C.H.U.D. Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.0

C.H.U.D. Blu-ray Movie Review

Creatures Have Unappealing Demeanors?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 22, 2016

C.H.U.D. opens with a scene which instantly raises some almost subliminal angst, though it’s not instantly clear why the foreboding feeling of dread is so present. A woman is walking her dog down an abandoned New York City street, and already things don’t seem quite right. Shouldn’t a Manhattan avenue have some life apparent, even in what appears to be either the middle of the night or the wee small hours of the morning? But as soon as the camera cranes down to reveal a smoking manhole cover front and center in the frame, any horror fan worth his or her salt knows something bad is about to happen, and that it most likely is going to involve some nefarious sort bursting out of the sewer. Of course that’s exactly what happens, and the audience is given its first fleeting glimpse of some kind of rubbery looking arm that kind of resembles the appendages of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. As technically astute as this opening sequence is, it also points out one of the problems which confronts C.H.U.D. at several key moments throughout its running time—it’s by and large a relentlessly predictable horror outing, with some silly plot developments that serve only to promote further carnage, and without any real depth to a story that could have quite easily explored feelings of paranoia and governmental conspiracies that had only grown in the wake of the decade following the Watergate scandal (C.H.U.D. came out in August, 1984, almost ten years to the day after Nixon resigned the presidency). That doesn’t mean that C.H.U.D. doesn’t have moments of delirious weirdness, but when even the monsters are a little laughable, diehard horror fans have to approach the content with a willingness to cut the overall film a little slack.

Photographer George Cooper (John Heard) is supposed to be working on providing pictures of New York City’s homeless population for some kind of feature article a friend of his is writing, but he’s detoured by a reminder from his girlfriend Lauren Daniels (Kim Greist), a would be model who has arranged for George to shoot her in a perfume ad which she’s sure will lead to her becoming a national presence. The two are evidently fairly new to cohabitating, at least as evidenced by Lauren’s frustration that George has left some of her personal belongings in the dark and spooky basement of their apartment house. Her trip down to retrieve her items quickly introduces another resident of the place, Francine (Brenda Currin), but the clear (and expected) implication is that there may be another unknown denizen living in the bowels of the building.

That planted seed bears (bloody) fruit much later in the film, but in the meantime a harried police officer named Bosch (Christopher Curry) is arguing with his superior officer about a series of disappearances around their precinct. Already there are signs that higher ups know more than they’re letting on, but Bosch decides to interview a local “reverend” conveniently named Shepherd (Daniel Stern), who caters to the homeless population and who claims to have inside information about a supposed conspiracy that is part of the disappearances. Without getting lost in the weeds (and/or sewers), suffice it to say that there is in fact a conspiracy afoot, one which has resulted in mutants living beneath the streets of New York City that have acquired a rather disturbing hunger for human flesh.

Part of what may fray at least some of C.H.U.D.’s energy is its tendency to go off on tangents, including the whole George and Lauren angle, while also at least slightly detouring what should be a straight line to the film’s ostensible villain (other than the mutants), a governmental operative named Wilson (George Martin). The film has a couple of decently creepy kill or at least menacing scenes, though perhaps due to a relatively small budget and not especially convincing practical effects with regard to the monsters, things are often dealt with a bit discursively, as in both the opening sequence, where only a creature’s arm is seen, or, later, a scene in a telephone booth that uses a similar gambit. A couple of moments where the mutants are clearly visible may tend to provoke the kind of laughter that was actually aimed for in this film’s unlikely sequel, C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud.

C.H.U.D. Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

C.H.U.D. is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's typically informative insert booklet provides the following information on the transfer:

C.H.U.D. has been exclusively restored in 2K resolution for this release by Aroow Films and is presented in its original theatrical aspect ration of 1.85:1 with mono sound.

A low contrast 35mm print was scanned in 2K resolution on a pin registered 4K Lasergraphics Director Scanner at Deluxe's E-Film Facility, Burbank. Picture grading was completed on a DaVinci Resolve at Pinewood Studios. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and light scratches were removed using PFCLean software. Overall image stability and instances of density fluctuation were also improved. All restoration work was completed at Pinewood Studios.

With expectations set appropriately given the source elements utilized for this transfer, my hunch is most fans of C.H.U.D. will be generally well pleased with the results. While the palette is still a bit anemic, and contrast is challenged, especially in the many dark underground scenes, detail levels are often quite good, especially in the more brightly lit moments. The grain field is chunky at times, especially in the darker sequences, and a few of the darker sequences have fairly noticeable deficits in detail, shadow definition and grain resolution (see screenshot 14). There is still a bit of wobble during the opening credits, but the rest of the presentation shows no signs of image instability. While there are still tiny flecks and other damage that some may notice, generally speaking there's no horrible age related wear and tear to report.

Note: Though there's no discernable difference in the look of the sequences that are used in both the Integral and Theatrical versions of the film, I've included a few screenshots from the theatrical cut in positions 16 through 18 so that those interested can do a contrast and compare.

C.H.U.D. Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

C.H.U.D. features a workmanlike LPCM Mono track that capably reproduces the film's dialogue, score and effects, albeit without much punch in the lower frequency ranges. Some of the effects can sound a bit shrill at times (one notable example comes when one of the mutants is decapitated late in the film in a probably unintentionally comic scene). There are no issues with dropouts or other damage.

C.H.U.D. Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Integral Cut (1080p; 1:36:25)


• A Dirty Look (1080p; 19:11) features production designer William Bilowit.


• Dweller Designs (1080p; 12:07) features make up effects and creature designer John Caglione, Jr.


• Notes from Above Ground (1080p; 9:10) is a fun tour of some of the film's lower Manhattan locations, with hosts Ted Geoghegan and Michael Gingold.


• Behind the Scenes Gallery (1080p; 5:32)


• Extended Shower Scene (1080i; 1:24) is pretty fuzzy looking but offers more nudity.


• Trailer (1080i; 1:36)


• Audio Commentaries

  Composer Audio Interview and Score features Michael Felsher in an interesting conversation with the film's composers.

  Audio Commentary with Cast and Crew features John Heard, Daniel Stern, Christopher Curry, Douglas Cheek and Shep Abbott in an often pretty funny commentary.

Disc Two

• Original Theatrical Cut (1080p; 1:26:29). This version is shorn of around ten minutes, and some of the cuts are a little baffling, including some salient character material early in the film, as well as an ending that now (to me, anyway) doesn't make a lot of sense. Evidently some soundtrack elements are missing from this version.

C.H.U.D. Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

C.H.U.D. offer a few low grade thrills, but it suffers from never really developing its underlying foundational element of paranoia well enough to make things really provocative. The monster effects may strike some as unintentionally funny, but performances are unusually committed for a film of this type. As tends to be the case with some of these cult horror items, the supplemental package may be at least as interesting to some fans as the actual film, and Arrow has in its usual fashion provided a lot to chew on (sorry) in that regard. Video has some transitory issues, mostly source related, while audio is fine.