"Actor: Bianca Jagger"

• C.H.U.D. 2 - Bud The Chud | Blu Ray | (28/08/2017) from £10.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In Bud the C.H.U.D. a couple of high-school kids loose the cadaver for the next day's science experiment, then hit on a plan to steal a body from the local hospital to replace it. Unfortunately what they don’t know is that the hospital is home to a rather more sinister and dubious military trial, the sole remaining C.H.U.D (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller), who has been cryogenically frozen after the experiment went horribly wrong. Unwittingly they thaw Bud the C.H.U.D, who has the rebel-boy charm of James Dean and the personal tastes of Hannibal Lector. Bud then lumbers off on a cannibalistic rampage infecting everyone he munches on (including the family dog) and turning the town into a whole army of C.H.U.Ds. Only the Colonel (played with great melodramatic gusto by Robert "Napoleon Solo" Vaughn) and the kids who unleashed him can save the town from a fate worse than death. This tongue-in-check schlock horror movie is worth watching just for the late-80s nostalgia, the performances are clichéd and the plot wafer thin, but the humour hits the spot and Brian Robbins as the eponymous Bud positively eats his way into your heart. On the DVD: the DVD is unfortunately devoid of any special features other than a filmography and the film stock has a kind of graininess that comes from being low budget (rather than purposefully art house). It won’t be to everyone’s taste but you can’t beat the pure entertainment factor of a cannibalistic poodle. --Kristen Bowditch

• The Rutles - All You Need Is Cash | DVD | (25/04/2005) from £16.92   |  Saving you £-10.93 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  First screened on BBC2 in 1978, at a time when the standing of The Beatles was at its lowest, The Rutles--All You Need is Cash is the original and (pace This is Spinal Tap) best "rockumentary" spoof. Codirector Eric Idle was then enjoying success with Rutland Weekend Television, while his script displays the same feeling for the inane non-sequitur evident in his Monty Python work. The band's progress from "penniless, untalented nobodies" to "rich, untalented somebodies" is vividly brought to life--with dialogue adapted from actual Beatles interviews and newsreels, and a roster of songs sounding uncannily close to Beatles originals thanks to "Nasty" Neil Innes' genius for pastiche. Interviews with a suitably primed Mick Jagger and Paul Simon give added realism, as do cameos from George Harrison (one-time Beach Boy Rikki Fataar plays his Rutles double Stig) and Stones guitarist Ron Wood. Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi make characterful, pre-Blues Brothers appearances. On the DVD: The Rutles--All You Need is Cash has come up well in this DVD transfer. The fullscreen 4:3 ratio picture and mono sound wear their age well, enhanced by the extra scenes included. There's further interview material with Jagger and Simon, and a specially recorded, though wholly unfunny, DVD introduction from Idle, who also contributes a running commentary. All in all, this is an ideal way to get to know, or renew acquaintance with, a film that brings the swinging 60s back down to earth. --Richard Whitehouse

• The Rutles - All You Need Is Cash | DVD | (21/01/2002) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-4.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Originally hatched in 1978 as a short film parody, The Rutles was later expanded into a 70-minute mockumentary about a trend-setting quartet of British mop-tops and became one of Eric Idle's better projects outside Monty Python. Taking the career (and hagiography) of The Beatles and inverting them quite nicely, Idle conjures up four doppelgangers who offer the familiar mannerisms but practically none of the intelligence of their models. If that sounds like the same gag that powered This is Spinal Tap (which emerged six years later), it is, with the crucial difference that Idle's lampoon is precise where Tap was consciously generic. In telling the saga of the Rutles, Idle (who doubles as earnest narrator and McCartney-esque Rutle Dirk McQuigley) works from a rich and immediately familiar trove of pop lore, and he has a ball revisiting and reinventing milestones from the Fab Four's fabled history. The attention to period detail helps elevate the gags further, but Idle's real secret weapon is Neil Innes, standing in as Ron Nasty, the Rutles' answer to John Lennon: it's Innes who serves as the musical architect for the wonderful Beatles parodies that give All You Need is Cash a delicious kick, and Innes--a one-time principal in the legendary Bonzo Dog Band--is gifted enough to capture the band's lyricism and energy as well as their shifting sense of style. With the blessing and on-camera participation of George Harrison, and wry cameos from Mick Jagger and Paul Simon, All You Need is Cash is a perfect companion to the Beatles' own glorious screen comedies and a great antidote to sanctimonious pop documentaries. --Sam Sutherland, Amazon.com

• C.H.U.D. 2 - Bud The CHUD | DVD | (17/09/2007) from £6.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (56.30%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Their first mistake was stealing a corpse... Their second was waking him up. Meet Bud The CHUD a Cannabilistic Humanoid Undeground Dweller. He has all the charm of Cary Grant the searing sexuality of James Dean the greatest talent discovery since Patrick Swayze. It's Hallowe'en and this CHUD's for you!

• C.H.U.D. II - Bud The CHUD | DVD | (08/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In Bud the C.H.U.D. a couple of high-school kids loose the cadaver for the next day's science experiment, then hit on a plan to steal a body from the local hospital to replace it. Unfortunately what they don’t know is that the hospital is home to a rather more sinister and dubious military trial, the sole remaining C.H.U.D (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller), who has been cryogenically frozen after the experiment went horribly wrong. Unwittingly they thaw Bud the C.H.U.D, who has the rebel-boy charm of James Dean and the personal tastes of Hannibal Lector. Bud then lumbers off on a cannibalistic rampage infecting everyone he munches on (including the family dog) and turning the town into a whole army of C.H.U.Ds. Only the Colonel (played with great melodramatic gusto by Robert "Napoleon Solo" Vaughn) and the kids who unleashed him can save the town from a fate worse than death. This tongue-in-check schlock horror movie is worth watching just for the late-80s nostalgia, the performances are clichéd and the plot wafer thin, but the humour hits the spot and Brian Robbins as the eponymous Bud positively eats his way into your heart. On the DVD: the DVD is unfortunately devoid of any special features other than a filmography and the film stock has a kind of graininess that comes from being low budget (rather than purposefully art house). It won’t be to everyone’s taste but you can’t beat the pure entertainment factor of a cannibalistic poodle. --Kristen Bowditch