The Corner Penthouse

(Since Halloween is fast approaching, this seemed like the best time to revisit some of my past horror movie reviews. I'm revising and reposting a few of them, such as this one.)

John Heard and Daniel Stern star in that perennial holiday classic, C.H.U.D.. Long before they both starred in Home Alone 1 & 2 (though I don't think they shared any scenes in either film), this odd couple was battling Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers in this acronym-titled film. Maybe if the Wet Bandits brought along some C.H.U.D.s, they would have defeated that puny Kevin McCallister.


The C.H.U.D. Blu-ray from Arrow Films, which is being released as a 2-Disc Limited/Special Edition, features the Integral Cut with a 1:36:25 runtime. The Integral Cut includes all of the additional TV version scenes, with various scenes re-arranged, including the ending.


If you grew up in the '80s and saw the omnipresent TV spots for the film, with it's tagline of "they're not staying down there anymore", you have a pretty good idea what the movie is about. So, I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that there are mutant creatures lurking in the sewers of Manhattan, and these are not of the terrapin variety. Needless to say, these creatures have been coming above ground, killing more and more of the city's citizens, and that's not a good thing. Their existence has been discovered by an unlikely trio of humans. Photographer George Cooper (John Heard) has been photographing some of New York City's homeless population for some kind of feature article his friend is writing, which is how he gets involved in this mess. Meanwhile, Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry), tired of getting nowhere with his superior about a series of disappearances around their precinct, decides to interview local soup kitchen cook Shepherd (Daniel Stern), who caters to the homeless population. Eventually, they all discover a greater conspiracy.


C.H.U.D., which we find out in the final act also stands for Contamination Hazard Urban Disposal, is a good old fashioned monster flick, set in a dirty, grungy New York City. It's like the 1980s version of the 1950s sci-fi B-movies. It's also a nice time capsule of a New York City that really doesn't exist anymore. The story lacks the punch that it should have given the conspiracy angle and the era in which it was filmed, but it's still an enjoyable film. Director Douglas Cheek, smartly, doesn't show much of the creatures for the majority of the film. You only see their arms or get quick glimpses of their faces, which is good, because later when you see them completely, they lose a lot of their mystique.


What's most remarkable about C.H.U.D. is that it stars a rather large amount of future well-known actors. John Heard (father Peter McCallister in Home Alone), Daniel Stern (burglar Marv in Home Alone), John Goodman (Dan Connor in Roseanne), Jay Thomas (Eddie LeBec in Cheers, Jerry Gold in Murphy Brown), Patricia Richardson [non-speaking role in red dress at perfume ad photo shoot] (Jill Taylor in Home Improvement), Sam McMurray (Glen in Raising Arizona, and a regular in The Tracey Ullman Show), and Kim Greist (Molly in Manhunter).


C.H.U.D. is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer. There is a light amount of grain here and there, but nothing more than you would expect for something shot on film. Picture is crisp and clear with no issues that I noticed. On the audio side, the uncompressed English mono track gets the job done with no issues.


Some new bonus features were created for this release (along with a few ported over from the 2004 Anchor Bay DVD), most of which are interviews with the principle crew, and all of which are in HD. I especially enjoyed the tour of New York City filming locations, even if they didn't do any proper "before and after" shot comparisons. I'm quite keen on stuff like that, as evident by all of my Shot on Site filming location articles. I have been told that the gallery on the old Anchor Bay DVD has a lot of photos Arrow didn't port over, so Arrow's gallery can be considered entirely new. Kudos to Arrow Films for spending the time and money to put together a nice collection of supplements for a film that, in other hands (I'm looking at you Image), was given a barebones release.

• Audio Track featuring isolated score selections and an interview with composers Martin Cooper and David A. Hughes.
• Audio commentary with director Douglas Cheek, writer Shepard Abbott, and actors John Heard, Daniel Stern and Christopher Curry.
• A Dirty Look (19:11) - interview with production designer William Bilowit, recorded in August 2016.
• Dweller Designs (12:07) - interview with special make-up effects/creature creator John Caglione Jr., recorded in September 2016.
• Notes from Above Ground: The NYC Locations of C.H.U.D. (9:10) - a tour of some of the film's Manhattan locations hosted by Ted Geoghegan and Michael Gingold.
• Extended Shower Scene (1:24) - offers one extended shot showing some nudity that was cut out from the final film, though it is unknown if it is actually Kim Griest or a body double as her face is not seen in that shot.
• Behind The Scenes Gallery (5:32) - 60 images (all nearly full-screen; there's a little bit of a border/background image).
• Theatrical Trailer (1:36)

The Limited/Special Edition includes an exclusive second disc containing the original Theatrical Cut of the film, with a 1:26:29 runtime. This cut has been out-of-print since the VHS era. It's about ten minutes shorter than the Integral Cut, and some of the cuts are a little strange, including some character moments early in the film, as well as an ending in a diner with a young John Goodman and Jay Thomas that now serves as a weird epilogue once you see the scene in a different (proper) context in the other cut. Evidently, some soundtrack elements are missing from this version.


Each version of the film contains 12 chapters and includes English SDH subtitles. Not supplied for review were the reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford, and collector's booklet featuring a new writing on the film by Michael Gingold.


Final Verdict: Recommended. The 2-Disc Limited/Special Edition includes the Theatrical Cut (on a second disc) and a booklet, though I suspect both of those will not be included in future releases (likely a 1-disc release labelled "Special Edition"). So, get it while you can if you want those extras. By the way, the sequel, C.H.U.D. II: Bud The Chud has just been released on Blu-ray, too. It's a fundamentally different film, and I will review it next.


As a bit of fun, those other mutant Manhattan underground dwellers also paid homage to C.H.U.D.. In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "Tokka vs. The World" (February 5, 2017 in Season 4), one can spy a "K.R.U.D" movie poster on the wall of Raphael's room, which is a direct parody of the "C.H.U.D" movie poster.




Images used come from the old Image Entertainment DVD copy of the film (some lightened considerably), and are not meant to represent the quality of the Blu-ray. Blu-ray has been provided by Arrow Films for review on this site. For additional images, see these High-res stills and lobby card scans, For The Hell Of It for large packaging and other images, Amazon for a photo of the full set with packaging, DVD Exotica for comparisons with previous home video releases, and Mondo Digital for some HD screens in their review.