C.H.U.D. (1984) ** (out of 4) Police Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry) begins to investigate the disappearance of his wife and soon realizes that even more people are missing. Soon he teams up with a photographer (John Heard) and a soup kitchen owner (Daniel Stern) and the trio try to uncover what is behind all the people disappearing.C.H.U.D. has become a cult favorite over the years thanks in large part to its effective poster and the fact that it has a pretty nice cast who would go on to become well known. For me the film is a decent "B" picture but nothing more as there's really not anything too special here. Fans of the low-rent 80's horror movies will probably want to check it out but the film should've been much better than it actually is.The problem I have with the film is that so much of the action takes place off the screen. We know what the monsters are doing yet we never really see any of it for the first hour as they are kept off screen with the viewer only getting a couple brief looks at their arms. This here was probably done because of the budget but there's just not enough attacks going on to keep you entertained. I'd also argue that there's no suspense or tension to be found anywhere and it certainly doesn't help that it's dragged out for 96-minutes.The cast is certainly a lot better than the actual material. Curry makes for a good lead and I thought he gave a good performance. Future HOME ALONE stars Heard and Stern are both entertaining here and you'll want to keep you eyes open for a young John Goodman. The monsters, once we do finally see them, look pretty good but sadly their appearance happens way too late into the picture.

Following a series of strange disappearances, a photographers' investigation reveals the sewers of New York are crawling with cannibalistic mutants spawned from government-released toxic waste and must find a way of stopping them from overtaking the city.Overall this one was a quite fun creature feature. Among the better qualities here is the story build-up in the first half as the fact that it's built up as a mystery element gives this one a great start. From the rash of disappearances that have an unexplained air to them to the way that it uses the underground collection of objects that shouldn't be there, it makes for a nicely unfolding mystery angle that is simply great. It's nicely done in here since the inclusion of the cover-up along with all the other facets of the mystery found through his involvement in their situation as well as the investigation brought about through the police all make this one pretty nice. There's also enough action in here to make it feel rather interesting, with their different appearances throughout the underground tunnels and the surprise ambushes on their victims out in the city without being fully revealed, while the first assault underground is fantastic as the futuristic suits worn offering some fantastic atmosphere, the presence of the soldiers giving it a great feel, and the big attack through the flames on the closed-circuit system offers up some fine points of interest. Another battle in the apartment complex is great, as the continual escapes into hiding offer up some really tense cat-and- mouse stalking scenes that are easily some of the best atmosphere in the film and the final chase to get out of the sewers away from the creatures before they get loose as the race to get out with the gas coming after them is pretty great as well making it really enjoyable. There's also the design of the creatures being pretty cool, looking suitably alien and indefinable but retaining enough humanistic parts to have it remain a rather impressive and scary creature with the glowing eyes, fang-lined mouth and huge claws. Otherwise, this one here doesn't have a whole lot to it as this one here did have a couple of flaws to it that hold it down. One of the biggest ones is that there's hardly any action at all in the film. There's only a few scenes in here where there's anything approaching action, and that's taken up with a few confrontations and nothing much else. Too much time is taken up in the beginning to really get into this as much as it should've been, and here it really weakens the amount of action by introducing so much into the mystery. The low-action in here is also responsible for it's low body-count, and therefore low amount of gore in here since the creatures are rarely in action and it's really noticeable. The low gore count is also noticeable in the fact that their method of killing can lead this one to feeling way too dry. Despite all of it coming from after-effects, no bloodshed is seen during any of the attacks due to their preference towards dragging them away off into the distance, and for a creature loaded with such impressive weapons to have to resort to that kind of method is really weak. These constitute the film's flaws.Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence and Nudity.

It's safe to say, I did not get a CHUDDY watching this movie.C.H.U.D. definitively had a pair of effective moments. Too bad there were just two of those and the rest, sadly was either discounted "from around the corner" effects or just plain boring. I have always been curious to see this movie since I was a lad, but never got around to it until about a week ago.Sadly, since that's time has passed (9 days,) I've forgotten most of this movie. Well, it wasn't a great movie anyways. It's boring for long stretches, incredibly cheap horror, humor that falls flat and couldn't live past its creepy opening kill.Basically, it's 1980's Alligator, but with humans, sorta. Creatures from below are snatching people, animals, whatever while inept police decide what to do with it. You can tell this is extreme low budget with the lack of full-on attacks and most are done around the corner, behind a door or in the dark.Today, in 2013, it's not even worth visiting, or revisiting if you've seen this before. It doesn't necessitate a remake nor a recommendation from me, despite two minute creepy moments. (And they don't last long enough to promote a viewing.)* * * Final thoughts: They made a sequel to this? Really? I'll have to check that (off my list and toss the idea of watching it) out.

My main gripe with this film is that it gets off to a shamefully slow start after the amusing beginning sequence, however once it gets to its last 40 minutes, business picks up. The performances in this film are surprisingly good; that rag-tag 80's new york sensibility of day-to-day survival is upheld on all ends of the acting spectrum; they are a group you actually care about. It also helps that this is the most visceral depiction of the seedy-side of New York I've personally seen since Taxi Driver. The labyrinth of derelict sewers especially give off a feeling that the whole city is about to cave in on account of its own decay. This film tries to convey a message on the consequences of environmental degradation even in a place like a city, but it doesn't really follow through with it beyond using it as the backbone of the plot, which is perfectly fine in a film like this. Daniel Stern's ramshackle underground soup kitchen hero, is the standout, his interactions carry the film and bring everyone together by the story's end. Kudos to Christopher Curry for not overplaying a certain pivotal, depressing moment for his character; he truly plays the worn down cop to an exceptional level as we watch him reach his breaking point. The creatures are definitely creepy to this day, and the gore effects hold up even better, perhaps due their understated use throughout, it never reaches ruinous excess like its dated peers. The ending was both amusing and anti-climactic at the same time. Recommended for those that can handle its slow, methodical pace.