C.H.U.D. II – Bud the Chud (1989)

chud2When I was a kid I was frightened of pretty much any movie that featured the walking dead, and surely enough my fright was induced whenever I watched “CHUD II.” I can fondly remember re-watching this movie on the now defunct “Monsters HD” cable channel in America three years ago and gazing in disbelief at this absurd and unfunny zombie movie. I was horrified of this? Seriously? “CHUD II” is a travesty not just because it’s an unfunny horror comedy, and not just because it’s not an actual sequel to “CHUD” at all. But because it’s a pretty blatant rip-off of “Return of the Living Dead” with brain eating intelligent zombies taking center stage, and even featuring a zombie dog who rolls with the group of zombies throughout the film.

Although based on my research, some articles I’ve read claim “CHUD II” was initially supposed to be a “Return of the Living Dead” sequel, but was re-worked in its premise and re-titled “CHUD II.” So labeling this a rip-off may or may not be accurate. And I won’t even bother complaining about naming an intelligent zombie Bud. The implications there are just annoying. In either case, even as a “maybe” take off of the “Return” premise, it fails to really be as entertaining as the original offering. “Return” was hilarious, clever, and creepy. All qualities “Bud the Chud” lacks in spades. In spite of lip service to “CHUD” paid and the insistence this is a sequel, this is really just another wannabe zombie comedy that just doesn’t warrant much of a watch, unless you absolutely have to see every horror movie ever released in the eighties.

The CHUDS we saw in the first film who were these monstrous glowing eyed freaks who hid in sewers are now human beings, and the CHUD the government was able to extract and freeze looks just like a normal dead body, but pal and with a curiously slicked back hair cut. The rest of the film is an amalgamation of “Return of the Living Dead II,” “Weekend at Bernie’s,” and the first “Return” with Bud the Chud thawing out and going on a rampage through a suburban neighborhood. Basically he craves human brains, and runs around eating everyone he can. Those people rise and become clumsy goofy zombies of their own, and the chain continues.

They’re even given their own war chant before storming in to town for a feast. For some reason, the center that houses this top secret CHUD experiment is located in a small town in middle America, and three local students experimenting on corpses break in to the center and steal Bud. I know, it makes no sense to me either. Bud unfortunately defrosts and spends most of the movie creeping around neighborhoods and eating your typical eighties yuppies. To its credit there are some interesting and genuinely goofy moments that may cause a giggle from audiences. The barbershop scene is particularly memorable, and the zombie rampage in a local fast food joint that offers a variety of meats is pretty hysterical. But you shouldn’t waste time on this movie just for those moments.

Incidentally once the zombie army begins growing the annual Halloween dance is about to begin and most of the second half is based around the zombies eating trick or treaters, and raiding the prom, attacking hapless dancers. “CHUD II” ends on a basically ho hum note that dares to imply that there’s a sequel coming. Or at least there’s the possibility of one someday. Thankfully there’s been no rumors since 1989, because Bud the CHUD really shouldn’t exist beyond a bad memory of eighties horror. “Bud the CHUD” is so bad and so lacking in comedy and horror that it makes “Return of the Living Dead 2” look brilliant by comparison. Neither a sequel of “CHUD” or an original horror comedy at all, “CHUD II” is another of the many eighties horror mishaps that lives on in shame like a bad night of drinking.