C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud

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.

I saw this movie a few years ago and I got some good laughs out of it. It's not meant to be a horror George Romero movie or anything like that...It's a funny movie about funny zombies...I mean seriously, those of you who have seen this movie how could you not laugh at the whole "MEAT!" chasing poodle scene...

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.

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...

A mix of horror and comedy make this sequel to the original one that stands superior to the original. While a poorly acted, written and directed film, as is the first one, the filmmakers decided to have a little fun with this and it shows. Graham plays Bud and has many snappy one-liners. A favorite: As Bud and his army make their move on the world, Bud points to a large group of people, looks over and howls..."Buffet!" Not a great film, but it does offer some simple laughs.