C.H.U.D.

[swo17]

THEY’RE NOT STAYING DOWN THERE, ANYMORE!

From the subterranean depths it crawls! Finally making its long-awaited debut on Blu-ray, director Douglas Cheek’s cult ‘80s favorite C.H.U.D. is the ultimate underground movie experience.

In downtown Manhattan, a police captain’s hunt for his missing wife leads to the discovery of a series of mysterious disappearances in the area. Extending his search into the tunnels and sewers below the city streets, it soon becomes clear that something monstrous is lurking in that subterranean world – and it won’t stay there much longer…

Starring John Heard (Home Alone) and Christopher Curry (Starship Troopers) alongside an early appearance from John Goodman, C.H.U.D. has justifiably built up a huge cult following in the years since its release in 1984, with one of the most iconic creature designs of the period.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
•Brand new restoration from original film elements
•High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
•Original Uncompressed Mono PCM audio
•Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
•Audio commentary by director Douglas Cheek, writer Shepard Abbott, and actors John Heard, Daniel Stern and Christopher Curry
•Brand new crew interviews
•Original Theatrical Trailer
•Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film

[Werewolf by Night]

US only: C.H.U.D.

How'd they wrangle the rights from Criterion?

Criterion announced their edition in April 2011 but never followed up with an actual release (as is regrettably common for them, cf. Cousin, Cousine and Midnight Cowboy). Assuming a five-year license, the rights probably lapsed earlier this year, Criterion did not (or was not given the option to) renew, and Arrow (who was not a US player in 2011) was there to snatch them up.

[MichaelB]

Which specific day in April 2011 was the announcement made on?

[Werewolf by Night]

Which specific day in April 2011 was the announcement made on?

It was a Friday.

[MichaelB]

Which specific day in April 2011 was the announcement made on?

It was a Friday.

Well, that narrows it down to April 1, 8, 15, 22 or 29.

[Werewolf by Night]

Yes, it was probably one of those.

[MichaelB]

Yes, it was probably one of those.

One of those, yes.

[The Narrator Returns]

Criterion used me by making me think they would ever release it, and now I am the fool.

[swo17]

We were such fools to believe that a company that releases things like The Human Condition and Dekalog would also do C.H.U.D.

[knives]

And that's not even getting into First Man Into Space.

[carmilla mircalla]

More like The Human Chudition and The Chudalog

[kidc85]

Which specific day in April 2011 was the announcement made on?

It was a Friday.

Good God this made me laugh.

I haven't actually heard much of CHUD outside of the Criterion announcement, is it good for the type of film it is?

[knives]

Not really. The only bit I found particularly enjoyable was a cameo by John Goodman about fifteen seconds before the film ends.

[Emak-Bakia]

It's been years since I've watched it, but I remember liking it. Then again, I like a lot of those scummy, New York-set horror films from the 80s like Street Trash and Basket Case.

[knives]

Basket Case is great. I haven't seen Chud in about a decade and my opinion is more meh than dislike. I just feel in the scummy '80s horror genre there are better examples out there.

[tenia]

I watched Basket Case a few days ago and I found it so bad I had to watch something else after as if to wash my eyes from it. I guess I'm not the public for this movie.

[zedz]

This turned out to be far more enjoyable than I expected. Pretty silly from start to finish, but entertaining and with much better acting than most films of its ilk and era. I watched the integral cut, not the release one, and it was rough enough, but the theatrical cut sounds like it's quite different and seriously incoherent (for instance, the John Goodman scene which apparently closes the theatrical cut happens much earlier, and motivates most of the final act). Solid, good-natured extras including a really delightful cast and crew commentary - one of the funniest I've heard in a long while, without an ounce of reverence.

[JamesF]

Solid, good-natured extras including a really delightful cast and crew commentary - one of the funniest I've heard in a long while, without an ounce of reverence.

Not sure if it's included anywhere on the disc but the producer Andrew Bonime used to have a long essay on his (seemingly now-defunct) website http://www.chudfacts.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; about how the commentary is supposedly a pack of lies and telling what "really" (according to him anyway) happened on-set. Here's an interview where he states much of it: http://www.bloodygoodhorror.com/bgh/int ... rew-bonime" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;