Chud - A Cidade das Sombras

Having nothing to do with the original, C.H.U.D II is a sequel in name only. Take everything you remember about the original C.H.U.D...and throw it out the window. This is more like a zombie spoof. I mean, our hero is the guy from Head of the Class and Bud the Chud gets his own theme song. So it goes without saying that this is not quite a classic. It's also incredibly ridiculous and stupid. Despite all of this, I like it. It's an enjoyable 80's horror/comedy because it's very similar to, although not nearly as good as, Night of the Creeps (which is a GREAT horror/comedy). Understand me, I'm not saying Chud II is a good movie (I've seen far better, and far worse), I'm just saying that it's definitely entertaining and delivers quite a few laughs. If you're in to camp, get chudified.

Note for genre buffs: Robert Englund walks across the screen in a minor cameo.

My review was written in August 1989 after watching the movie on Vestron video cassette.

One of the least necessary of recent sequels, "Chud II" turns out worse than expected -an unfunny farce dotted with pointless cameos. Ailing Vestron is sending this one direct to video, where, reportedly, the 1984 predecessor developed a following.

Storyline by Ed Naha (hiding behind a pseudonym borrowed from W. C. Fields) has the cannibalistic ghouls of the title slated for extinction when the government cancels a research project. Gerrit Graham is the last one, nicknamed Bud, who escapes when high school students Brian Robbins and Bill Calvert steal his corpse as a replacement for their biology class experiment and accidentally reanimate him with electricity.

Everytime Bud bites somebody (human or animal) it joins him in zombie state. Soon an army of the beasts is prowling the streets of a small time. With evil military commander Robert Vaughn and his men in pursuit, th zombies naturally invade a Halloween party for film's climax.

Stupid gags are executed with poor timing by helmer David Irivng, whose mom Priscilla Pointer is part of the endless cameo role roster. Despite her high-up billing, Bianca Jagger pops in for just a few seconds at the end of the picture.

Graham's mugging as the monster is the only fun thing on view. Principal cast is bland.

Fans of the first film may be alarmed to discover that this sequel takes a much lighter approach to the subject matter. In C.H.U.D.II: BUD THE CHUD, the military has been trying to develop the C.H.U.D.s into bio-weapons. One of them, named Bud (Gerrit Graham), is taken from a secret facility by a pair of teens, named Steve and Kevin (Brian Robbins and Bill Calvert).

Luckily, Bud had been frozen during an escape attempt, making him easier to be absconded with. Unluckily, he's... well, a C.H.U.D, and Steve and Kevin inadvertently revive Bud, who soon begins a rapacious rampage, creating further C.H.U.D.s in the process! A potential plague underway, can these bumbling kids do anything to stop it?

Actually, going for an all-out comedy was a good idea, as Graham plays the role of his career! He even has his own snappy theme song! The rest of the cast is gleefully over the top, including Robert Vaughn as the cantankerous colonel Masters. There are some cool cameos like Larry Linville as a morgue doctor, Norman Fell and June Lockhart as a doomed couple, etc. Watch fast for Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund as a trick-or-treating dad!

BEST SCENES: #1- The poodle attack on the mailman! #2- The barn decapitation! #3- The costume party / dance massacre, lab explosion, and swimming pool scenes!

Absurd beyond all hope of redemption, nothing can save you from this much malarkey! Just go with it...

So basically you should forget everything established in the first movie and about the cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers as this movie has absolutely nothing to do with that movie. That movie while not all that good did at least look like a major motion picture while this one has the looks and is a B movie that tries to be a comedy. Basically, this movie is more of a zombie feature than the creature feature the first movie was. I am betting they did this to save money on make-up and monster effects as these creatures only have dark circles around their eyes and some deformed teeth. They did not bother making this movie a true zombie movie as that would have had to perhaps have decaying effects and wounds. In the end this movie is more like the film "Night of the Creeps", but not as nearly as good as far as the effects and gore or the humor for that matter. In the end the movie is a sequel in name only. The only reason this movie is called CHUD II it seems is to have the little subtitle Bud the Chud for the cuteness factor and comedy factor which is basically none existent for my tastes. The plot just has Bud infecting others and the horde of zombie like creatures grows and grows. Nothing new or funny being brought to the table in this one, but I did rather like the infected poodle.

Well... many years ago, in all my naivety, I rented this one expecting a serious, scary and foul sequel to the original "C.H.U.D.", one of my 80's favorites (not even a guilty pleasure, mind you). After approximately 20 minutes I turned this turkey off, insulted and rather angry. It had absolutely NOTHING to do with the original (other than a very vague reference to the cannibalistic tendencies of the alleged Chuddies portrayed in this movie).

Now - the year of writing is 2007 - more than a decade later, with the right mindset and under the influence of a certain person, I decided to give this film another shot. This time determined to watched it all the way through. And, yes, it's totally retarded, but... still some fun and worth a few laughs. It's a pretty dumb horror-comedy that tries to be something like "Night Of The Creeps" or "Return Of The Living Dead, part 2". But it fails completely in being as good. If you like mind-numbingly stoopie horror-spoofs, you still might have some fun with it. Even I did, I'll admit that much. And the climax in the swimming pool was even quite amusing. But I still hold a grudge against it for nearly traumatizing me more than a decade ago. And in the end, it's not much better than, let's say, the zombieësque equivalent of an 80's slasher-spoof like "Killer Party". Hence my rating.