{2jtab: Movie Review}

C.H.U.D. 1984 - Movie Review

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Tim's Movie Challenge Review

2 stars

Okay as we near Halloween, the more I show interest in horror. Sometimes its not always the best horror, but its horror nonetheless. I'll be honest, C.H.U.D. probably doesn't deserve any sort of praise for it's plot, acting, or special effects. It's by no means a great movie. In fact, it's quite awful. The story is convoluted and really stupid. The acting is below awful and the effects are sloppy. C.H.U.D. sucks.

Or does it? I believe the drawing power of C.H.U.D. is not so much in it's camp value, or it's socioeconomic plight. The goal of C.H.U.D. is to bring the homeless agenda to the forefront. The forefront of your minds. The 1980s as we all know were pretty awful for a lot of reasons, but pretty awesome for a lot of reasons. On the one hand you had some of the greatest punk and rock music to ever come out - Sonic Youth, Mission of Burma, Rites of Spring - and you had a plethora of quality films to come out that would make tremendous waves for years to come - Blood Simple, The Thing, Aliens, Die Hard. But what did you also have in the 1980s that sucked? Hair Rock. Lots of horror sequels. Ronald Reagan.

What's that you say? Ronald Reagan was a great president? Yeah to most. But not to the people in C.H.U.D. For C.H.U.D. enthusiasts out there, Ronald Reagan deliberately ignored the danger of chemical weapons, which is why the homeless suffer so much in C.H.U.D. It's all Reagan's fault. Reagan's the true enemy in C.H.U.D. - not the Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers that eat people. The 1980s were a time of paranoia. The evil could come from the sewers, but most of the evil was coming from the most powerful seat in America, the President himself!

Actually I have no idea if that's what C.H.U.D. is all about. This is just a challenge, someone wanted me to watch this movie and it was terrible. It had its moments that's for sure - namely the duo of John Heard and Daniel Stern years before they'd appear in Home Alone together, both taking on the CHUDs in their own fashion. Some could argue that C.H.U.D.'s heart and soul lie specifically with it's environmental awareness message. I don't believe that at all. I think C.H.U.D. gets lumped into the same bag as Basket Case, House, Sleepaway Camp, and maybe even Black Sheep (non Chris Farley movie) - terrible on paper, but just humorous enough and overly parodying the movies that are thinly associated with them. It's important to have horror-comedies, to offer a snack between the loads of God-awful horror films out there, and the top quality ones that are few and far between.

{2jtab: Film Details}

C.H.U.D. 1984 - Movie ReviewMPAA Rating: This title has not been rated by the MPAA.
Runtime:
88 mins.
Director
: Douglas Cheek
Writer: Parnell Hall
Cast: John Heard; Daniel Stern; Christopher Curry; Kim Greist; Laure Mattos
Genre: Horror | Sci-fi
Tagline:
A recent article in a New York newspaper reported that there were large colonies of people living under the city... The paper was incorrect. What is living under the city is not human. C.H.U.D. is under the city.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Are you kidding? Your guy's got a camera. Mine's got a flamethrower.
Distributor: New World Pictures
Official Site:
www.chudfacts.com
Release Date: August 31, 1984

Synopsis: A bizarre series of murders in New York City seems to point toward the existence of a race of mutant cannibals living under the streets.

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