Customer Reviews

The Stuff

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Weird white goop is discovered in an Alaskan mining facility bubbling out of the ground, a worker decides to taste it as it is a very sweet and delicious tasting thing. It tastes sooo good that it is being now sold as a popular desert product called " The Stuff" that has outsold Ice Cream and Cookie companies. However the food industries have hired an industrial spy named "Mo" ( Played by Michael Morarity) and a cookie king named " Chocolate Chip Charlie" ( Garret Morris) with a kid named " Jason" discover that the popular desert is actually an living deadly alien organism that takes over it's consumer's mind and body then transforms them into intelligent fast-moving zombies. They must stop the Stuff or else the world is in danger from the tasty but deadly resistance of " The Stuff".

An interesting but rather exciting if goofy horror/sci-fi parody from Larry Cohen ( director of " Q: The Winged Serpent" and "It's Alive!") that has an interesting satire of commercialism consuming people and parodies 50's sci-fi/horror movies. The special effects especially on the Stuff are done by David Allen, some of the acting is kind of weak and there is cameos by Abe Vigoda and Tammy Grimes ( whom did Molly on the 1982 cult animated movie The Last Unicorn).

The DVD is a clear transfer with a few flaws on a couple of scenes, there is a couple of good extras like audio commentary by the director and a trailer of the film.

I highly recommend this movie if you like a healthy fun dose of satire and horror with Sci-fi thrown into it.

Also recommended: "Lifeforce", " Fight Club", " Shaun of the Dead", "Dead Alive", " The Return of the Living Dead Trilogy", "Day of the Dead", " Attack of the Killer Tomatoes", "Return of the Killer Tomatoes", " The Blob ( Both versions)", " The Hidden", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", " The Deadly Spawn", " Riki-Oh The Story of Ricky", " Re-Animator", " The Toxic Avenger", " Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn", "An American Werewolf in London", " Killer Klowns from Outer Space", " Bad Taste", " Q: The Winged Serpent", " 28 Days Later...", " Hell of the Living Dead", " Dawn of the Dead ( 2004 remake)", " House of the Dead", "Resident Evil 1 & 2" and " Fist of the North Star" (Animated version).

Got the DVD - i've been a fan of The Stuff ever since it came out. I love Larry Cohen movies, but this, by far, is his most intriguing. I almost had a heart attack when I saw it was available on DVD. The film is great - accept its many flaws and hammy dialogue - because it's worth checking out for its pure brashness and unflinching consumer pops.

For all of you out there who want to know how it translates to DVD - let me explain. The print is of very good quality and sound. Everything is fine in those departments. There's only one criticism I have about the DVD transfer - it brings out the special effects and spoils them. There are numerous moments throughout the film where it blatantly uses blue screen and those shots are very noticeable and apparent. They're not so bad in the video version. Apart from that, everything's great. The menu screen is excellent and inspiring; a splat of the white goo slurps and bubbles over the menu screen to the music from the film. But what I really fell in love with was the director's commentary from Cohen. He rarely stops speaking and goes into minute attention to every detail as it happens. What a great guy. Find out for yourself and buy the DVD - a very worthwhile purchase (particularly because the video is hard to find).

I've been gripped by a deathly fear of Cool Whip ever since childhood. A vague memory of a horror film I saw when I was younger gave me some insight as to where this phobia was coming from. Ahh, the relief I experienced to find that this movie was indeed made. I love it.

As a rather unsubtle allegory of mindless consumerism The Stuff works quite well. It'd be easy to dismiss it as an 80's shlockfest but there is some brains behind it and Larry Cohen (the very man who wrote Maniac Cop, Phone Booth and Cellular) keeps the film fun until the last frame.

It's a cool story too. A weird goo oozes out of the ground in a quarry and it tastes good. So good in fact that within days it's being sold in mass, mass, incredibly mass quantities to the whole country. People are having it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, desert and supper. They feed it to their pets and put it in their coffee. Enough is not enough as the slogan goes.

Rival candy companies don't like the look of this and hire a very smooth industrial spy, David `Mo' Rutherford, to find out exactly what it is. What he finds is rather sinister indeed. And with the help of a commercial maker, a runaway kid and a gung-ho militia leader he tries to put a stop to The Stuff.

My main problem is that the origins off The Stuff and its `intentions' are never fully revealed or exploited. It ends without a satisfactory explanation which is quite a shame considering how much potential is wasted. There are stories that Larry Cohen cut 30 minutes of erm...stuff from the movie and perhaps there's more to the missing scenes. But for what it is, The Stuff, is a fun 90-minute movie that will not linger in your memory too long after seeing it.

Anchor Bay's DVD of The Stuff presents the film in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The picture is generally clean and dirt free but has some trouble in a few scenes. The Mono sound is adequate and tolerable but the ADR is too apparent in the early scenes and there are brief drop-outs towards the end. A commentary by Larry Cohen is also included.

The stuff is an alien substance of sorts, found bubbling out of the ground in small towns across the United States. It looks like ice-cream, tastes great, but ... once it takes hold of you, it becomes addictive and deadly. But what is its secret ingredient?

Enter Michael Moriarty ('Troll', 'Courage Under Fire'), who is hired as an industrial saboteur by representatives of a food company to discover just what makes the stuff so addictive. As the stuff becomes more readily available, the people selling it are no longer content to merchandise through the smaller outlets. They begin to advertise it nationwide.

David 'Mo' Rutherford (Moriarty) tracks the stuff across the country with the help of Nicole (Andrea Marcovicci) and a young boy, Jason (Scott Bloom), witnessing its effects on the population. During their efforts, they are assisted by Col. Malcolm Grommett Spears (Paul Sorvino) and the wacky cookie entrepreneur, Chocolate Chip Charlie (Garrett Morris, 'Saturday Night Live'). As the film progresses, it becomes impossible to know just who to trust, and resisting the stuff becomes increasingly difficult.

Larry Cohen has become a hero to those whose interests are in cult horror/sci-fi films, having turned out classics like 'A Return to Salem's Lot', 'The Ambulance', and 'Q: The Winged Serpent'. This is his fourth collaboration with Moriarty and it is well worth the money. 'The Stuff' contains comedy, action, science fiction, and horror - a combination of 'The Blob' and 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', with Cohen's crazy sense of humor thrown in for good measure.

Also stars Brian Bloom, Danny Aiello, and Patrick O'Neal.

Bonus features on this edition include an informative audio commentary with director, Larry Cohen, TV Spots, original theatrical trailer, and widescreen presentation.

Buy it! You'll be addicted.

This movie works on many levels. It's a sci-fi movie about Stuff that bubbles up from the ground to become the latest food rage. The problem is the more you eat the more it takes control of you. But at a more critical level it attacks the product marketing by executives and ads that will sell us anything as long as they can make a buck. Even stuff that will destroy you.

The DVD has the added value of comments by the director Larry Cohen which include great stories about making the film. Michael Moriarty is great as the quirky industrial spy hired by the ice cream companies to find out the secret formula for the stuff. Garrett Morris plays Chocolate Chip Charlie an obvious takeoff of Famous Amos.

Simply a great movie.

Now when you first hear about a movie that has a killer dessert in it you'd probably think this is gonna rock. Well, this movie is funny, but wears thin sometimes. First of all, there's a real cheeseball story, which if they stuck to it most of the time this would be better. The opening is funny, you see this dude in the artic just waltzin' around when all of a sudden he comes across this white stuff comin' out of the ground. He promptly dips his finger in it and eats some of it. (Yeah, the first thing you do when you see a random substance in the ground is you HAVE TO TASTE IT.) So these dudes start marketing the white junk now named "The Stuff". Then we see a boy looking for a midnight snack when he sees the stuff dancin' around. The boy freaks and tries to tell everyone, and obviously they don't believe him at first. Pretty soon, the stuff starts selling better than any other dessert so the candy companies hire some guy named Mo. ("They call me that cause whenever you give me money, I always want Mo.") On the trail of the secret behind the stuff Mo meets Choclate Chip Charlie, the best character in the movie who unfortunately we don't see enough of. Choclate Chip charlie has fists of death and can mutilate people by slapping and punching them (a la Story of Ricky style, which is an awsome movie that you should go buy now). Eventually the two heroes find that the stuff turns people into mindless zombies who only crave more of the stuff and are evil. So the two kick some zombie ... and decide to split up and investigate (and we don't see Charlie until the end). Then the movie gets kinda boring for a while. So at the end they get rid of the stuff epidemic by warning people about what it does and poor charlie gets killed by the stuff at the end. Some very funny scenes in the movie. You should at least see. Cohen's movie "It's Alive" was pure genius and you should buy that one if you have to choose.

for absolute cheese value only, i give 5 stars.
The storyline is practically non existent, and the acting ability of the cast really should have been questioned back in the 80's, but for a walk down memory lane I couldnt beat it. One of only two "adult" rated films in the UK that I saw before I legally could, so I am slightly biased, but I loved it (the other was Nightmare on Elm St).

Although some may find the movie silly, people must remember it is from the 80's. This movie is timeless and brings back some great memories. However, if you have never seen it before it is still a great movie. There are some gruesome scenes for people who are into that like myself. The story line is not up to todays standards, but it is fun and enjoyable to follow. If you are a horror movie fan this movie is for you. A great add to a collection!

I saw The Stuff back in the early 80's and to this day I still remember it, sure it was a B movie but it was good for it's rating and time. There hasn't been anything like it since.