Main Cast: John Heard, Kim Greist, Daniel Stern, Christopher Curry, George Martin
Release Year: 1984
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
People are disappearing all over the Big Apple. Nobody cares, though, because most of the missing are homeless. But when investigative reporter Murphy (J.C. Quinn) tips off principled photographer George Cooper (John Heard) to a government conspiracy involving the dumping of nuclear waste beneath the streets, Cooper decides to dig a little deeper. Soon he discovers the existence of C.H.U.D.s, or "Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers," derelicts who have become grotesque monsters after being exposed to the mountains of hazardous waste. Meanwhile, Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry), a cop whose wife is among the missing, forms an unlikely alliance with the Reverend (Daniel Stern), a leftist soup-kitchen cook who knows the score. Murphy, Cooper, Bosch, and the Reverend soon run up against the stonewalling tactics of Wilson (George Martin), a government toadie. As the titular monsters begin to tire of their underground habitat, the protagonists -- including Cooper's wife, beautiful model Lauren Daniels (Kim Greist) -- face a race against time to defeat not only the C.H.U.D.s, but the government's cover-up. The debut, and only film, from writer Parnell Hall and director Douglas Cheek, C.H.U.D. was followed by 1989's C.H.U.D. 2: Bud the C.H.U.D. Co-stars Stern and Heard would later appear together in the first two Home Alone pictures, while Curry would appear in the third. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Review
This '80s B-movie classic boasts a nearly A-list cast, a tight script, an atmospheric score, and lots of memorable creature effects. Marketed as an antidote to by-the-books teen slasher films, C.H.U.D. earned healthy box-office results on the strength of not only its rehashed nuclear-anxiety boogeymen, but also its mistrust of the government and its sympathy for the homeless. With its enjoyably cranky, anti-establishment politics, the film almost seems like a mid-period John Carpenter effort. But such thesps as Kim Greist (Brazil), Daniel Stern (Home Alone), Christopher Curry (F/X), and John Heard (Cat People, The Pelican Brief) prove less campy and more convincing than, say, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Even the bit players hit their marks with utter conviction, especially Ruth Maleczech as a lovably feisty bag lady. With a minimum of gore and a maximum of spooky atmosphere, screenwriter Parnell Hall and director Douglas Cheek lead these performers through a tense hour and a half of detective work, righteous indignation, and proto-X-Files action. Neither Cheek nor Hall ever made another picture, but they can stand tall for having collaborated on one of the most fondly remembered creature features of the Reagan era. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
John Ramsey - Commissioner; Eddie Jones - Chief O'Brien; Frank Adu - Interrogation Cop; Ray Baker - Ad Man; Graham Beckel - Val; Beverly Bentley - Doris; Brenda Currin - Francine; Carey Eidel - C.H.U.D.; Frankie R. Faison - Parker; Hallie Foote - Waitress; Peter Michael Goetz - Gramps; John Goodman - Cop in Diner; Cordis Heard - Sanderson; John Bedford Lloyd - Shadow; Sam McMurray - Crespi; Mark Mikulski - C.H.U.D.; Michael O'Hare - Fuller; Jon Polito - Newscaster; Vic Polizos - Hays; J.C. Quinn - Murphy; William Joseph Raymond - Victor; Patricia Richardson - Ad Woman; Jay Thomas - Cop in Diner; Gene O'Neill - Jackson; Justin Hall - Justin; Lou Leccese - C.H.U.D.; Ivar Brogger - Gooney NRC Man; Henry Yuk - Coroner; James Dudley - C.H.U.D.; Ruth Maleczech - Mrs. Monroe; Robert Toupin - Benson; Parnell Hall - Judson; Sandford Clark - C.H.U.D.; Shanna Lee Farrell - Cindy; Laure Mattos - Flora Bosch; Rocco Siclari - Hugo
Credit
Jorge Toro - Art Director, Thomas H. Field - Associate Producer, Bonnie Timmermann - Casting, Jennifer Lax - Costume Designer, Lewis Gould - First Assistant Director, Douglas Cheek - Director, Claire Simpson - Editor, Dennis M. O'Connor - Editor, Larry Abrams - Executive Producer, Susan Giammusso - Hair Styles, David A. Hughes - Composer (Music Score), Cooper Hughes - Composer (Music Score), Susan Giammusso - Makeup, John Caglione, Jr. - Makeup Special Effects, William Bilowit - Production Designer, Peter Stein - Cinematographer, Bob Bordiga - Production Manager, Andrew Bonime - Producer, Harry Lapham - Sound/Sound Designer, Shepard Abbott - Screen Story, Parnell Hall - Screenwriter, Shepard Abbott - Screenwriter, Stephen Wertmer - Second Assistant Director, Sonja Roth - Assistant Art Director
C.H.U.D. is an American horror film (with nods to golden age of Creature Features) produced by Andrew Bonime, and directed by Douglas Cheek with Peter Stein as the director of photography and William Bilowit as production designer. It was released in 1984. Among the notable actors with roles in the movie are John Goodman, Daniel Stern and John Heard. It was followed in 1989 by C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D., photographed by Arnie Sirlin.
C.H.U.D. is an acronym for "CannibalisticHumanoid Underground Dweller." In the movie, an alternate acronym is given as "Contamination Hazard Urban Disposal."
According to the commentary on the Anchor Bay DVD, stars Daniel Stern and Christopher Curry were displeased with Parnell Hall's rewritten script, and rewrote it extensively, adding the character of The Reverend and the alternate C.H.U.D. acroynm. They claim that about 50% of the finished film is their rewrite. They chose to remain uncredited.
The film opens with a woman walking her dog down a lonely, darkened city street. As she passes by a manhole cover, she is attacked by the creature, the dog is pulled in after her.
George Cooper (Heard) and his live-in girlfriend Lauren (Greist). George, a once-prominent fashion photographer, has since forgone the fame and fortune he amassed taking pictures of scantily clad models in pursuit of artistic credibility. His most current project is photographing New York's homeless population, specifically those known as "undergrounders", or people who reside within the bowels of the city
We also meet a police captain named Bosch (Curry) who has a personal interest in the recent flood of missing persons (most of whom are homeless) being reported to his precinct. Bosch interviews A.J. "The Reverend" Shepherd (Stern), who runs the local homeless shelter. Shepherd believes recent events to be a part of a massive government cover-up and has the evidence to prove it. Bosch's superiors know more than they're letting on and seem to be taking their cues from an overly glib, weasely type named Wilson (Martin), who works for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
It turns out there are monsters lurking beneath the streets; beings that were once human, but radioactive, chemical toxic waste has mutated them into hideous, flesh-eating creatures that prey on the homeless who live in the underground. Given the recent drop in the underground transient population, the creatures have resorted to coming to the surface through sewer manholes in order to feed. Through a series of events, both George and A.J. find themselves trapped in the sewers, a reporter gets involved (and eaten), and Lauren has a problem with both a clogged shower drain and an unexpected visitor that comes up through the sewer access point that she unfortunately decides to open in the basement of her apartment building. Then, through the dangerous investigative efforts of both A.J. and George, the absolute horror is revealed: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is directly involved in this holocaust of slaughter that has been going on.
Political bureaucracy has forbid the N.R.C to transport the toxic wastes through New York because of large-scale knowledge of the danger to the public. The N.R.C has secretly been hiding the waste by-products beneath Manhattan in abandoned subway tunnels. Unfortunately, the underground homeless population has been coming into contact with these by-products which is the cause of the mutated creatures. It is this secret that Wilson guards to the extent of having a mysterious and threatening lackey disrupt A.J. from making phone calls to the press. This thug then locks A.J. in an underground access tunnel either to suffocate from the gas to be used to asphyxiate the CHUD's, or to leave him to become their prey. Wilson is clearly willing to kill to protect his employer's secrets - even a cop.
Captain Bosch argues with Wilson over how to best deal with the threat: Wilson wants to seal the sewers, open up some gas lines, and asphyxiate the C.H.U.D., despite the inherent danger to the city.
