Nerds That Geek Movie Review – ‘C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​As the debate rages on as to whether or not Hollywood is ruining the motion picture industry by flooding it with too many sequels and remakes, one cannot forget that this debate and this problem, is nothing new when it comes to the industry as a whole, and for proof, look no further than 1980’s horror films. Because back in the day, any successful horror film received a slew of sequels to cash in on its popularity, with mixed results of course. Because for every Nightmare on Elm Street 3 there was a Critters 3 waiting in the wings and well, not having the internet back then made life complicated for horror fans.
 
Because often times, these sequels featured some fantastic artwork, the kind that made them look as good as the original. Which in turn suckered you in and made you damn excited to rent one and get it home as quickly as possible to enjoy another magnificent entry in the tale in question, and sadly, that joy quickly turned to disappointment when you realized you were watching a sub-par offering, the kind that made your blood boil over how bad and cheesy it turned out to be and in 1989, a film that meets that infuriating criteria hit the shelves in C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.
 
Now the plot for this one, does do its best to tie into the original C.H.U.D. by offering up a twisted science experiment involving an enzyme that was discovered in the flesh of the mutated individuals from the first film, the kind that could yield military results if properly studied and used and of course, that all goes haywire, a C.H.U.D. named Bud gets loose and starts to create his own army of C.H.U.D.’s and really, that’s all you need to know about the plot because it’s messy from here on out, but it sure is fun to say C.H.U.D. in your head though, isn’t it? And if it seems as though cracking a joke like that makes it look like I’m stalling when it comes to analyzing this film, you’d be right because… man, this sucker is awful… but, it had potential.

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After all, had it stuck with that weaponization plotline and thrown in some morality to go with that, it could have held a flame to the original with its own unique throwback to those 1950’s science fiction/horror flicks where science was downright evil, but instead, it chooses to tread into rip-off territory by trying its best to resemble George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead. I mean come on, an undead-ish and intelligent looking creature named Bud is the centerpiece of the story and has military men after him and Bub in Day is an intelligent zombie who has military men ready to kill him, so…they’re not exactly hiding what storyline they wanted to replicate in this one.
 
But really, where this movie fails through and through, is the sheer fact that it embraces the camp nature of the plot and ramps that up to a whole new level, something that its predecessor refused to do in the slightest and that, makes this sequel a silly affair, one that actually features a one liner from Bud since he says ‘Meat’ often and he even manages to get a catch phrase going for his minions and its stuff like that which makes this movie more farce than scare fest and to make matters worse, this movie truly features quite the talented cast, and their talents are simply wasted in this film. 
 
Which stinks because veteran character actor Gerrit Graham (who plays Bud), and screen legend Robert Vaughn (who plays Colonel Masters), deserve better than a horror flick that simply tries too hard. But alas, it is what it is, and there’s no changing what Bud the C.H.U.D. turned out to be. So really, if you’re simply a fan of camp horror flicks period, and you want to see what part two of the C.H.U.D. saga looks like, then this is the film for you. But, if you’re expecting a little more from your horror films, then I cannot in good conscience recommend this one, because it does fall short and you’ll never forgive me for the whole ‘yum, yum, yum’ chant. 

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