The Stuff (1985) Review

The Stuff (1985) Review

What is The Stuff? Pretty simple: a mega corporation makes a new taste treat that everyone goes crazy for and buys in mass quantities, but it’s mined from underground, and brainwashes anyone who eats enough of it, before consuming them and killing them. That’s what it’s about, anyway, but what is the actual stuff? Well, it’s a little hard to explain. It’s described as being like ice cream, but it sometimes has the consistency and appearance of yogurt, whip cream, foam, and even glue. Put it this way: if it was a real product, I don’t think I’d want to eat it just based on that, never mind the part where it kills you. 

We get to see the stuff completely take over the world, from its initial discovery to the supermarket shelves being crammed full of it, and the efforts to destroy it when it tries to actually take over the world. This is one of the earliest food-related horror-comedies to make a statement on how bad consumerism is and how bad junk food can be. For my money, Poultrygeist did it the best, but I have to give The Stuff credit for effectively portraying a sense of how widespread the stuff becomes.  

The Stuff is the kind of movie you watch for the special effects, but unfortunately, there aren’t that many scenes where you get to see them used to their full potential. Long stretches pass without anything visually exciting, and it’s disappointing. But, when we do get to see the stuff in action, that’s when the movie is at its best. There’s a scene where a room becomes full of it, and another where it explodes out of a guy’s head. 

Larry Cohen produced, wrote, and directed, and he made another horror film a decade earlier called It’s Alive, which I reviewed in the first year of Creepy Cinema. In regards to that movie, I thought it had a couple decent scares but mostly tried to mix in social commentary and humour with an interesting (if poorly executed) concept to mixed results. Well, I guess I can sum up The Stuff as another Larry Cohen film, because I have the same problems with The Stuff as I have with It’s Alive. To compare the two, though, The Stuff is funnier, has better effects, and is better executed overall. 

The Stuff is a very 80’s horror-comedy, both in good and bad ways. It’s worth seeing once for all the great special effects, but isn’t that re-watchable. Of course, in the sub-genre of food horror, you could do a lot worse.