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Suggest pagesC.H.U.D.
| C.H.U.D. | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Douglas Cheek |
| Produced by | Andrew Bonime |
| Screenplay by | Parnell Hall |
| Story by | Shepard Abbott |
| Starring | John Heard Daniel Stern Christopher Curry Kim Greist J.C. Quinn Michael O'Hare |
| Music by | Martin Cooper David A. Hughes |
| Cinematography | Peter Stein |
| Editing by | Claire Simpson |
| Distributed by | New World Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 31, 1984 |
| Running time | 88 minutes 96 minutes (Director's cut) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.25 million |
| Box office | $4,654,000 |
C.H.U.D. is a 1984 American horror film produced by Andrew Bonime, and directed by Douglas Cheek with Peter Stein as the director of photography and William Bilowit as production designer. The cast includes Daniel Stern and John Heard and features an early appearance by John Goodman as a police officer. It was followed in 1989 by C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.
C.H.U.D. is an acronym for "Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller". However, the alternate acronym "Contamination Hazard Urban Disposal" was mentioned in the film.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The film opens with a woman walking her dog down a empty, darkened city street. As she passes by a manhole, she is attacked by a creature, and the dog is pulled in after her.
George Cooper (John Heard) lives with his girlfriend Lauren (Kim Greist). George, a once-prominent fashion photographer, has since forgone the fame and fortune. His current project is photographing New York City's homeless population, specifically those known as "undergrounders", or people who reside within the bowels of the city
A police captain named Bosch (Christopher Curry) is introduced. Bosch has a personal interest in the recent flood of missing persons (most of whom are homeless) being reported to his precinct. Bosch interviews A.J. "The Reverend" Shepherd (Daniel Stern), who runs the local homeless shelter. Shepherd believes recent events to be a part of a massive government cover-up and has the evidence to prove it. Bosch's superiors know more than they are letting on and seem to be taking their cues from an overly glib, weasely type named Wilson (George Martin), who works for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
It turns out there are monsters lurking beneath the streets; beings that were once human, but radioactive, chemical toxic waste has mutated them into hideous, flesh-eating creatures that prey on the homeless who live in the underground. Given the recent drop in the underground transient population, the creatures have resorted to coming to the surface through sewer manholes in order to feed. Through a series of events, both George and A.J. find themselves trapped in the sewers, a reporter gets involved (and eaten), and Lauren has a problem with both a clogged shower drain and an unexpected visitor that comes up through the sewer access point that she unfortunately decides to open in the basement of her apartment building. Then, through the dangerous investigative efforts of both A.J. and George, the absolute horror is revealed: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is directly involved in the slaughter that has been going on.
Although the political bureaucracy has forbidden the NRC to transport the toxic wastes through New York because of the large-scale danger to the public, it has secretly been hiding the waste by-products beneath Manhattan in abandoned subway tunnels. Unfortunately, the underground homeless population has been coming into contact with these by-products, turning them into the mutated creatures. It is this secret that Wilson guards to the extent of having a mysterious and threatening lackey disrupt A.J. from making phone calls to the press. This thug then locks A.J. in an underground access tunnel either to suffocate from the gas to be used to asphyxiate the C.H.U.D.s, or to leave him to become their prey. Wilson is clearly willing to kill to protect his employer's secrets—even a cop.
Captain Bosch argues with Wilson over how to best deal with the threat: Wilson wants to seal the sewers, open up some gas lines, and asphyxiate the C.H.U.D.s, despite the inherent danger to the city.
[edit] Cast
- John Heard as George Cooper
- Daniel Stern as the Reverend
- Christopher Curry as Captain Bosch
- Kim Greist as Lauren Daniels
- J.C. Quinn as Murphy
- Michael O'Hare as Fuller
- Peter Michael Goetz as Gramps
- Sam McMurray as Officer Crespi
- Frankie R. Faison as Sgt. Parker
- John Goodman as Diner cop
- Hallie Foote as Waitress
- Jon Polito as Newscaster
- George Martin as Wilson
[edit] Release
The film was given a limited release theatrically by New World Pictures beginning in August 1984. It grossed $4,654,423 at the domestic box office.[1]
The film was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2004.[2]
Although the film is of a "pulp" genre and is widely panned by critics, it did receive some good reviews including a positive assessment from The New York Times. It won Best Fantasy Film at Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film in 1985. It is now considered a cult classic.
On April 1, 2011, The Criterion Collection announced plans to release special edition Blu-ray and DVD versions of the film in July 2011 with all new special features, but it was actually part of an April Fool's prank perpetrated by the company.[3]
[edit] Controversy
According to the commentary on the Anchor Bay DVD, stars Daniel Stern and Christopher Curry were displeased with Parnell Hall's rewritten script, and rewrote it extensively, adding the character of The Reverend and the alternate C.H.U.D. acronym. They claim that about 50% of the finished film is their rewrite and chose to remain uncredited. The claim of authorship of the alternate C.H.U.D. acronym is disputed by the film's producer, Andrew Bonime, who credits screenwriter Parnell Hall.[4]
[edit] References in popular culture
- Rap group Sticks Downey published a special Halloween track in 2010, based on the C.H.U.D. plot and including dialog excerpts from the movie.
- The Simpsons has made multiple references to the film; in "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", Homer mentions that he was attacked by C.H.U.Ds the first time he visited New York City; in "Crook and Ladder", Homer makes a domino line out of videotapes, the first one being C.H.U.D.; and in "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder", while attempting to commit suicide and latching on to Otto's bungee and falling down the manhole, Homer sees Morlocks, C.H.U.Ds, and mole people.
- In the Castle episode "Last Call", while exploring a prohibition era whisky cache located in an abandoned sewer tunnel, Castle mentions to Beckett that C.H.U.D.'s might be roaming the sewer.
- An early Tom Green Show episode finds Green in a sewer in search of a C.H.U.D.
- In Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Frylock attempts to date a woman who turns out to be a C.H.U.D. This is in the episode Fry-Legs.
- A Robot Chicken episode had a sketch which was a reference to the TV show CHiPs and C.H.U.Ds, entitled CHuDs.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "C.H.U.D.". boxofficemojo.com. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=chud.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
- ^ "C.H.U.D. (DVD)". dvdempire.com. http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=23216. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
- ^ "Criterion Collection Releasing C.H.U.D. on Bluray!". http://awesomebmovies.com/2011/04/criterion-collection-releasing-c-h-u-d-on-bluray/.
- ^ "Meaning of C.H.U.D." by Andrew Bonime
