C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. (1989) Revisited – Horror Movie Review

The Revisited series takes a look back at the 1989 film C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D., starring Gerrit Graham

The first C.H.U.D became a culturally relevant movie for multiple reasons and against all odds also worked its way into the greater pop culture zeitgeist. I argued that the first movie doesn’t quite stand the test of time a bit ago and while I stand by that, it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it either. C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. is a wild ride of a sequel that certainly didn’t need to exist but is somehow more fun than the predecessor. Its also a better sequel in a franchise that it doesn’t technically exist in! Can’t wait to get into that aspect. Most of you love C.H.U.D. but I’m here to tell you why C.H.U.D. II is a great black sheep that straddles the end of the 80s and start to the 90s. I doubt I’ll sway anyone onto my side of preferring this entry but let’s dive in and see what this movie has to offer.

In the dog days of summer of 1984, a movie called C.H.U.D. was released by New World Pictures with a tiny budget of 1.25 million and it made back a not insignificant 4.7 million back. That’s just the box office numbers too as home video and all the new cool blu rays on offer certainly made it even more. The next year in 1985 also in August John Russo and Dan O’Bannon released their own sequel, sort of, to Night of the Living Dead and it was also a huge success. Return of the Living Dead would make 14 million on its 4-million-dollar budget. Why am I bringing out that particular series? Because C.H.U.D II is secretly a sequel to Return of the Living Dead. Much like Tales from the Darkside: The Movie is the true Creepshow 3, today’s movie follows a similar pattern though I won’t take away from the real Return of the Living Dead II as I quite enjoy that one. But let’s get into it.

Even though they are referred to CHUDs, the cannibalistic underground dwellers not the government title, and the dang cover shows the same CHUDs from the first movie, these guys are zombies. They aren’t quite the same menacing, sprinting zombies from the first Return movie but they sure act in the same silly manner as the ones that part 2 show us. This movie was originally conceived as a sequel on top of the surface level observations as confirmed by writer Ed Naha. Naha wrote the first Troll movie and Dolls for Stuart Gordon as well as Spellcaster and Dollman for Full Moon. Finally, the dude was heavily involved in Honey I Shrunk the Kids both the movie and TV show. This is certainly the black sheep of his catalogue. The director chosen was David Irving who had done some fantasy adaptations like Rumpelstiltskin, Sleeping Beauty, and The Emperor’s New Clothes but not much else and really nothing after.

The movie begins with a credit roll that immediately shows what you are getting into with the title sequence that gets eaten with satisfaction. We then shift to a hospital where the final CHUD is being euthanized. Its here that you will immediately realize these are not the same CHUDs we had prior. It’s a straight up zombie. We also get introduced to some of our main characters. The titular Bud, possibly and hopefully a take on Bub from Romero’s Day of the Dead is played by the incredible Gerrit Graham. Phantom of the Paradise, Demon Seed, Terror Vison, Chopping Mall, and Childs Play 2 all cement him into our favorite genre. My personal favorite and one that I will forever take the opportunity to talk about, is Used Cars alongside Kurt Russell. On a fun side note, he plays someone named Bud T. Chud in the director’s very next movie called Night of the Cyclone.

I’ll get into it more, but this is Graham’s movie. He even has his own theme song, but he does it all wonderfully. We also see the two military personnel played by Robert Vaughn and Larry Cedar. Cedar may be a name that you don’t recognize but his face and body of work are unmissable. He is one of the consummate professional character actors with over 200 credits. I’ll always know him as opium addict Leon from one of the great shows ever Deadwood. Robert Vaughn I first saw in The Magnificent Seven, but the Oscar nominee has had a heck of a career. Battle Beyond the Stars, Zombie 5, Buried Alive, and today’s movie are his genre efforts, but he is probably most well known as Napoleon Solo from The Man from UNCLE. Bud has escaped his execution, and the movie switches to our other story that will intersect with Bud.

The three friends of Steve, Katie and Kevin get into trouble with their science teacher which leads to them stealing Bud, as one does. They accidentally animate him in the bathtub and that sets off a series of escalating events that follow Bud changing a ton of the town into zombies and the teens trying to navigate the army and find a way to stop him. This movie isn’t scary in the least and that’s ok. It is interesting to know that the director shot 3 distinct films with one being focused on horror, one being focused on comedy, and one being a print version that could be shown on TV. Right from the moment that Graham’s Bud wakes up in the tub, he acts his ass off without saying actual words. His physical comedy and facial expressions are some of the best you will see and even the noises he makes in leu of speaking just add a ton of character to, well, his character.

Everything from Bud trying to be romantic to him chasing the family dog, to him getting his fellow CHUD zombies into a dance are all incredible scenes to watch. The high schoolers leave Bud on his own while the military hunts for him and we also get introduced to other character actors like Jack Riley, Norman Fell, and June Lockhart. They have all been in various classics both in horror or sci-fi and in general and its nice to see them plugged in here along with the younger and current cast members. One of the leads doesn’t even have an IMDB picture but the ones who play Katie and Steve are Tricia Fisher and Brian Robbins. Robbins did Cellar Dweller, a ton of TV including a large role in Head of the Class, and later became a big-time creator and executive producer at Nickelodeon. No, not one of the bad ones that got their own documentary. Fisher doesn’t have much else on her resume that this audience will know but she’s gorgeous and great here.

While the kids are looking for Bud and the military is looking for the kids, Bud gets himself some new duds, you know, duds for bud, a haircut, and his own theme song. He slowly changes from rough looking zombie to suave looking zombie. The teeth are still rough. As he is turning these people into CHUD zombies its Shaun of the Dead levels of fun to watch the general public just miss out or ignore the signs. I’d say it’s a commentary on selfishness or people being afraid of change but it’s, ya know, CHUD II. Even the military doesn’t notice their own product for Pete’s sake. Hell starts breaking loose and we start to get an all-out war between the living and the dead. We also see, after we were told, that these things don’t die which is another reason why it’s a Living Dead film disguised as a CHUD vehicle. The military saves the kids after we find out that CHUD zombies still hurt when they get raked in the balls. More great stuff from Graham. Freezing is supposed to work but the zombies have figured out how to get out of it.

The students finally get told what’s going on and the rest of the zombie CHUDs get to walk around on Halloween night. The scariest part of the movie is Robert Englund walking around with the trick or treaters looking more menacing than he has any right to. More and more townsfolk get turned and even kids are not safe as we see when they enter another house. The school Halloween dance is the next target for the CHUDs and the group of student’s heads to help out when the government falters. They figure out that the perceived tropes of killing the brain don’t work and we see some of the better special effects that the movie has to offer. It’s not a gory movie at all but the makeup and effects walk the line of cheesy and fun.

The CHUDs are lured into the pool by a tasteful Katie in her bathing suit and we get, and I hate to beat this dead zombie horse, a scene very reminiscent of Return II where they lure them all to be electrocuted. This time they plan to freeze them all in the pool but unfortunately Steve is bitten in the process. Bud literally pours his heart out to Katie and the boys figure out how to destroy the CHUDs for good. Steve leaves the group knowing he has become a CHUD and we also see that Robert Vaughn and another one got away to eat their way through the countryside. We are treated to the Bud theme song as the credits role and that’s it for official CHUD releases.

I really didn’t enjoy CHUD II the first time I watched it. I don’t care for horror comedies as much as straight horror and on top of that I was expecting this to be an actual horror film. Now knowing that it was originally going to be a Return of the Living Dead sequel and that it is a silly piece of camp that doesn’t take itself seriously at all I know prefer it to the original and proudly have it on my shelf. It’s a fun movie to go back and watch and honestly is another one that you can show to smaller viewers who are looking to get into the genre. As I said, I don’t expect many people to be in the same camp as me in terms of enjoying this one more than the original one, but it deserves its time. Great tone, great central performances, and a fun time to behold on screen. If you enjoy yourself a silly slice of horror and enjoy the sillier, campier side of Return of the Living Dead Part II then you should make CHUD II your bud.

Two previous episodes of Revisited can be seen below. To see more of our shows, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals channel – and subscribe while you’re at it!