C.H.U.D. II: BUD THE CHUD (1989)

C.H.U.D. II: BUD THE CHUD (1989)

Tagline: This C.H.U.D.s for you!

(Horror, Comedy, Sci-Fi) [R]

Hey!, what in the wide world of sports is going on in here?

In this one, two teenagers break into a government science lab where the last C.H.U.D. (zombies) is frozen. Colonel Masters believes the C.H.U.D. could lead to a biological military weapon, so he’s trying to continue canceled studies on “Bud” the last C.H.U.D. Meanwhile “Bud” escapes the house of one of the teens and begins biting up the neighborhood, people, dogs, a random fish turning everyone into C.H.U.D.s. Can the teens that stole “Bud” stop him before the world's human population is turned into cannibalistic freaks. 

First off, this movie at one point was meant to be a sequel to RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, but apparently was re-worked into a C.H.U.D. (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers) sequel at some point. Because of this, outside of a few references to the events of the first film at the very beginning of the movie, this film and the first one have very little in common. Even the C.H.U.D.’s don’t look the same. This one is far more of a comedy whereas the first film handled the material on a far more serious level. Needless to say, here we are and this flick is actually pretty interesting. 

Regarding the acting, this one isn’t terrible. It’s mean to be a comedy so some liberties are taken, but the cast is pretty effective. Steve, one of the teens that steals “Bud” is played by Brian Robbins. Brian is probably mostly known for acting in the TV show “Head Of The Class” but is actually an accomplished TV and movie producer now. Katie, the main female protagonist is played by Tricia Leigh Fisher and she’s pretty solid here. Robert Vaughn plays Colonel Masters and was in Hollywood for several decades in everything from “Law and Order” to “Murder She Wrote”. Gerrit Graham plays “Bud” and his performance is pretty funny for the most part. Graham is probably best known for CHILD’S PLAY 2, he was also in the 1995 remake of THE WASP WOMAN. There are also a few cameos in here including Robert Englund (best known for A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) as a trick-or-treater. 

Cinematically the lighting and direction are fine, but the continuity is a bit weird. There are scenes where the C.H.U.D.s show up in one place, then are suddenly miles away in another. I mean, with this amount of cheese it’s not super annoying but it feels like they could have done some things in the storyline to fix that. I guess there were 3 different versions of this movie shot, one for TV, one with more of a comedic feel, and one that focused a bit more on the horror. The one I saw was definitely more on the comedy side with a few horror elements thrown in. 

We do get a pretty awesome 80’s rock soundtrack and a serviceable score. The song “I’m A Hungry Man” by Andrew Prieboy is pretty epic. On a final note, fans of Bianca Jagger are going to be disappointed. This was her final role and she is only in the last few seconds, so just be aware of that when you see her on the billing for this movie. 

Overall this is shockingly a pretty fun little Halloween-Horror-O-Thon movie that is a little more family-friendly in the sense that there is very little gore and the effects are pretty goofy. I have to give this one a 6 out of 7, it definitely fits in the wheelhouse of the kinds of goofy horror stuff I like. 

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