83) C.H.U.D. (1984)

"They have the power to shut the sky."

Director

Douglas Cheek

Cast

John Heard - George Cooper

Christopher Curry - Capt. Bosch

Daniel Stern - A.J. "The Reverend" Shepherd

Kim Greist - Lauren Daniels

Before Daniel Stern and John Heard appeared in the well-loved Christmas movie Home Alone, they starred together in the sci-fi horror not-so-well-loved movie, C.H.U.D. 

As Home Alone is about the comedic escapades of a young boy defending his home from two dim-witted burglars in the most hilarious way possible, C.H.U.D. centers on the escapades of a town defending itself from cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers (C.H.U.D.) who are devouring residents including some of the homeless population.

C.H.U.D. is a movie that, for some reason, popped into my list of recommendations on a few streaming services I use. So, I finally checked it out since the unseen lords of Amazon Prime, Hoopla, and a couple others wanted me to see this so badly.

C.H.U.D. opens with a woman walking her dog down an empty New York City street at night. 

She doesn't notice the manhole cover slowly open as two scaled claws poke out ready to catch her.

The creature beneath grabs her by the ankles as she passes by, dragging her and the dog into the dank, sultry darkness below.

The story shifts to a former fashion photographer named George Cooper (John Heard) who lives with his girlfriend, Lauren (Kim Greist).

Cooper has taken up a new project photographing New York City's homeless population. A large portion of that population reside literally underneath the city streets. They're referred to as "undergrounders."

Meanwhile, there has been an increasing number of missing persons being reported. Police Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry) takes up the investigation as his wife, Flora, is among those missing. 

Bosch questions A.J. (Daniel Stern), who calls himself "The Reverend" as he operates a soup kitchen for the homeless.

A.J. thinks the sudden surge of missing person reports is due to a huge government conspiracy. He claims to have evidence supporting this belief. 

Bosch also starts to suspect that his superiors know more about the situation than they're admitting. 

Looking into that situation further, he soon realizes they're taking commands from Wilson (George Martin) who works for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (NRC)

These slimy cannibalistic humanoid creatures are surviving on the flesh of the undergrounders. The number of undergrounders, though, is diminishing. The cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers are now rising from the sewers to look for victims above. 

The best scene in the movie takes place when two cops, played by John Goodman and Jay Thomas, show up to a diner. Who also shows up soon after? The monsters! They attack the restaurant, killing both cops and a waitress. This attack is what draws the public's attention to the existence of these monsters.

George and A.J. end up working together, and find out that the NRC is directly involved. The Commission has been discreetly hiding toxic waste under the streets of New York City.

The undergrounders have been exposed to this waste causing them to mutate into the flesh-eating creatures.

Now, officials are left with the problem of how to stop these things as they rise from underneath. 

C.H.U.D. such a typical late night creature feature movie. I wouldn't watch it any other time of day. It's a movie that needs all the help it can get. 

At first, I wondered if this film is trying to convey some sort of environmental message, or making a statement regarding the lack of concern over the homelessness issue and the way it was dealt with back in the 1980s, or if it's making some general depiction about the condition of American cities underneath corrupt leaders, corporations, and political bureaucracies. Whatever the case is, it's all a far-fetched depiction. 

But it does deserve some credit for the effort behind the make-up of the underground cannibals with their overstretched glistening skin, yellow bulbous eyes, and dripping jagged fangs protruding from behind infectious bloody gums which looks like their lips fell off or dissolved. 

Daniel Stern's performance is fun to watch. His character is not just another stagnant horror movie trope. I found myself wanting to see him pop into frame, especially when the movie began to bore me. 

The rest of the cast, including the monsters, come across as typical and underwhelming. There's little enthusiasm.
The movie did little to nothing for me. All I found entertaining was seeing Daniel Stern and John Heard on screen together because... Home Alone. 

C.H.U.D. tries to create a twist by Bosch admitting to A.J. that it was his wife who was pulled into the sewer while walking the dog. 

I admit I didn't see that coming. Still, my reaction to it didn't excel past a mere "hmmm." 

I initially wasn't going write a review for this film because I had trouble staying focused. Perhaps in the future, I'll give it a second chance lest my thoughts change in some way.

Despite the movie's attempt at instilling fear and terror, I found it boring and flat overall. C.H.U.D. is one big feeble attempt to make either a satirical or subversive commentary about the state of affairs back then, resulting in a stupid, slightly pretentious little movie that now only has nostalgia going for it. 

Evidently, there's a sequel to this flick. Despite my better judgement, the search is on to find it. I'm not anticipating a grand time, though.