C.H.U.D.

C.H.U.D. (1984) is an American horror film directed by Douglas Cheek — watch it online on iFILM. Something is pulling homeless people into the sewer system beneath New York City, and the city authorities are not exactly rushing to investigate. John Heard plays a photographer, Daniel Stern a soup-kitchen operator, and Christopher Curry a cop whose wife has gone missing.

The three of them push at a cover-up that leads somewhere uglier than the monsters themselves. The acronym in the title has two meanings, both deliberately unpleasant, and the film earns the second one — the real horror is bureaucratic negligence dressed up in hazmat paperwork. Shot on location in 1980s New York, it captures a city that genuinely looked like it could be hiding something in its tunnels.

A VHS-era cult item, remembered partly for a brief early appearance by John Goodman. Stream C.H.U.D. (1984) online on iFILM.