The Stuff (1985)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The first must-see film of the year.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

This movie was a staple of late-night cable TV in the early 90s, which is how I first caught it at the age of twelve or so. I recently re-watched The Stuff for the first time since then, and was surprised at how much I remembered. This movie is sticky and sweet, I guess. It sticks to your brain, somehow.Now, this is the kind of movie that's perfect for switching off your brain and just kind of going along with it, with a foolish grin on your face. Literally nothing about the story makes a lick of sense. The movie defies analysis, except, it's rather neat that you can spot the influences. Now that I'm older and more versed in horror and sci-fi stories, I am almost surprised to be reminded of Quatermass II in particular. There's also Invasion of the Body-snatchers in there, I guess. It even reminded me a little of a Doctor Who story from the early 70s about green slime bubbling out of the earth that turns people into animalistic zombie-like creatures. In that story, you yell at the screen, "you idiot, don't touch number 2 output pipe!" But at least none of the characters decide the goop might be good to eat!These other sources are known for their social commentary, and, i believe, so are Larry Cohen's films generally. However, I think this one is too confused and determined to have a good time to properly convey a social message. It can't seem to decide what it wants to say. Is it an anti-drug piece? I guess that almost works. The militia colonel or whatever is just too broad a characature to make this come off seriously as an anti-communist/cold war polemic, and, I guess, thank Satan for that.But, screw it. Let's not analyse this thing. I'm serious: if you think about it too much, this movie might just make you kind of annoyed at its dozens of holes in logic. So let's just eat dessert and have fun. This thing is a laugh a minute and at times you might even catch yourself feeling a little bit creepy. But that latter is never for long. That said, my favourite moment is probably the dissolution of Chocolate Chip Charlie. That's a great Horror Film "Oh No" Moment (tm). Speaking of which, on re-watch, I was disappointed that Chocolate Chip Charlie wasn't in the movie more. I love Chocolate Chip Charlie.This is the kind of movie, in fact, that feels like it was written by a giggling twelve-year-old, or maybe by Roald Dahl while really drunk, and that's pretty cool, if you like that sort of thing. I do, on occasion, particularly when it's an 80s film. Just look at that premise.N.B: Eat pizza or popcorn while watching this; not ice cream, yoghurt or shaving cream.

The Stuff is a horror comedy movie in the same vain with The Blob but much more funny and cheesy.THE STUFF came out of nowhere became the world most favorite dessert everybody love it although where or how it made such a mystery so a food company hire a industrial spies known as David 'Mo' Rutherford played our main character.David is a very likable guy and the ways he take advantage of others is so awesome.I really can watch this movie with him alone and probably never get bored when THE STUFF not around.In the end it open for a sequel but sadly never been made.I will make sure check out other Larry Cohen movie Q from 1982 that also starring Michael Moriarty soon

Are you ready for the most ridiculously awesome movie plot ever? A few railroad workers notice some mysterious white goo bubbling up from the ground. They decide to taste it (what?) and, surprise, it's delicious! In no time, it's being scooped into pink and orange containers and marketed as The Stuff, a zero calorie sweet treat that you're gonna love! And people really do love it — they're out at 2am to get a cup of it, eating it for every meal, and talking to each other like they're in some kind of creepy ice cream cult.David "Mo" Rutherford (played by Michael Moriarty) is a former FBI agent turned industrial saboteur, and he's hired by the suffering ice cream industry to figure out the secrets behind The Stuff. He soon finds out — with some help from young Jason (played by Scott Bloom, with the creepiest eyes ever) — that the addiction is far more sinister than it seems at first glance.The story itself is, of course, complete fantasy… but I do appreciate the deeper symbolism here. The director and writer, Larry Cohen, was inspired by "the sheer volume of junk food we consume every day. We continue to eat these foods despite the fact some of them are killing us. That's when I started thinking that The Stuff could be an imaginary product— in this case an ice cream dessert— that is being consumed by millions and is doing irreparable damage to humanity. Everybody is gobbling down this yummy food, so how can it possibly be wrong for us?" Again, the premise seems unrealistic since people are only consuming ONE specific product, but this is a great metaphor for how our society can be in many ways.It's certainly not much as far as actual horror goes. Cohen also mentioned the reception of the movie lacking since it was marketed as a horror movie when really it's much more of a comedy with some slight horror aspects to it. The production company, New World, wanted a straight up horror film, but Cohen was going for more satire, which he definitely achieved.But don't get me wrong — there's some disturbing scenes of The Stuff attacking people. It's fun to watch since it seems to change texture and form throughout the movie — which I choose to look at as less of an inconsistency and more of an example of how it's a sentient being rather than just an edible treat. Sometimes it's more of a liquid, sometimes it looks like marshmallow fluff, sometimes it's like a cross between yogurt and ice cream… and strangely enough, every time I see someone eating it, I want to try a bite.But the scene where they find the man in the back room at the store with his mouth all stretched open? Shudder. The scene where The Stuff is shooting out of the bed in the motel room? Awesome. Watching it emerge from Chocolate Chip Charlie? Creepy.Speaking of Chocolate Chip Charlie, I'd watch an entire movie — or maybe, more appropriately, a crime-busting TV series — of just him and Mo. They had some pretty hilarious banter in the few scenes they're together.It kind of goes out into left field when they get the Colonel (played by Paul Sorvino) involved to help them fight off The Stuff. Admittedly they sort of lost me there with this sudden military bravado — it just seemed completely random. Ultimately, though, the story ends as you might imagine — The Stuff is, in a sense, defeated, but naturally pops up on the black market, because enough really IS never enough.A funny, weird adventure as long as you're not dead set on seeing some horror!

There may be a good movie lurking in here somewhere, but I didn't see it. The main problem comes in a total lack of focus. It can't decide what it wants to be. If it's a comedy, it's not funny. If it's sci-fi, there's no actual description of what The Stuff is. It's one great big WTF from the beginning. The Stuff, with no warning or catalyst, bubbles up out of the ground and some dumbass decides to eat it. That's the basis of your movie? Perhaps if you can suspend your disbelief that there are people who'll eat off the ground in the middle of a mine, you can enjoy this. I can't. "B-but it controls your thoughts so..." Fine. Why hadn't it done so already? What's the catalyst? Where's the back story? Or where's the explicit acknowledgment that this whole thing is one big goof?From here on out, you're at the mercy of some of the dumbest plotting I've seen. Mo just walks into the middle of commercial shoot and shuts it down and no one really complains. Nicole, plausibly, wants to do a background check on Mo but, even though there's plenty of time, never gets the result. Instead, she implicitly bangs Mo within five minutes of meeting him. Jason's family are sociopaths and the worst parents ever. Apparently, it's the only way the scriptwriters could show the mind control aspect of The Stuff. Mo casually tells Nicole that he's an industrial spy and she just accepts that with no sense of betrayal, disappointment or any emotion at all. Don't get me started on continuity. What turns this into a tragedy is that the actors all seem to be enjoying themselves. Moriarty does the hick bit perfectly. Marcovicci, stunningly beautiful, lifts her write-off character above the one-dimensional script. Sorvino rocks it as always. Sadly, the script, direction and editing conspire against their good intentions to turn this into something that MST3K would pass on.