10 Horror Films You Constantly Have To Defend Loving
10. C.H.U.D. (1984)
New World PicturesLeonard Maltin described C.H.U.D. as grimy on all levels, but less snobbish viewers saw a 1950s monster movie retooled for Reagans America. Gone is the Reds-under-the-bed paranoia of the Eisenhower decade and in, courtesy of Ronnies demolition of the welfare system, comes a critique of the rise in New York Citys homeless population. NYC, 1984. On the surface, life for John Heard and Kim Griest is, if not peaches and cream, then yuppies and condominiums, as all the photographer/model couple has to worry about is whether or not the perfume theyre hawking smells like faeces. Not so Daniel Sterns soup kitchen worker who like the rest of the citys derelicts is far more concerned with the radiation-spawned monsters in the sewers. Yep, radiation is still the #1 cause of monsters, but in this decade, more money is spent denying the problem exists than tackling it. When Stern discovers a Geiger counter in the sewers, he convinces a cop whose wife has disappeared to lean on the Mayor, who of course denies all knowledge until the body of a Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller washes up. Its a coincidence, says one official. Couldnt happen again. But we know thats baloney, and when teams of flame-thrower wielding cops surge into the sewer system, they encounter an army of C.H.U.D. that sees them as C.H.O.W.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
