ADDITION: Arrow - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - November 16': Okay, so what's going on here? It looks like Arrow may have considered an 'A' + 'B' Blu-ray release of C.H.U.D. but at some point in the production realized they only had the 'Uncut' (or 'Director's Cut') rights for Region 'A' and the theatrical rights for Region 'A'. So two separate single Blu-ray disc releases on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

The 'theatrical' cut disc is bare-bones (no extras) while the Director's (or 'Uncut' or "Integral Cut") disc has many extras including commentary etc. (see below). Amazon incorrectly lists this as  '1 disc'.

Both HD transfers look the same in terms of color, contrast, grain support - strangely the Theatrical loses a sliver of information on all 4 edges beside the DC.

Now - vs. the SD. The DVD image seems vertically stretched (abnormally thinner faces) and is noticeably cropped on all 4 edges beside the 1080P. Colors (reds, maroons etc.) are deeper and richer in the higher resolution. The superiority is more evident in-motion but even in the static screen captures you can see the Blu-ray visuals are quite a bit stronger.

Both Blu-rays have linear PCM mono tracks and it is predictably flat and without a ton of depth. Some of the monster growls and leaps out of the shadows can shock but the films soundstage is fairly passive considering. Both Blu-rays have optional English (SDH) subtitles.

There is a very fun audio commentary (DC only) with director Douglas Cheek, writer Shepard Abbott, and actors John Heard, Daniel Stern and Christopher Curry. Heard can be quite sarcastic with a dry sense of humor and he and Stern really seem to be enjoying themselves. It's an enjoyable listen. There is another audio track - a composer - David A. Hughes - audio interviews and score. Arrow have produced some of their own extras - A Dirty Look is a 20-minute interview with production designer William Bilowit and Dweller Designs spends a dozen minutes with special makeup creator John Caglione Jr. Notes From Above Ground looks at the film's NYC locations with writer Michael Gingold and filmmaker Ted Geoghegan. It runs shy of 10-minutes. There is also a 'Behind the Scenes' gallery and an 'Extended Shower Scene' with Kim Greis. Lastly, a trailer is included. The package has a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford and for the first pressing only you get a collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film. NOTE: I'm unsure whether the UK (Theatrical) offers the reversible sleeve and book - but I would think it does.  

Fans in the UK will need to be Region FREE adopters. The film is still and enjoyable as a very nostalgic, fun, mid 80's creature-feature - great cast too. Great to see it on Blu-ray - especially with the extras. C.H.U.D. is recommended! 

***

ON THE DVD: A lot of fun here. C.H.U.D. (it stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers in case you were curious) has a unique place in film history with plenty of 'future' stars including the likes of John Heard, Daniel Stern and John Goodman.  Let's state right out of the gate that the Anchor Bay edition from 2001 (also the 9-minute longer 'uncut' version) is still available HERE. And:

1) I'll bet its the exact same single-layered 1.78:1 transfer and

2) the Anchor Bay has a commentary and other extras where this only has a trailer.

The film is a hoot but we'd obviously recommend the Anchor Bay DVD while you can still get it - it's only $.50 more at the writing of this review. Unfortunately, Image Entertainment haven't improved this SD release at all. 

Gary W. Tooze