C.H.U.D.

**_Monsters in the sewers of the dubious side of Manhattan_** This is a comic booky 80’s creature feature, but it’s not campy. It’s similar to “Alligator” from four years earlier, just with a more compelling story and lacking the occasional laughs. As far as the “compelling story” goes, I wasn’t expecting to be so drawn into it, but I was due to quality writing and fleshed-out characters with a quality cast, particularly the protagonists played by John Heard, Daniel Stern and Christopher Curry. John Goodman even shows up four years before he became famous with Roseanne. Blonde Kim Greist is serviceable on the feminine front, but the movie would’ve been better with someone more notable like redhead Robin Riker in “Alligator.” She’s a’right though. It runs 1h 28m, but there’s an "Integral Cut" originally released for home video that runs 8m longer, which is the cut I saw. It was shot Jun 1984 in Manhattan with the soup kitchen sequence done across the Hudson River in Jersey City (southwest of Manhattan). GRADE: B

This is genuine craftsmanship and a more than adequate story to make you feel engaged in what is happening. The effects are wonderful and highlight how practical effects can give weight to even silly things like these. The movie has aged very well even though New York hardly looks like this anymore but the story isn't outdated and feels strangely and depressingly current. I had a lot of fun watching this even though it was a very silly premise.