This French/USA production of an updated version of 'Maniac' results in four of the best things a fan of horror cinema could wish for in the hope of an invigorating viewing experience.

‘C.H.U.D.’ plays out on the conventions of a sci-fi B movie premise - grotesque mutated creatures that are the result of the government carelessly storing its toxic by-products in the sewers. Although, it also employs the execution of the horror genre - the monsters are more demonic in appearance and there is an array of mutilated bodies sprinkled throughout.

Ohio born and bred Jim Van Bebber was an inspiring filmmaker from a very early age making many a movie in high school with his Super 8 camera. One of these 8 mm epics was the kung fu flick ‘Into the Black’ that won him a scholarship to study cinema at Wright State University. The martial arts love letter would become the prototype for Van Bebber’s debut feature.

Director Adam Green showed versatility here by moving from one sub-genre of horror to another. His directorial debut ‘Hatchet’ (2007) and its sequel ‘Hatchet II’ (2010) were his bloody comedic homages to the slasher film. During the time between those movies, we had the minimalist survival terror of ‘Frozen’. It is a bleak suspenseful tense tale of a skiing weekend gone tragically wrong.

‘Last House on Dead End Street’ is an experience. “Experience” is the key word to remember if you are to fully appreciate this disturbing and truly unique piece of underground low-budget filmmaking as this is what the movie simply is - a cold experience in atmospheric dread.