C.H.U.D.

In the 80s with the explosion of the video market came a new era in the low budget horror film genre, more money better effects and an audience that could be tackled in the home instead of just the theater. A lot of these horror films still made it to the theater and some of them were decently made and allowed some young filmmakers to get their foot in the door in an industry that was going through its next evolution. For the workings of the movie's story C.H.U.D. stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers and to help this development along there is radioactive and contaminated toxic waste that is left in the sewers. This is fairly an original concept spun off of the alligator in the sewer stories, we're given an outside source that starts the ball rolling and then nature, albeit distorted nature, dips its hand in to create a mutated species.
When the evidence of missing persons in a localized area of New York City turns toward the sewers and underground tunnels there seems to be a new resident that likes the taste of human flesh. The acting is cheesy and some of the effects leave much too be desired but for a film made in '84 its not that bad. John Heard and Daniel Stern get top billing in this film, but the actor that has a small walk on cameo that is most memorable is John Goodman as a New York cop that's killed at the diner massacre. This film was shot entirely in and under New York City, so everything that is seen in the movie, from streets to buildings to underground tunnels, is all real and authentic and lends to the air of reality for the story.
I had seen this film in the theaters in 1984 when it originally came out and was fairly impressed with the idea, and since the ending is left with an opening I was disappointed that they didn't try to continue the story even if it was only on videotape. There isn't much to say about this film but that it's fun and enjoyable as long as you like cheesy low budget horror movies. This isn't one of those lost gems that people would be falling over each other to see but in the way of B-movies this ranks up there with some of the better low budget films from the 80s.