C.H.U.D II: Bud the C.H.U.D. (1988 – David Irving)

I think it's fair to say that you don't really have to have seen the original CHUD in order to enjoy the mastery that is CHUD II. The original CHUD was actually a fairly dull bit of work.. A 'monsters in the sewers' flick that was heavy on the sewers and low on entertainment. CHUD II wisely ignores the whole sorry mess and decides to do its own thing. What its 'own thing' constitutes, of course, is brain-damaged comedy horror that could *only* have been produced in the 80s.

Some guy who I dimly remember from a show called 'Head Of The Class' steals a frozen corpse from a military facility for reasons too dumb and convoluted to go into. The corpse wakes up and goes wandering off, biting everything and everyone it finds with a hugely OTT comedy 'crunch' sound. As soon as someone's been bitten, they turn into another walking corpse. The recipe is simple; take a bunch of the reanimated dead, add Robert Vaughan, some terrific 80s hairstyles, some appalling puns and stupid sight gags, and stir for 82 minutes.

CHUD II manages to find time for that staple of 80s living dead movies, the zombie budgie, but also throws in a very good value zombie poodle, which provides most of the big laughs throughout the flick's first half. I hardly need to point out that none of this is exactly high art, but somehow the whole enterprise manages to come off as cheesily endearing. There's also a lovely 'hiding-my-head-because-it's-been-knocked-off' sequence, of the like that we never seem to see in these CGI days.

And the title song.. My good God. Not since the days of 'The Blob' has a movie been blessed with such an inane singalong to accompany the carnage. 'Coming Over For A Bite.. Bud the Chud.. Bud The Chud.. Buh.. Buh.. Buh.. Bud The Chud'. How wonderfully, gloriously, maniacally shite. It breaks my heart that the Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers Who Don't Actually Live Underground were never reanimated for a third outing, but consider this their finest hour and remember them this way.

This CHUD's for you, indeed.