The Stuff (1985)

Undescribable Perfection

Truly Dreadful Film

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

As Good As It Gets

One night, a mysterious white glop materializes from beneath the Earth. Mankind realizes that this Stuff actually tastes pretty damn good, so in record time it's being packaged and sold and marketed as the latest dessert sensation. Michael Moriarty plays David "Moe" Rutherford, an industrial spy hired to get the inside dirt on the Stuff - like what are its actual ingredients? He's accompanied by Nicole (radiant Andrea Marcovicci), the marketing genius who created the advertising campaign, because she's as curious as he is. Rounding out the team of heroes is a young kid named Jason (Scott Bloom), whose conformist family were obsessed with this new "food".Writer & director Larry Cohen is again able to come up with a good idea, if not a great film. His little yarn is both a tribute to classic schlock such as "The Blob" (with much in the way of enjoyably goopy special effects) and a horror / comedy / satire that skewers North American consumerist society. Its themes include the way that products are made (or, in this case, merely collected) and marketed to obedient consumers, and the way that people can become mindlessly addicted to food that is in no way good for them. Overall, "The Stuff" admittedly is never that funny, but some of its moments ARE horrific in a comedic sort of way. It has energy to burn and an excellent forward pace, as well as a fairly good amount of quotable dialogue. "They call me "Moe", because when they give me money, I always want mo'."Moriarty gets to be a little eccentric, if not as utterly crazed as he was in Cohens' "Q". He shows off a likeable, goofy charm, and has fine chemistry with Marcovicci, Garrett Morris (who is amusing as the resentful Chocolate Chip Charlie, whose business was aggressively acquired by Stuff company bigwigs), and young Bloom. The very fine cast of familiar faces also includes Danny Aiello, Patrick O'Neal, Paul Sorvino, Rutanya Alda, and Cohen regular James Dixon. There are some priceless cameos in Stuff commercials; in uncredited bits you can see the likes of Patrick Dempsey, Sorvinos' daughter Mira, and Eric Bogosian, the star of Cohens' previous feature, "Special Effects".Generous use of practical FX and resulting gross-out moments help to make for a reasonably enjoyable movie that wraps up in a trim 87 minutes.Seven out of 10.

Larry Cohen's films contain themes that stay timeless, regardless of when they were released. Take The Stuff for example - consumerism, corporate greed, celebrity culture, junk food - none of the theme in this film have gone away. If anything, they've only increased in importance.The Stuff - a yogurt-like white dessert - is discovered coming out of the ground like black gold to Jed Clampett. It's sweet and addictive and quickly gets sold like ice cream. It's all natural with no calories and incredibly filling, so it helps people lose weight. Of course, sales go through the roof and destroy the ice cream industry. Along with junk food mogul Charles W. "Chocolate Chip Charley" Hobbs, these purveyors of sugar hire David "Mo" Rutherford (Michael Moriarty, who also appears in Cohen's Q) to get to the bottom of The Stuff and then destroy it.The more he learns about the product, the more horrified he becomes. The Stuff is actually a parasite that takes over whoever eats it, taking over their brain and gradually transforming them into zombies as it consumes them from the inside out - the very inverse of how people consume products.A young boy named Jason is learning the same lesson the hard way. It's ruined his family, so he destroys a supermarket display.David also meets Nicole, the ad exec who learns that the campaign that she created for The Stuff has only led to death and destruction. As someone who has worked in the ad industry for over twenty years, the battle between craft and commerce has never been so beautifully illustrated than it is here. The film is packed with fake commercials of celebrities hawking The Stuff, including Wendy's pitchwoman Clara "Where's the beef?" Peller, who yells, "Where's The Stuff?" to Abe Vigoda.Everyone that consumes The Stuff eventually turns into a gooey white substance and those under its grip do everything they can to kill our heroes (Nicole and David become lovers; they rescue Jason just as the police arrest him). The corporation that makes The Stuff claims they are trying to rid the world of hunger, but the possibly extraterrestrial substances is really being created to take over the world.They work together with retired United States Army Col. Malcolm Grommett Spears (a perfectly cast Paul Sorvino, Goodfellas) to destroy the zombies and a lake of The Stuff before sending a civil defense message to the country - the only way to destroy The Stuff is to burn it with fire.David then visits the leader of The Stuff Company, Mr. Fletcher, who reveals that they haven't destroyed all of the ways they can get the product. Now, they're working with the ice cream industry -including Mr. Vickers, who originally hired David - to make The Taste, a product that is 88% ice cream and 12% The Stuff. They believe that it will be much safer and still as addictive. However, David brings in Jason and the two force the CEOs to eat The Stuff at gunpoint. David asks, "Are you eating it or is it eating you?" as the cops arrive to arrest the corporate con men.You know how you should never leave the credits during a Marvel movie? Cohen was again ahead of his time here, as the final crawl also has moments showing smugglers selling The Stuff on the black market and a woman in a bathrobe saying, "Enough is never enough" while holding a container of The Stuff.From its inventive gore and special effects to its wry social commentary, The Stuff is sheer delight. It moves fast, it's packed with action and it has plenty to make you laugh, too. It may make you avoid ice cream for awhile, too.

Two people find white stuff oozing from the ground in a pile of snow, one of the men tastes it and thinks it is the best thing he has ever tasted. When they bring it back more and more people start to like it so the ooze is marketed as a desert called THE STUFF. When a little boy sees the desert move by it's self in his fridge he decides that the desert is evil. He continues his assumption as his family start acting really weird and buy lots and lots of the stuff and try to force the boy to try some. When he escapes from his family he meets up with a man who also thinks something is up about this desert. The two join together also with a woman and also an African/American man. The group of people persuade the army and they must battle a horde of people who have been overtaken by the evil desert.This film starred: Michael Moriarty, Scott Bloom & Andrea Marcovicci.THE STUFF was released in 1985 and is among other films in it's genre like Body Melt, Street Trash and The Blob. Out of them three films I have only seen The Blob and In have to admit to liking The Blob. However this film is a disgrace the acting is terrible, the plot is even worse and there is nothing at all to like about this film. I really don't recommend this film as it is a dreary mess.*/***** Very poor.

The Stuff was a nostalgic film for me. I remember seeing it at 8 or 9 on a Saturday afternoon television show which aired weekly horror films (Chicago natives might know to which show I refer) and had been eager to view it again as an adult; however 15 years later, nostalgia simply wasn't enough.Larry Cohen's The Stuff is a horror movie with a unique idea, a satire on America's consumption culture leading to the marketing of a deadly, addictive, frozen treat. However, the best ideas can fail if not executed properly.The acting in this film leaves much to be desired. While I did not go into this movie expecting acting on par with Oscar-caliber films, I was still quite disappointed in its mediocre acting and poor dialogue. The special effects in The Stuff are relatively good considering the b-movie quality and budget of this film. However, the music and sound effects seemed very disjointed and out of place; usually conflicting with the events occurring in the movie.Overall, The Stuff presents an interesting idea that had potential to be a good sci-fi/horror film, but The Stuff simply fails as a good movie; however, it's not unwatchable, and might prove to be a "fun" distraction if you're looking for a campy, mediocre movie with which to kill an evening.3.5 out of 10.