chud

Thanks to cable TV, C.H.U.D. (1984) quickly evolved from forgettable creature feature to a ubiquitous pop-culture acronym. One could very well pick your friends based on whether or not they could translate the full title into Cannibalistic Underground Humanoid Dwellers. The British thriller Raw Meat (1972) got to the idea of sewer dwellers first (and better), but C.H.U.D.'s dumbed-down, direct to video approach - and surprisingly strong cast - was a perfect fit for the latex creature creation craze of the '80s. It's still a mediocre movie, but there are plenty worse pop culture touchstones to kill time with on a Saturday night.

Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry) is facing a string of disappearances in his precinct, including his own wife who vanished while walking the dog on a city street. Defying pressure from up top to keep things quiet, Bosch teams up "Reverend" Shepherd (Daniel Stern), who runs a local soup kitchen, to try and get some answers. Meanwhile, fashion photographer George Cooper (John Heard) has made an accidental discovery of his own while on a shoot capturing the plight of the homeless. The three men have unknowingly run smack into a government conspiracy involving toxic waste dumped into the city sewer system. And the result is a swarm of misshapen, radioactive monsters hungry for human flesh!

Nothing about C.H.U.D. is very subtle. Its major selling point is the intermittent creature attacks (sometimes too intermittent) and memorable make-up effects by John Caglione, Jr. But it makes an admirable effort to be politically and socially aware, touching on the hot topics of the day and wedging them into an exploitation format. It helps that the cast - Stern, Heard and Kim Greist - are way better than the material they have to work with. But ultimately, it still comes down to the monsters. And C.H.U.D. plays coy for far too long to go down as a true creature feature classic.

When the shit finally does hit the fan, director Douglas Cheek creates some palpable tension with George and the Reverend fighting for their lives underground while Bosch struggles to secure an exit topside at the nearest manhole cover. And, of course, there's Greist's infamous shower scene and subsequent cannibal conflict in her apartment where we finally get a good look at a C.H.U.D. in all his (or her) glory. It's a long time coming with only a fraction of the guts and gore that would soon dominate the genre. In short, C.H.U.D. is better than you expect and worse than you probably remember. And if that ain't the definition of mediocrity, I don't know what is.

Arrow Video's two-disc special edition, however, it anything but mediocre. The new hi-def transfer (which includes both the Integral Cut and Theatrical Cut) pops right from the opening credits and continues to impress throughout. Extras include several featurettes: Notes from Above Ground tours the shooting locations, Dweller Designs interviews Caglione, Jr., and A Dirty Look sits down with production designer William Bilowit who helped enhance the NYC grunge on film. There's also an extended shower scene, still gallery, theatrical trailer and collectible booklet.