C.H.U.D. (1984)

Free Great Movies Review

  •  (2 out of 5 stars)

For a movie about Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, C.H.U.D. takes itself pretty seriously, which adds to the amusement. Stars John Heard, Kim Greist, Daniel Stern, and Christopher Curry all seem to be using the film as a career springboard to something more serious. There's so much dramatic dialogue and acting in the first half of the movie you'd think C.H.U.D. was based on a stage play. It takes half an hour for the C.H.U.D. monsters to show up, and even then, we are treated to only close-ups of the monsters as the film doesn't seem to have the budget that a monster movie demands. The plot involves some vague radioactive government cover-up that nobody watching cares about. Show us the C.H.U.D. monsters! The movie is filthy in the underground scenes as it shows the underground New York City homeless dwellers. It's less fun than the homeless cult classic Street Trash (1987). The action does pick up in the last act, but that is only relative to the ridiculously boring melodrama of the first two acts. Somehow, this film made money and spawned the sequel C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D..

(Summary from Wikipedia)