C.H.U.D.: Difference between revisions
→See also: HUD the government organization has nothing to do with the subject of the page except being similar acronyms. |
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* C.H.U.D. Missile is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania based garage punk band formed in 2012 by visual artist Brain Gonnella. |
* C.H.U.D. Missile is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania based garage punk band formed in 2012 by visual artist Brain Gonnella. |
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* Ritual of the Chud is a song off alternative rock band, Handsome Midnights' debut album "Bittersweet Curse". |
* Ritual of the Chud is a song off alternative rock band, Handsome Midnights' debut album "Bittersweet Curse". |
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* [[Messiah (video game)|Messiah]] has Chots - a separatist humanoid race who regularly appear in street battles with the police in hopes of driving the Fathers out of power. They live in sewers and are seen eating a human corpse in one of the game's [[cutscene]]s. |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 19:19, 25 May 2014
| C.H.U.D. | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Douglas Cheek |
| Screenplay by | Parnell Hall |
| Story by | Shepard Abbott |
| Produced by | Andrew Bonime |
| Starring | John Heard Daniel Stern Christopher Curry Kim Greist J.C. Quinn Michael O'Hare |
| Cinematography | Peter Stein |
| Edited by | Claire Simpson |
| Music by | Martin Cooper David A. Hughes |
| Distributed by | New World Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes 96 minutes (Director's cut) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.25 million |
| Box office | $4.65 million |
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.
Plot
The film opens with a woman walking her dog down an 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 have been mutated by radioactive, chemical toxic waste 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. Later that evening at a diner, two police officers enter and while the waitress and the two are discussing, the monsters return and attack the diner inhabitants
Captain Bosch argues with Wilson over how to 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. Wilson, after being overwhelmed by Bosch (it's implied in dialogue that Bosch's wife was the woman taken by the C.H.U.D. at the beginning of the movie) shoots him and drives the truck in reverse aiming for George and AJ, but they escape from the manhole just in time as Wilson pass them over. AJ finds Bosch's gun and shoots and kills Wilson before he runs over them, then the truck explodes as it falls on the manhole, Bosch is still alive and George, Lauren, and AJ are saved.
Cast
- John Heard as George Cooper
- Daniel Stern as A.J. "The Reverend" Shepherd
- 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
- Jay Thomas as Diner cop
- Hallie Foote as Waitress
- Jon Polito as Newscaster
- George Martin as Wilson
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 has been released twice by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2001 and 2008 and then released by Image Entertainment in 2011.[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]
Reception
The film was poorly received by critics, garnering 18% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the film received a few notable positive reviews, and today has achieved a cult status.
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]
References in popular culture
- One time Misfits drummer Dr CHUD took his stage name from the film, once referring to himself in interview as 'the cannibalistic humanoid underground drummer'.
- 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.
- An episode of "Futurama" titled "The Mutants Are Revolting" referenced C.H.U.D when mutant sewer workers were washed away by sewage and the mutant who caused it said, "Well... they're with the C.H.U.D.s now."
- In Tony Hawk's Underground a monster based on C.H.U.D. is seen in the Neversoft intro dragging a skater into the sewers. This monster is known as T.H.U.D. He is also an unlockable character.
- In Super Meat Boy, the second boss that is fought is named C.H.A.D. as a parody of C.H.U.D. C.H.A.D. also appears as a boss in The Binding of Isaac, as an alternate version of an oversized maggot named Chub.
- In Workaholics, Ders, Adam, and Blake post a sign in their cubicle that says C.H.U.D. with an arrow pointed to any person who stops outside their cubicle.
- Stephen Notley's Bob the angry flower strip about C.H.U.D.s
- In the Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Episode 5 "The City that Dares Not Sleep", Sam is informed by Agent Superball that during the crisis the C.H.U.D.s were deployed to secure the perimeter of the island of Manhattan.
- There is a brief mentioning of C.H.U.D. as the acronym for "Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller" in Episode 5 of the first Season of Pushing Daisies by the character Chuck, during an ordeal in the sewers.
- Though they don't make a physical appearance, the hit show Ed, Edd n Eddy references the C.H.U.D. in the episode, Boom Boom Out Goes the Ed, but are referred to as "Underground Mole Mutants".
- Clerks II references the film when character Dante Hicks rhetorically asks his boss, Becky, if she thinks he is some kind of ugly C.H.U.D. or something.
- C.H.U.M.: Issue number 15 of Bart Simpsons's Treehouse of Horror has Hans Moleman turning into a C.H.U.D.-like creature after Homer flushes nuclear waste down the toilet...the same night Hans is working in the sewers.
- In Season 1 of Frisky Dingo, while Killface and Xander (in the guise of Barnaby Jones), are walking through the sewers, Killface hears something offscreen and says, "What was that?" to which Xander replies, "Maybe it's a C.H.U.D."
- In Archer, Archer tells Ron Cadillac that he would "rather bond with a C.H.U.D." than allow Ron to give him a ride in "Midnight Ron".
- C.H.U.D.s are one of the enemies the player can encounter in the Roguelike game "Cataclysm".
- In the animated series Phineas and Ferb, the season 4 episode "Where's Pinky?" has a scene with Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz in an elevator that has a button labeled "Pessimistic Humanoid Underground Dweller".
- C.H.U.D. Missile is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania based garage punk band formed in 2012 by visual artist Brain Gonnella.
- Ritual of the Chud is a song off alternative rock band, Handsome Midnights' debut album "Bittersweet Curse".
- Messiah has Chots - a separatist humanoid race who regularly appear in street battles with the police in hopes of driving the Fathers out of power. They live in sewers and are seen eating a human corpse in one of the game's cutscenes.
See also
References
- ^ "C.H.U.D." boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
- ^ "C.H.U.D. (DVD)". dvdempire.com. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
- ^ "Criterion Collection Releasing C.H.U.D. on Bluray!".
- ^ "Meaning of C.H.U.D." by Andrew Bonime