CHUD II: Bud the Chud appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not a bad presentation, the transfer showed its limitations.
Definition was acceptable, as the film showed reasonable accuracy. I’d never call it razor-sharp, but it usually offered fair delineation. Sporadic soft shots popped up, though, especially during interiors.
No issues with shimmering or jaggies occurred, but I saw light edge haloes. Print flaws were absent.
Colors seemed acceptable. CHUD II provided a natural palette that never favored any particular tones. The hues lacked much pop but they appeared passable overall. Blacks were moderately inky, and low-light shots tended to appear somewhat dense. The transfer seemed dated but decent.
Similar thoughts greeted the lackluster DTS-HD MA 2.0 soundtrack of CHUD II. The soundscape offered good stereo presence for the score, but effects failed to add much breadth. Some material occasionally pooped up from the side channels, but outside of the music, much of the mix felt monaural.
Speech appeared a little reedy and thin, and the movie came with some poorly looped audio. Nonetheless, the lines showed good intelligibility and lacked overt flaws. Music demonstrated limited range as well, but the score was clear enough and showed moderate pep.
Effects fell into the same range. The track didn’t ask for much, and the elements sounded decent; they could be somewhat flat but they showed no distortion and represented the material well enough. All of this left us with a “C+” soundtrack.
As we shift to extras, we begin with an audio commentary from director David Irving. Along with disc producer Michael Felsher, Irving presents a running, screen-specific look at how he got into movies and other aspects of his career, what brought him to CHUD II, sets and locations, story/character areas and editing, cast and performances, effects, music, the film’s release and legacy.
Take the “screen-specific” aspect of the track loosely, as Irving rarely discusses the material as it appears during the film. Instead, this piece largely acts as an interview conducted by Felsher.
Which works fine most of the time, as Felsher gets Irving to provide a pretty good look at the film. However, the track loses some steam about two-thirds of the way into the flick, so it meanders a bit for the final half-hour. Even so, we get some nice insights about CHUD II.
A few interviews follow. Bud Speaks! gives us a 16-minute, 18-second chat with actor Gerrit Graham, as he discusses aspects of his career and what led him to the movie, his character/performance, and reactions to the film. Graham gives us a decent collection of memories.
Katie’s Kalamity runs 12 minutes, 45 seconds and features actor Tricia Leigh Fisher. She goes over topics similar to those discussed by Graham, though with her own spin. Fisher provides a peppy personality and she offers a mix of fun thoughts.
Finally, This CHUD’s for You offers a 14-minute, 44-second conversation with special makeup effects designer Allan Apone. As expected, Apone chats about his work on the film, with an emphasis on various practical effects. Apone brings us a useful chat.
In addition to the film’s video trailer, we finish with a Still Gallery. Presented as a running piece, it fills six minutes, 20 seconds with production photos, publicity pics and ads. It’s a decent compilation.
A sequel in name only, CHUD II: Bud the Chud fizzles in all possible ways. Stupid, witless and inane, the movie offers no entertainment value. The Blu-ray brings us decent picture and audio along with a reasonable set of supplements. Even for a low-budget 1980s horror sequel, CHUD II stinks.