THE STUFF (1985) Can't get enough of the stuff...

DIRECTED & WRITTEN by Larry Cohen.

STARRING  - Michael Moriarty as David "Mo" Rutherford,  Andrea Marcovicci as Nicole,  Garrett Morris as Charles W. "Chocolate Chip Charlie" Hobbs,  Paul Sorvino as Col. Malcolm Grommett Spears, Scott Bloom as Jason.

PLOT  - Whilst drilling in a quarry, a pair of workers discover a strange white, frothy liquid bubbling up through the ground, putting it in thier mouths they discover that it tastes extremely good. The gooey liquid is sold to a food company and it is marketed as 'The Stuff' - a healthier alternative to Ice-cream. Very soon shops and supermarkets are selling out in vast quantities, and 'The Stuff' becomes the number one selling food in America. Its creamy marshmallow like taste becomes addictive to all those who eat it.

However, not everyone is so happy about this miraculous new foodstuff...

A young boy named Jason isn't happy, he's seen the Stuff move independently as if alive, squirming out of its container like its looking for a victim. Jason has also seen how eating it has changed his family, they've become addicted, they eat nothing but the Stuff, and they somehow seem to be in its thrall...

The Ice-cream industry isn't happy either. Sales have been hit and the heads of the industry want this new competitor removed from the market as soon as possible. To this effect, David "Mo" Rutherford is hired - an ex-FBI agent turned industrial saboteur. His mission - to discredit the Stuff and it's manufacturers, so that it is removed from sale.

Mo's mission leads him down a far darker path than he would have imagined. He discovers that the Stuff is alive and sentient, that it takes over the minds of it's consumers and turns them into zombie like slaves, eating them inside and out until nothing is left except more of the Stuff.

Can a down at heel industrial saboteur and a boy who has lost his family find a way to stop this insidious, crawling menace, or will the world be consumed by... the Stuff ?

DIALOUGE  - Mo - "Are you eating it...or is IT eating YOU ?"

PERFORMANCES  - Michael Moriarty has always seemed a strange choice for a leading man. He's not got the traditional good looks or physique that casting directors seem to go for usually. Instead he's more of a character actor and the roles he usually plays tend to be on the sleazier, slightly weaselly end of the spectrum. Here he plays Mo the industrial saboteur. He initially comes across as a typical Moriarty role. He's slightly down at heel, has an untrustworthy salesman like patter and seems overall quite a shady, shifty character. As the film progresses though, you do find yourself warming to him. Mo has a self deprecating side to his character and he does seem to care about Jason's wellbeing, as well as a woman named Nicole, an advertising executive who works for the company that markets the Stuff. Mo initially smarms round Nicole, taking her out to dinner to loosen her tongue so he can get some dirt on the company she works for, but eventually a genuine affection grows between the pair. 

Nicole is played by Andrea Marcovicci, the scenes between her and Moriarty are convincing. They build up a tangible relationship, they both seem completely unsuitable for each other and yet feel somehow right together, that old rule of opposites attracting and somehow making things work. Nicole also harbours a lot of guilt, it was her who seized upon the Stuff as a viable product and marketed it to the nation. As a consequence she now feels personally responsible for the horrific situation that is overtaking the country. Marcovicci plays this side of the character really well and with a lot of conviction.

Scott Bloom was only twelve years old when he played the role of Jason and he does a good job. He's another child actor who manages to avoid the rule of thumb that kids in films generally tend to be annoying. For much of the first quarter of the film, Jason is the main character. Its through his eyes that we first see the malignant nature of the Stuff and how it transforms his family into crazed, addicted slaves. Bloom carries the film at this point and he knocks it out of the park. Its a lot of weight to put on a young actor's shoulders and Bloom proves himself to be up to the task.

SFX  - For lovers of practical special effects, this film is an absolute treat. When the Stuff attacks its clearly some kind of rubbery liquid that is used and it looks revolting. Quite why anybody would want to eat it in the first place is totally beyond me, but there you go.

It's the way it oozes and squelches and sticks to things, it just feels fundamentally wrong in some way.

Apart from the Stuff itself, the other main effect is that of the Stuff infected slaves (or "Stuffies" as they are nicknamed). Puppet heads are used to depict the end process when the "Stuffie's" mouths yawn open unnaturally and disgorge copious amounts of the Stuff onto thier victims, before deflating like a punctured balloon and dropping to the floor, an empty, lifeless husk. Its gross and it works brilliantly, leading to the film's most iconic scene...

Yes, the death of Chocolate Chip Charlie is wonderous to behold. A true classic moment of 80's practical effects.

SEX & VIOLENCE  - Prepare yourself to witness "Stuffies" vomiting frothy white liquid out of thier stretched open mouths and thier bodies collapsing in on themselves. A Stuff possessed dog savaging it's owner to death,  and "Stuffies" being beaten and shot to death, thier bodies cracking open like a Cadbury's Cream Egg being thrown to the floor.

RATING  - The Stuff is a nice blend of typically 80's gross out special effects and a satire of consumer excess centered around the fast food industry. The film dares to ask the question - just what harmful elements are going into the foods that we are eating on a daily basis, and what are they doing to our bodies ?

At the time of writing, Diet Coke and other reduced sugar soft drinks have been found to contain Aspartame, an ingredient that is said to increase the risk of Cancer. Aspartame is now in the process of being officially recognised by the W.H.O. as a 'possible Cancer risk'. The Stuff was made in 1985...it's now 2023. We still haven't learned. Corporate business still continues to put the lives of consumers at risk and we, the consumers, still let them. After all, we do continue to buy thier products...

The Stuff remains as relevant now as it was 40 years ago. This is a thought provoking and yet still fun movie, and is one of the iconic V.H.S. era horror/sci-fi movies.

I'm giving it 4 malignant marshmallows out of 5. It loses a point for being a bit slow to start but once it gets going it's great.