Movies:
The Stuff
DVD Release
- Release Date: 2000
- Widescreen presentation [1.85:1] enhanced for 16x9 TVs
- Audio commentary with director Larry Cohen
- Theatrical trailer
- Rating:
- Genre: Horror
- Movie Type: Satire, Horror Comedy
- Director: Larry Cohen
- Main Cast: Michael Moriarty, Andrea Marcovicci, Paul Sorvino, Scott Bloom, Garrett Morris
- Release Year: 1985
- Country: US
- Run Time: 93 minutes
- MPAA Rating: R
Plot
When a group of miners discovers a mysterious but delicious white substance bubbling up from the earth, a conglomerate markets the gooey, addictive fluff as a dessert in this tongue-in-cheek horror spoof from former NBC scriptwriter Larry Cohen. When a new product called "The Stuff" begins eating into the market share of traditional frozen desserts, the dairy industry hires former FBI agent Moe Rutherford (Michael Moriarty) to investigate the competition. With the assistance of deposed ice-cream magnate Chocolate Chip Charlie (Garrett Morris), Rutherford discovers that the substance is actually a sentient entity that takes over its victims' minds while eating away at their bodies from the inside. Meanwhile, young Jason (Scott Bloom) realizes that his family's strange behavior has something to do with the dessert product in their refrigerator that refuses to stay in its carton, and he launches a campaign to destroy the threatening confection. Soon Rutherford and Jason must team up with Nicole Kendall (Andrea Marcovicci), The Stuff's unwitting advertising mastermind, and Vietnam vet-turned-militia leader Colonel Spears (Paul Sorvino) to save America from its own sweet tooth. Sorvino and Moriarty would go on to co-star in NBC's hit police procedural, Law & Order. Icy-eyed As the World Turns hunk Brian Bloom appears alongside his brother, Scott Bloom. The Stuff's television connections also extend to cameos from Clara Peller, pitchwoman for the Wendy's "Where's the beef?" campaign, and Abe Vigoda of Barney Miller fame. Actresses Brooke Adams, Tammy Grimes, and Laurene Landon also appear in parodic commercials for the titular dessert. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie GuideReview
The best point of comparison for this low-budget spoof is John Carpenter's They Live, another 1980s horror flick that mixed wit and gore with anti-consumerist ideology. On the surface, The Stuff is just an exploitation flick -- a jumble of The Blob, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Carpenter's remake of The Thing, full of amateurish special effects and hammy performances. But writer/director Larry Cohen actually has a lot on his mind, and it's to his credit that his jabs at everything from Leave It to Beaver-conformity and America's diet obsession to corporate iconography and advertising agency excess are presented so matter-of-factly that you can take 'em or leave 'em. The Stuff isn't exactly subtle, but its sly parody is so unobtrusive, yet pervasive, that viewers can soak it in while still enjoying the film as a no-frills action/adventure flick. The character actors, cult favorites and TV stars past and future who make up the cast, give The Stuff a sort of postmodern zip that only improves with age; even viewers who know nothing about the actors, however, will appreciate Michael Moriarty's tongue-in-cheek gumshoe, Paul Sorvino's over-the-top vet, and the cameo-laden TV-commercial pastiches that lighten the mood. By packing his script with irony and his cast with up-for-it performers, Cohen renders questions of taste and production values refreshingly moot. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie GuideCast
- Michael Moriarty - David "Moe" Rutherford
- Andrea Marcovicci - Nicole Kendall
- Paul Sorvino - Col. Spears
- Scott Bloom - Jason
- Garrett Morris - Chocolate Chip Charlie
Danny Aiello - Vickers; Alexander Scourby - Evans; Russell Nype - Richards; Brooke Adams - Girl in Stuff Commercial; Rutanya Alda - Psychologist; Harry Bellaver - Old Miner; Colette Blonigan - Jason's Mother; Brian Bloom - Jason's Brother; James Dukas - Gas Station Attendant; Tammy Grimes - Herself; Laurene Landon - Guest Star in "Stuff Commercials"; Heidi Miller - Girl in Franchise; John Newton - Howard; Patrick O'Neal - Fletcher; Clara Peller - Old Couple in Stuff Commercial; Edward Power - Executive; Adrianne Sachs - Studio Aide; Abe Vigoda - Old Couple in Stuff Commercial; James Dixon - Postman; Jery Hewitt - State Trooper; Peter Hock - Miner; Gene O'Neill - Scientist; David Snell - Doctor; Ann Dane - Hostess; Cathy Schultz - Waitress; Marilyn Staley - Tour Guide; Beth Teagarden - Investigator; Frank Telfer - Jason's Father; Nick Taylor - Ex-FBI Man; Bobbi Burns - Secretary
