Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud Blu-ray Movie Review

Thousand Oaks Man?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 23, 2016

Maybe it’s time someone started a new support group for those of us who tend to laugh inappropriately at supposedly very serious horror films. It’s a long standing thesis in psychology that fear and humor responses are closely linked, which might be one reason why some of us tend to react to ostensibly frightening moments by giggling uncontrollably, but there can also be something else at play—namely, the undeniable ridiculousness of at least some moments in any given horror enterprise. To cite just one example: there’s a moment late in C.H.U.D. when damsel in distress Lauren (Kim Greist), having already survived this film’s version of the infamous shower scene in Psycho, has to deal with a marauding mutant bursting through her apartment wall (what, the door wasn’t good enough?). She manages to slice the creature’s head off, and while it momentarily seems to still be alive (and in fact is seemingly attempting to gnaw on her ankle—laughing yet?), she literally kicks it to the curb (or the corner of the room, as the case may be), at which point the obviously rubber head’s eyes, glowing as if lit up by AA batteries (and who knows, maybe they were), slowly dim and extinguish. I personally found the whole sequence highly amusing, and would be surprised if anyone worth their horror salt would be even slightly anxious about the outcome. Despite several moments like this sprinkled throughout the original C.H.U.D., that film was played resolutely “straight and narrow,” without any winking subtext or attempts at cheeky humor. It’s kind of interesting, then, that C.H.U.D.’s follow up, C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud takes almost the exact opposite tack, investing the story with silly sight gags and a concept which is weirdly reminiscent of films like the Pauly Shore “classic” Encino Man (which admittedly appeared four years after C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud). The film never attains the lunatic heights it’s obviously aiming for, but for those who want a horror film that’s intentionally funny, C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud offers at least a few laughs along the way.

For many Baby Boomers, the recently deceased Robert Vaughn will always be the inimitable Napoleon Solo of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. fame, but he of course had a long if not particularly distinguished film career, including turns in such classics as Bullitt and The Magnificent Seven. Though even some diehard film fans may not remember it, he also actually received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the lesser remembered The Young Philadelphians. Vaughn’s slyly self deprecating qualities are on display in C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud from early on, as his character of Colonel Masters attempts to keep the now vilified CHUD program in an appropriate deep freeze (appropriate given how those wanting to “calm” CHUDs down have to go about doing that).

A supposed CHUD named Bud (Gerrit Graham) is put into stasis and shipped to a secret lab in the quiet American town of Winterhaven, which is where the film then introduces two dunder headed high school students, Steve (Brian Robbins) and Kevin (Bill Calvert). Suffice it to say that for no ostensible reason other than the plot mechanics of C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud require it, the two manage to lose a cadaver that is slated to be used in their Biology class. Probably even those who haven’t read a “how to write a screenplay” primer can guess what happens next, with the two buddies stumbling across Bud and then just as ridiculously managing to reanimate him when they drop a hair dryer in the bathtub where they’ve deposited Bud. With the conceit of the film now properly established, the rest of the film plays out in a series of vignettes that features some potentially good bits that unfortunately often never quite mine the inherent comedy for all it’s worth.

Graham, who often tends to emit a kind of genetic snark in roles that require him to do more than shamble about in search of “meat”, acquits himself quite nicely throughout C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud, though at times director David Irving doesn’t seem to know how to really frame some of the physical sight gags that run rampant throughout the film. The humor is often unabashedly juvenile, with Bud marauding through Steve’s suburban house while his clueless parents continue about their daily routine unaware. Ultimately Bud gets out into Winterhaven itself, leaving a gaggle of “new” CHUDs in his wake. Fans of the first film who have been paying attention may note that the CHUDs in this sequel may well have dropped the “u” part of their acronym, as none of the film exploits the underground environment of the first outing.

While the IMDb lists both a standard release date and a video release date for the film, I haven’t been able to find an authoritative reference that confirms that C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud ever had a bonafide theatrical exhibition. It in fact plays exactly like a made for television enterprise quite a bit of the time, with lots of former television stars (Jack Riley, Norman Fell, June Lockhart) showing up in cameos, and without any pretensions toward even the low level production design of the original C.H.U.D.. While the laughs might have been raised to a higher level with a little bit smarter framing and editing, there are laughs here that are commendably intentional, as opposed to that “other” kind that some of us find in films like the first C.H.U.D..

C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Film's new Vestron Video imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. While fans of the film are probably going to be overjoyed having this cult item in any kind of high definition, this is a surprisingly flat, (appropriately?) lifeless and at times pretty digitally processed looking transfer that suffers from things like persistent wobble during the credits to some crude looking grain resolution to an overall lack of fine detail and outright softness (to the point that some scenes almost look out of focus), all of which may suggest a fairly old master. Colors are often listless and contrast anemic, though to be fair there are a number of brightly lit moments where the palette actually does pop quite nicely (the diner scene late in the film is a good example). The at least occasonally roughhewn and unnatural looking grain structure tends to afflict scenes with a kind of crosshatched overlay, adding to the overly processed appearance. Detail levels are still at least acceptable, and even good, in close- ups, where elements like Vaughn's leathery skin are presented with reasonable accuracy.

C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud features a sometimes overly bright sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, something that's especially apparent with regard to some of the synth heavy cues in the film. But pay attention in scenes like the one where Steve and Kevin find Bud in the lab, and there's a persistent high frequency "silvery" sound that's grating, if kind of subliminal. The film has some musical sequences that offer better reproduction in the lower frequencies than some of the rest of the film. Dialogue comes through the fray fine for the most part, but overall the track seems to have issues in the higher frequencies.

C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director David Irving is hosted by Michael Felsher, who keeps Irving engaged with questions about Irving's career as well as this particular film.


• Bud Speaks! with Gerrit Graham (1080p; 16:18) is a fun interview with the actor, who confesses somewhat ruefully that he expected to only ever be in "A films".


• Katie's Kalamity with Actress Tricia Lee Fisher (1080p; 12:45) is also appealing, with Fisher joking she's a "funny chick" who also screams and cries extremely well, all talents that served her well in the film.


• This C.H.U.D.'s for You with Allan Apone (1080p; 14:44) interviews the film's makeup designer.


• Video Trailer (480p; 1:47)


• Still Gallery (1080p; 6:20)

C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The same sort of fans who were paying attention enough to realize that there's no "u" in this particular CHUD (unless you count a suburban basement) may also have noticed I'm scoring C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud at the same 2.5 score as I did the first C.H.U.D., though (call me crazy—and get in line to do so) I actually kind of prefer the sequel since it's so stupidly funny. A number of sight gags would have really landed with just a bit smarter staging, but there are sight gags here, even if there's a relative dearth of verbal hijinks to go along with them. Graham's goofily enjoyable even if he has little to work with, and the film's score (including some song and dance moments) has some energy as well. Video and audio both have hurdles to overcome, but the supplemental package is quite enjoyable for those considering a purchase.