A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One thing you have to give film makers in the eighties credit for when it came to horror films. Rather than sit back and rely only on remakes and sequels (of which there were plenty) a number of movie makers made a point of creating some new monsters to scare us with. Not all worked but when they did they worked well. Case in point C.H.U.D.C.H.U.D. tells the story of George Cooper (John Heard), a noted news photographer who is trying to take a break away from the news to pursue a new career as a fashion photographer at the bequest of his girlfriend Lauren (Kim Greist). He's picked a bad time to start the change since a series of bizarre murders and disappearances are happening in New York at the same time.Ties between the murders and a set of homeless people that George once did a photo essay on, a group that lives beneath the city streets in the abandoned tunnels of the NY subway system, draw the attention of the police and the curiosity of George. They especially interest a Det. Bosch (Christopher Curry) whose wife we later learn is one of the missing. Bosch turns up the pressure on A.J. Shepherd (Daniel Stern), an ex-con who now runs a soup kitchen for the homeless.The paths of all three cross as they begin to investigate the crimes and find clues on their own leading to the discovery of a creatures living deeper in the tunnels that are killing the people of New York. Dubbing them C.H.U.D. or Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, the government may be involved in their creation. If so the term C.H.U.D. may have a different meaning. In any event, we're offered a new urban legend and monster to tie in with the explanation.The movie is not blockbuster summer hit material but it does offer something rarely seen in many horror films today and that's originality. As I said from the start, movies tend to rely on tried and true formulas and creations from vampires to the currently hot zombies. That the film makers here could come up with a new creation, a new monster, deserves credit. The low budget film actually looks quite good and the fact that it stands up to the test of time serves it well. When you consider that the movie came out in 1984 and people can still tell you what C.H.U.D. stands for speaks volumes.The camera work is good for a low budget film. The acting ranges from good to bad but good for the most part. The story has a few holes but hey, this is a horror film and they often have more holes that a brick of Swiss cheese. Here they don't detract from the film itself but turn it into one of those films you love even for all of its flaws.I can't sing the praises of Arrow Video enough. Once again they've offered fans the opportunity to witness this film in the most pristine version possible. And as always the extras here are many worth watching as opposed to the usual making of extras new films get with stars sitting and repeating the same lines about how great their movie is before it gets released. What does Arrow offer this time? -Brand new restoration from original film elements -High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation -Original Uncompressed Mono PCM audio -Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing -Audio commentary by director Douglas Cheek, writer Shepard Abbott, and actors John Heard, Daniel Stern and Christopher Curry -Brand new crew interviews -Original Theatrical Trailer -Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford If you love the film you'll want to add this to your collection. Horror fans will want to do the same. And if you've never seen the film then by all means make it a point to seek it out. It's solid entertainment that will have you walking a wide path around manhole covers for the rest of your life.

Enjoyable '80s horror flick about mutated humans living underneath the streets of New York City. They're called C.H.U.D.s (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers). Christopher Curry plays a police captain investigating a series of disappearances, which leads him to Daniel Stern's homeless shelter. Stern believes a government cover-up is afoot and, sure enough, he's right. Turns out the government's been dumping toxic waste into the sewers. Who knew? John Heard is also in this as a photographer and Kim Greist is his model girlfriend. Their scenes together are some of the weaker parts of the movie as most of them have nothing to do with the C.H.U.D. storyline and are just there to add an unnecessary subplot. Separately the two do contribute, though. Heard plays a significant role in the climax and Greist has two of the movie's most effective jumps, first in a shower scene and later in a fight against a C.H.U.D. But Curry and Stern have the more interesting parts, in my opinion. A few other great character actors round out the supporting cast. John Goodman and Jay Thomas appear in early roles as cops in a diner.It's a leisurely-paced movie with a few good shocks and cool effects. Love the C.H.U.D. costume. The movie has an amateurish quality about it at times but that works in its favor, I think. There's a griminess about it that can't be easily faked. You certainly don't see movies that look like this in today's era of horror, where everything is smoothly polished with an over-reliance on CGI. It's a good film I definitely recommend for patient viewers. Followed by a terrible comedy sequel, C.H.U.D. II - Bud the Chud. Avoid that.

Cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers or C.H.U.D's are the hideously deformed mutants living in the sewers of New York City. Although back in the eighties it wasn't that much better on the surface. Like many of the 80s horror movies I've reviewed this one has also become a cult classic. From its B-movie style monsters to its dirty and sleazy depiction of the big rotten apple.George Cooper is a fashion photographer who lives with his girlfriend/model Lauren in a small apartment in the city. She gets pregnant and they have the should we or shouldn't we talk about weather to keep the baby. They give a very strong pro choice message and she chooses to keep the baby and that's all were ever hear about it. Professionally George is in kind of a rut and is looking to break out of it. He got his start in photography by documenting homeless people in the sewers. So he decides to revisit his roots and meets A.J. , played by Daniel Stern, a young and energetic soup kitchen owner. People have been disappearing and they set out to find answers. This movie made me think a lot about the Clive Barker story then movie "Midnight Meat Train" which has a similar plot involving a NYC photographer discovering horrifying people within the endless sewer tunnels. Although Barker's story is pretty hardcore and violent, while "C.H.U.D" has more of a comical side to it.George and A.J. find out that the nefarious city employees have been storing nuclear waste in these tunnels until they can move it somewhere else. Its too late as it has started to change the sewer people into the C.H.U.D.'s who hunger for human flesh. When the C.H.U.D's start appearing on the surface the city they must be dealt with. The C.H.U.D's themselves look like guys in big slimy latex suits with glowing yellows eyes and are kept mostly in the shadows for obvious reasons.With the NYPD now on the job we go inside a cafe and meet a couple of New York's finest eating breakfast with one of them being played by the yet to be famous John Goodman. The city plans to gas the sewer to kill off the C.H.U.D's but our heroes are still down there. Will they survive both the C.H.U.D's and the NYPD? This is a fun and schlocky movie from the 80s horror vault that is available for your viewing pleasure on Netflix watch instantly.

Captain Bosch (Curry) starts an investigation when his wife doesn't come back from a walk one night. People have been disappearing near this city block for awhile and Bosch meets A.J. Sheppard (Stern) who runs a soup kitchen. He notes that a lot of his regulars who live underground have also come up missing. The city has dumped toxic waste below the streets and the Homeless people are turning into mutant monsters. A photographer (Heard) gets mixed up in the mess while trying to do a story on the homeless people. This low budget horror film has a very good cast for a B movie monster flick. The monsters have a cool look to them but we don't see much of them. There's a lot of rubbery clawed hands pushing doors in and pulling people out of frame, instead of them showing full on monster attacks. There is a decent amount of gore all though it is pretty fake looking. The cover-up by the city is an interesting storyline and Stern as the dirty revolutionary is a lot of fun. Unfortunately the movie never gets scary at all and seeing the mutant monsters more would have helped this. The movie has developed a cult following through the years, but as a monster flick it is pretty tame.