The Stuff Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1985

The Stuff is one of the most unique horror gems to have arrived from the 80's, excelling far beyond its B-movie roots due to its ingenious plot and the campy, yet brilliant, acting of lead actor Michael Moriarty. Infusing equal parts suspense and humor, this film tells the story of a corporation selling a low-calorie ice cream type substance called the Stuff. There's just one problem: the popular food substance is actually a live parasite that takes over the minds of its consumers…

My lips crave more and more each day
One lick is never enough… of the stuff!

One snowy night a mine employee discovers a mysterious white substance bubbling from the ground. Curious, he scoops some of it on his finger and gives it a taste, and surprisingly it's good… very good! With that quick introduction to The Stuff, the fun is ready to begin.

The discoverer of the gooey white substance has marketed it as a low-calorie and maddeningly addictive dessert product, and due to its health benefits and great taste it takes the nation by storm. Not everyone is happy about this new product, especially the heads of major ice cream manufacturers who are losing tremendous market share. They collectively hire David "Mo" Rutherford (Michael Moriarty), a disgraced ex-FBI agent that now works in the corporate espionage business, to infiltrate the mysterious factory that produces the Stuff and retrieve the secret behind its creation.

What Rutherford discovers horrifies him; the Stuff is actually a live parasite that takes over the minds of those who consume too much of it. Armed with this knowledge, he teams up with a young boy whose family has been converted to living zombies, the former head of PR of the Stuff corporation, a cookie mogul that was put out of business by the new corporation, and a nutty right-wing militia leader to put this parasite out of business permanently.

Fans of director Larry Cohen will know what to expect from this movie: light horror interweaved with humor and satiric jabs (in this case, jabs at consumerism and corporate ethics). If you tossed Invasions of the Body Snatchers and The Blob together in a blender and whipped it at high speed for a few minutes, the end result would be similar to The Stuff.

Since this was a B-movie it's to be expected that some of the special effects haven't survived the test of time unmarred. They are still serviceable, but the use of the unpolished green screen technology is noticeable in a couple of scenes. Luckily the movie doesn't rely on its effects, but rather the novel plot and the charisma of its actors.

Michael Moriarty was a brilliant choice for "Mo" Rutherford; he lends a delicious richness to the smooth talking spy with his Southern lilt and disarming simpleton act. SNL alumni Garrett Morris joins in the fun as Chocolate Chip Charlie, a hilariously cranky cookie mogul with fists that are "registered as lethal weapons." And the final award goes to Paul Sorvino, who played Colonel Malcolm Spears to the hilt. He lent the commie-hating conservative militia leader who is determined to take down the infidel Stuff corporation a gleeful aura. The rest of the actors aren't terribly important, for it's these three that so successfully shoulder the brunt of this movie. Without their brilliant performances, it could easily have fallen flat.

The Stuff has its share of implausible moments and plot holes, so don't walk into this movie expecting detailed backgrounds or flawless logic. You will easily follow along with what is happening, but the film doesn't bother to explain how the Stuff appeared or really what it is beyond indicating that it's a living parasite.

Such details are probably best left out though, for they would have only dragged the movie down. The Stuff is here to deliver a scoop of pure, unadulterated fun, and if you walk into the film with that mindset I think you'll too be begging for a second serving.

Movie rating : 8 stars

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