145 - C.H.U.D.

    After several missing persons reports come in, as well as a report of a monster abducting a man, a photographer, a cop, and a bum get together to deal with mutated people-eaters living under the city.
    I remember seeing the box for this at the local video store growing up, but I never had the desire to watch it.  The title is silly.
    I wasn't as disappointed with this as I expected to be.  It has a few familiar faces.  Sam McMurray (who plays Neal's father in Freaks And Geeks) is a cop, and Daniel Stern (the lanky villain in Home Alone) is the heroic bum.  In addition to this, the movie has this feel to it.  It seems like a lost Roger Corman movie, only paced a little better.  Makes me think of Q: The Winged Serpent or God Told Me To.  In fact, I could imagine Michael Moriarty taking a role in this kind of story, making it a little more hard-boiled.
    There's also this environmental angle to this, which seems interesting.  There's a particular focus on the efforts of various agencies to cover up their responsibility through any means necessary.  I feel like this must be a reaction to something in particular, but I can't tell what.