Search - The Stuff on DVD

Keith A. (Keefer522)
Reviewed on 10/23/2013...

America's gone crazy for a new no-fat, no-calorie, great tasting yogurt like dessert product called 'The Stuff' -- but as a private investigator soon finds out, the tasty goo is actually an addictive, mind controlling parasite. Don'cha hate when that happens?

This goofy horror comedy (written and directed by Larry 'It's Alive' Cohen) creeped me out when I was a kid, but this bizarre mix of 'Blob' style creature feature and consumerism satire hasn't aged very well at all.

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Strange but interesting movie!

John Lindsey | Socorro, New Mexico USA. | 12/17/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"
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).

"

Good stuff

Inspector Gadget | On the trail of Doctor Claw | 09/18/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"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."

5 stars for cheese

murder-he-wrote | UK | 01/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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)."