C.H.U.D. II - Bud the Chud (1989)
Starring: Brian Robbins, Bill Calvert, Tricia Leigh Fisher
Writer: Ed Naha
Director: David Irving
WARNING: Review Contains Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Spoilers
Story:
Steve and Kevin lose a cadaver which
was to be used in their science class. You dumb fucks.
With the help of their beautiful childhood friend, Katie, they break
into the center for disease control to find a new body, and they do.
Steve takes the sumbitch home and drops it off in his mother's bubble
bath until they can figure out the next part of their plan. When
the hairdryer falls into the soap filled tub, the mother fucker
resurrects! Further, this dude is a leftover C.H.U.D. - the last
C.H.U.D.- matter of fact. One thing leads to another, Bud is doing
aerobics, dancing, falling in love, makin' more C.H.U.D.s... shit is
fucked up in suburbia.
Review:
I've read from a few places that
C.H.U.D. II was originally intended to be a sequel in the Return of
the Living Dead franchise. I can't confirm if that's true or bullshit, but even if it's bullshit, it definitely has that vibe.
The opening is very similar to how ROTLD III opens, but with the more
comedic cheese feel of ROTLD II. Parts of C.H.U.D II even feel like
the first Return film, especially when Kevin and Steve are in their
Science class storage room, which is littered with bags of cadaver dogs and other
animals. It also has the feel of
Re-Animator (syringe needle with green fluid) and Night of the Creeps
(friends breaking into a facility to steal a corpse). An early school
scene seems cut straight from Head of the Class, with Brian Robbins
basically appearing as the same character. Then there's the whole
Weekend at Bernies thing, which was released the same year. The one
thing that C.H.U.D. II doesn't feel like is... C.H.U.D.
It does use the events from
the first film to begin the story, kinda. The military has a project where enzymes from the cannibalistic humanoid underground
dwellers are being used to make super soldiers. The tests are
canceled, but there's still one last specimen- Bud. He wakes up and gets to chompin', thus building a C.H.U.D. army to
follow his lead.
Okay, remember this dude from the first
film?
These are the aftereffects of being
bitten by a C.H.U.D. And that's what the C.H.U.D.s look like in
C.H.U.D. II. There are no slimy, sewer ridden, mutated, flesh eating
creatures running around here; there's not even a sewer. The zombie
like ghouls bite people, but there is no devouring going on. Every
time you hear a chomp, out walks another C.H.U.D. I guess many fans
of the original hate the hell out of this sequel. I have many fond
memories of it playing on USA Up All Night and Saturday Nightmares.
And thankfully, nostalgia hasn't bitten me in the ass, because
C.H.U.D. II is still fun as fuck. I probably appreciate it more now than I ever did as a kid. Let's go through some of my
favorite moments, shall we?
Awesomeness:
~Note: not all images are GIFS~
- This dude screaming "Get Him!" like 15 times or some shit.
- Some real up close and personal shit right there.
- Poodle punting!
- Bud's C.H.U.D. walk.
- Her amazing workout moves, as well as her outfit.
- Bud lookin' like a pimp.
- C.H.U.D. Dog Vs. Mailman
- Fantastic Decap!
- Where the fuck does one learn to epic leap like this!?
- Bud straight beastin' it on the dance floor.
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- Any girl who can pull off looking this damn hot in a damn hideous swimsuit gets my praise.
There's all kinds of other awesome shit, too. Bud looking stoned off his ass the whole time, military firing a bazooka into a fucking restaurant, single gunshots causing vehicles to burst into flames (miss that element being in nearly every film), a Halloween dance setting, C.H.U.D.s chanting “Eat 'em up, eat 'em up, yum, yum, yum!" and more. This movie fucking owns, I don't give a fuck.
Camera work is surprisingly effective here. I mean, it looks low grade as hell, but what's wrong with that? I love the opening credits sequence, which is one long running shot in the front of a dude focused on him as he travels from one floor, to an elevator, to another floor. There's actually quite a few tracking shots like this used throughout. Also, an overhead view of Bud slipping and landing on his back. POV from an open dumpster, crane cams, and all kinds of slo-mo used for fight sequences. Lots of nifty editing to characters zipping through the air after an altercation with a C.H.U.D. and more.
Gerrit Graham fucking rules as Bud. Most of his dialog consists of the word “Meat”, but it's the body language he uses that makes it fun. Dude definitely gives Terry Kiser (Bernie from Weekend at Bernies) a run for his money. Robert Vaughn as Col. Masters is the show stealer here, with one hell of a hammy performance, and the dude seems to have been having a fucking blast. He's got the best dialog in the entire film, spitting out lines like “This C.H.U.D.'s for you!” and “Only the god damndest, ugliest barber I've ever seen!” Dude rules. Brian Robbins, Bill Calvert and Tricia Leigh Fisher as besties, Steve, Kevin and Katie have some funny moments together, but no one here is as on point as Graham and Vaughn. Lastly, Jack Riley and Sandra Kerns as Steve's out of touch, dense as fuck parents are pretty goddamn hilarious.
SFX here aren't very plentiful, sadly. The C.H.U.D.'s basically look strung out and in need of a fix, other than ravaging ghouls. The absolute best shot is a lit bunsen burner shoved through the head of a C.H.U.D. And the finale swimming pool sequence is pretty damn awesome. Other than that, this movie is enjoyable for the laughs, not the gore.
Not only is the music fantastic in C.H.U.D. II, but the sound FX are, too! Gotta give props to those C.H.U.D. chomp noises, because they fucking rule. But back to the music...
THIS
Anyway, now that I have re-soaked C.H.U.D. II into my brain, I can say that it's one of those Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, Halloween III: Season of the Witch kinda things for me. Well, being that it's more a comedy, I'd place it closer to Return of the Living Dead II more than anything. It seriously feels like the sister to said film. Go to your nearest Wal-Mart, dive into that $5 bin, dig up the 8 movie horror collection pack that recently came out, take it home, and watch the fuck out of Bud the Chud. I watched it three times this past weekend, and it didn't lose any luster. I'll defend this shit till the day I die. Nothing wrong with a movie being dumb fun.
- Priscilla Pointer (Elm Street 3, Blue Velvet) cameo.
- Larry Linville (M*A*S*H) cameo.
- Robert Englund (Behind the Mask, Elm Street franchise) cameo.
- June Lockhart (Lost in Space) & Norman Fell (Three's Company) cameos.
~THE END~
