How a Forgotten ‘80s Sci-Fi Movie Inspired a Modern Horror Master
“Ferocious. Carnivorous. They're not staying down there, anymore!”
My friend has a theory that C.H.U.D. is a Home Alone prequel. The 1984 cult classic stars John Heard and Daniel Stern as a photographer and a reverend who investigate a series of missing homeless people and uncover a terrifying conspiracy beneath the streets of New York. Six years later, Heard played the dad in Home Alone, while Stern starred opposite Joe Pesci as a would-be-burglar. The theory goes that Stern’s reverend gave up religion for a life of crime and decided to target his old friend, who he knew was now living a life of suburban luxury in Illinois.
This is utter nonsense, albeit fun nonsense. But while the concept of a Home Alone-iverse might be absurd, C.H.U.D. does have a direct connection to another iconic movie: Jordan Peele’s Us.
The director’s sophomore horror feature opens with a shot of an old television playing a segment about the Hands Across America fundraising event. Fans were quick to point to a stack of VHS tapes next to the TV, which included none other than C.H.U.D. The connections between these two movies run surprisingly deep, but before we go too much further down the sewer hole, let’s revisit the 1984 B-movie that no one would remember if it wasn’t for Jordan Peele.
C.H.U.D. (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers)
Directed by Douglas Cheek and released on August 31, 1984, C.H.U.D. operates on a very simple concept: What if there were a bunch of murderous monsters living in the sewers of New York? Throw in some fun practical effects and a well-placed sword, and you have a decent horror B-movie. But C.H.U.D. goes deeper than that.
The movie is a direct response to the presidency of Ronald Reagan, who won his re-election campaign just months after C.H.U.D. oozed into theaters. Reagan infamously slashed social benefits, which left the unhoused to fend for themselves. In C.H.U.D., Parnell Hall’s script gives those policies a horrifying face, imagining a scenario in which abandoned nuclear waste transforms sewer-dwelling humans into mutated monsters. These monsters prey on the homeless population, and when they run out of food, they emerge to the surface.
The best part of C.H.U.D. is probably the poster art.
This gets the attention of an NYPD captain whose wife is one of the C.H.U.D.s’ first victims. He begins to investigate, ultimately uncovering a conspiracy led by a man named Wilson from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Wilson then reveals his plan to murder everyone in the sewers, including both the monsters and any surviving humans. Thankfully, our heroes manage to stop Wilson, and his truck blows up in a fiery blaze.
If that sounds like a thrilling story, it’s not. Large chunks of C.H.U.D. boil down to a handful of middle-aged white guys standing around non-descript rooms arguing over what to do next. Meanwhile, Heard and Stern spend most of the movie tripping over themselves in the sewers. On the plus side, a woman chops a monster’s head off with a sword, while John Goodman plays an unnamed cop who gets abducted by the C.H.U.D.s while trying to order food at a diner.
C.H.U.D. and Us
Lupita Nyong'o in Us.
While C.H.U.D. is a slog, its legacy is fascinating. The movie has become a shorthand for creepy sewer monsters and has been referenced in everything from The Flash to Archer. Homer Simpson even claimed to have had an encounter with these cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers. (“Oh, Homer, of course you’ll have a bad impression of New York if you only focus on the pimps and the CHUDs,” Marge retorts.)
But the film’s most visible influence is the 2019 horror movie Us. In an interview with Polygon, director Jordan Peele revealed his personal connection to the movie.
“Fun fact: my first girlfriend's father directed C.H.U.D., when I was, like, 11 or 12 or something like that,” Peele said. “Her father was Douglas Cheek. So that was my introduction to C.H.U.D. So there's a little personal thing for me.”
This is actually one of the better-looking practical effects in C.H.U.D.
The movie’s appearance as a VHS tape is more than just a personal Easter egg, however. Both films revolve around misunderstood “monsters” forced to live underground. Both take aim at the Reagan era (Peele seems to have it in for Hands Across America). The villain in C.H.U.D. is named Wilson, while Us follows the Wilson family.
That’s not to say Peele copied C.H.U.D. shot-for-shot. Us is a far more exciting and interesting movie. But four decades later, it’s a fascinating window into the mind of one of our greatest modern horror filmmakers. Plus, the sword decapitation scene still rules.
