get to know them the pace of
the plot never suffers for it and makes for an intriguing story incorporating
themes of class prejudice, environmental danger and the mistrust of governing
bodies.
Building the suspense Cheek wisely does not
show much of the monsters until the third act. While a creature feature, the
real villain here is Wilson with these mutated derelicts the victims of his
incompetent carelessness. The SFX work still stands up quite well today with
these Chuds having quite a unique look - slimy monsters with glowing eyes and
huge claws. While most of the violence happens off screen the lack of gory
mangling actually happening before our very eyes is at least substituted with
the sights of the results of the torn apart corpses. The cinematography is also
suitably grimy perfectly capturing the look and feel of the deep down and dirty
depths of the sewers.
‘C.H.U.D.’ works successfully as a throwback to
the 50’s sci-fi monster movies injected with the stylistic traits of 80’s
horror while encapsulating a smart and effective social political satire. This creature
feature is not only well written, generally well directed and well acted but is
also very entertaining. While the approach to the material is indeed serious, it
does not disappear up its own arse with its commentary not forgetting to have
its tongue firmly in cheek in all the right places.
*** out of ****
Dave J. Wilson
©2012
Cinematic Shocks, Dave J. Wilson - All work is the property of the credited
author and may not be reprinted or reproduced elsewhere without permission.
I am still yet to see C.H.U.D. I'm pretty ashamed to amdit that... But this review has just peaked my interest again! Must Download.
ReplyDeleteIt's a gem well worth seeking out.
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