C.H.U.D. II - Bud The CHUD (DVD)

C.H.U.D. II - Bud The CHUD (DVD) ... released 08 October, 2001 at Columbia Tri-Star Home Video / Features of the DVD: Full Screen, PAL / In Bud the C.H.U.D. a couple of high-school kids loose the cadaver for the next day's science experiment, then hit on a plan to steal a body from the local hospital to replace it. Unfortunately what they don’t know is that the hospital is home to a rather more sinister and dubious military trial, the sole remaining C.H.U.D (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller), who has been cryogenically frozen after the experiment went horribly wrong. Unwittingly they thaw Bud the C.H.U.D, who has the rebel-boy charm of James Dean and the personal tastes of Hannibal Lector. Bud then lumbers off on a cannibalistic rampage infecting everyone he munches on (including the family dog) and turning the town into a whole army of C.H.U.Ds. Only the Colonel (played with great melodramatic gusto by Robert "Napoleon Solo" Vaughn) and the kids who unleashed him can save the town from a fate worse than death. This tongue-in-check schlock horror movie is worth watching just for the late-80s nostalgia, the performances are clichéd and the plot wafer thin, but the humour hits the spot and Brian Robbins as the eponymous Bud positively eats his way into your heart. On the DVD: the DVD is unfortunately devoid of any special features other than a filmography and the film stock has a kind of graininess that comes from being low budget (rather than purposefully art house). It won’t be to everyone’s taste but you can’t beat the pure entertainment factor of a cannibalistic poodle. --Kristen Bowditch