User reviews

Writer/Director Larry Cohen seems to make pictures that bear some important philosophical/social thread to them very often against a background of absurdity, sheer silliness, and subtle good performances. directions, etc... The Stuff is no exception and while nowhere as good(as far as I am concerned) a Q or It's Alive - The Stuff has a lot going for it. Oozing yogurt-like substance(alien source perhaps) is being manufactured and sold and becomes a million dollar plus commodity. Trouble is it has amazingly devastating after-effects. While The Stuff is one of Cohen's less serious films in style, it is profound if you look for it to be. It makes fun of crass consumerism, retailing, marketing, the army, the government, big business, and so many other things - all with a humorous slant but with a cutting undertow. Michael Moriarity again stars as the lead in a Cohen film and as always gives a pretty good performance. He always gives the films an air of credibility. The rest of the cast is good at playing it as half-serious with Garrett Morris standing out as well as Paul Sorvino as a macho military man. And what about the white stuff? Well, it is creepier than you might expect as it can do all kinds of things. And the saddest part is that while the story is heavily exaggerated - I found it to be credible given more realistic criteria. Cohen hits the mark on the nature of 20th century consumers and beyond.

The Stuff achieves exactly what it sets out to do. A low budget yet ambitious tongue in cheek comedic horror film. It has an anti consumerism message which it conveys perfectly. Michael Moriarty is exceptional and well supported throughout the movie.

A classic 80s cult film, worth the ride.

This movie is a fun, interesting take on the horror genre of alien invasion and mind/body control made famous by the likes of "The Thing" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." It's also a great commentary on the dangers of mindless consumerism.

The Stuff (1985) is a movie currently available for free on Tubi. The storyline follows a yogurt like substance that mysteriously comes out of the Earth and somehow gets "approved" by the FDA to be sold and available in grocery stores. Shortly after it's release an "outbreak" of sorts occurs where "the stuff" expands in your body and eats away at your insides until it's explodes out of every opening in your body. This movie is directed by Larry Cohen (It's Alive) and stars Michael Moriarty (Pale Rider), Andrea Marcovicci (The Front), Garrett Morris (Ant-Man), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas) and Danny Aiello (Do the Right Thing). This movie was brought to my attention by Into the Dark. The storyline reminded me of if they took "the blob" and put it in yogurt containers. The marketing and commercials in this were a lot of fun and well done. I really enjoyed the acting, writing and dialogue. I was cracking up throughout the film. With a storyline like this it's always fun when it doesn't take itself too seriously. The kill scenes were solid and looked like fluff coming out of every hole. It's impossible not to enjoy the facial expressions of the victims as they came to their demise. This is a fun film that is definitely worth a viewing that I'd score a solid 6.5/10 and strongly recommend.

It came from beneath the ground. The Stuff. It's the new dairy craze that turns it's addicted victims into mutating zombies. The movie is about three people attempting to get to The Stuff before it gets to them.

The Stuff is a metaphor for drug smuggling/drug addictions, which is obviously evident from the ending. Although, it could be read as metaphorical of any kind of destructive addiction, really. It could also be held as a metaphor of products liability and the lengths companies will go to rack up profits, even in the face of defective products.

The Stuff, starring Michael Miarity, Paul Sorvino, and those gorgeous Bloom Brothers, is actually not quite as ridiculous as a glance at the box might lead one to believe. In fact, it's actually a rather funny zombie-like tale with Michael Miarity as Moe "why do they call me Mo? Because when people give me money I always ask for Mo!" as he repeatedly jokes to his frustrated associates. Moe is the guy sent to find out what The Stuff is by competitor's wishing to jump on the market. But, Moe figures out much more than that. Hence, his mission to try to get rid of it.

Paul Sorvino, always a terrific actor, is funny as the overzealous army commander trying too hard to maintain his position as leader of this coup against that lovable dairy treat.

What's more is that the special effects, which in my book are about 80% of a horror film, were, much to my surprise, pretty damned good. In fact, I was actually surprised by the whole thing really, and actually came to enjoy it.

If you enjoy The Stuff, perhaps you'll enjoy a 1994 Australian horror film of a similar nature entitled 'Body Melt.' Beware, however, that Body Melt is much weirder and tons more gross than the occurrences in The Stuff, if you'd call the Stuff gross at all.

Neither an A nor a B flick, this is a C. The production and acting are so bad that they are good. There are multiple scenes where the extras/background actors are actually smirking, because they know how ridiculous this movie is.Yet, 34 years later, we are still discussing it. Some old guy at a mine sight discovers this white goo oozing up from the ground. What is the first thing he does? Why he tastes it, like any normal person would. Turns out this stuff is delicious and gets marketed as a desert. The stuff is highly addictive and does some very bad things to you if you ingest too much of it.This is a social commentary of consumerism and the fact that companies care more about their bottom line than they do the welfare of the people that buy their product, and on that front, the movie is pretty spot on. I would have loved to give this more stars, but the acting is just that bad. If you are not looking for a Gone With the Wind experience and just want to watch something that is so bad it is good, then check out The Stuff.

The stuff is a b-horror film from the mid 80's. It is classified as a "body horror film". The general idea is that a substance is found that is one of the best tasting products in the world, but it is actually a living, hive mind creature intent on taking over humanity.

After reading rave reviews about 'The Stuff', I decided to give it a go. I was raised on horror films from the 80's and 90's and am a gore hound at heart. The stuff was listed as one of the top body horror films of the 80's and it intrigued me.

But it wasn't anything that I expected. For a body horror film, the stuff is incredibly non-violent. There are a few scenes that may be slightly disturbing, but it's few and far between. Further, the film suffers from terrible writing and characters that making completely stupid decisions. Scenes jump all over the place, the overall plot hardly makes any sense.

A great example is when the main character Moe is trying to expose the stuff as a dangerous substance, so while trespassing on private property, instead of taking photos for evidence he decides he has to steal one of their trucks as evidence.

I mean, what?

Or how about how the film makes it look like that the entire population is in love with The Stuff, only to broadcast a radio show that says it's bad and suddenly they manage to just make it all go away? I mean really.

I am no stranger to old horror films, but The Stuff is just absolutely absurd and boring in almost every capacity.

'The Stuff' is one of - many - eighties horror movies which did their best to gross out their audiences, however this one seems to have been forgotten due to being overshadowed by (arguably) some better (and more disgusting!) ones. Although 'The Stuff' has since gathered its own cult audience, it's seldom mentioned along with the other horror greats of the decade. And that's a shame, as it's definitely worth a watch, simply for the premise.

A bunch of construction workers dig up a foamy white substance which derives from the very centre of the Earth itself. Fast forward a little while and they're marketing it to the rest of the world as a 'natural' yohurt/ice cream-type product. Naturally, it's not the 'sweet treat' it's first thought to be and certain people start having pretty dire reactions to consuming too much of the addictive substance. Cue a rag-tag bunch, consisting of an ex FBI agent, a video film-maker, Chocolate Chip Charlie (don't ask!) and a kid who uncover the 'Stuff's' secret and do their best to bring this information to the public.

I'm not going to say the film is a masterpiece, but it does have its charm - for what it is. Naturally, any eighties horror film didn't have a massive budget, therefore the special/gory effects are all 'practical,' rather than computer-generated. Yes, you can tell when actors get replaced by rubber masks etc, but - considering the budget-limitations - the effects are pretty well done and nicely gory in some places. You also probably won't recognise many of the cast and they all do their best with the - slightly hoaky - script they have to work with. But special props should go to our leading man due to him being anything but a straight-forward 'good guy.' He's actually pretty dark by today's heroes' standards and, when he first came on screen, I figured he was going to be one of the bad guys as opposed to who we were going to eventually root for.

I know that 'The Stuff' is about as far removed from George A Romero's seminal 'Dawn of the Dead,' but the reason I link the two together is because both take a swipe at the popular culture of the time. Romero did a mini attack on consumerism via his zombie epic, while 'The Stuff' lampoons how products are marketed, putting profit over health.

If you like your horror films cheap, a little cheesy and on this rarest of occasions, with a subtle dose of social commentary then 'The Stuff' may be worth an hour and a half of your time.

Bounty hunter and TV advertiser team up together to discover what the ingredients are in a popular junk food that is sweeping the country, called The Stuff. However, they uncover a conspiracy in which the makers of The Stuff know that their product is causing people to become mindless zombies. Exciting and funny little Cohen film is a throwback to the horror films of yesteryear, yet with all your usual Cohen trimmings, but much more solid then usual with good special effects and an original premise. The cast is excellent and the film has various cameo's planted throughout the film.

Rated R; Violence & Profanity.

There may be a good movie lurking in here somewhere, but I didn't see it. The main problem comes in a total lack of focus. It can't decide what it wants to be. If it's a comedy, it's not funny. If it's sci-fi, there's no actual description of what The Stuff is.

It's one great big WTF from the beginning. The Stuff, with no warning or catalyst, bubbles up out of the ground and some dumbass decides to eat it. That's the basis of your movie? Perhaps if you can suspend your disbelief that there are people who'll eat off the ground in the middle of a mine, you can enjoy this. I can't. "B-but it controls your thoughts so..." Fine. Why hadn't it done so already? What's the catalyst? Where's the back story? Or where's the explicit acknowledgment that this whole thing is one big goof?

From here on out, you're at the mercy of some of the dumbest plotting I've seen. Mo just walks into the middle of commercial shoot and shuts it down and no one really complains. Nicole, plausibly, wants to do a background check on Mo but, even though there's plenty of time, never gets the result. Instead, she implicitly bangs Mo within five minutes of meeting him. Jason's family are sociopaths and the worst parents ever. Apparently, it's the only way the scriptwriters could show the mind control aspect of The Stuff. Mo casually tells Nicole that he's an industrial spy and she just accepts that with no sense of betrayal, disappointment or any emotion at all. Don't get me started on continuity.

What turns this into a tragedy is that the actors all seem to be enjoying themselves. Moriarty does the hick bit perfectly. Marcovicci, stunningly beautiful, lifts her write-off character above the one-dimensional script. Sorvino rocks it as always. Sadly, the script, direction and editing conspire against their good intentions to turn this into something that MST3K would pass on.

In this ultra-gross-and-proud-of-it B-movie, some people discover a strange substance bubbling out of the ground. They taste it (yes, they find something on the ground and just eat it!), like it, and decide to start marketing it as The Stuff; it quickly becomes the most popular food of all. But, sure enough, a detective (Michael Moriarty) hired by the candy companies discovers that The Stuff turns people into obedient zombies before completely dissolving their innards. So, only he, an advertising executive (Andrea Marcovicci), and a boy (Scott Bloom) can stop The Stuff from taking over the world.

A completely ridiculous idea? Absolutely. But one might interpret "The Stuff" as a parable about excessive consumerism brainwashing people into brand loyalty. There's also a scene in which Paul Sorvino's right-wing yahoo of a colonel claims that in the case of the Vietnam War, we lost the war at home (so it was perfectly OK to invade their country). But I mostly saw the movie as a 1980s time capsule. There's the over-synthesized music for the TV commercials, the impossibly polite suburban family, and more. Of course, most people into these kinds of movies will probably agree that the coolest scenes are when people spit The Stuff out after it dissolves them. Director Larry Cohen (who also directed the killer baby vehicle "It's Alive") pulls no punches.

All in all, this is quite a treat. Sort of an updated "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". Also starring Danny Aiello and former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Garrett Morris.

The Stuff is a rare find. It should be shown more because it examines an inner message. How a product known to be addictive can still influence people to buy it in mass quantities if properly marketed. A scary thought also blends into an entertaining movie. The Stuff is very reminiscent of the classic 50's "Sci-Fi" and horror flicks where some alien, monster, or bizarre life form, tries to take over the world, and it's up to the one or two people who haven't been "taken over" by the strange creature or "thing" to stop it.

What's even more interesting is how this movie examines society's obsession with food fads. Back in the 1950's ,when these types of B-grade horror films were produced, the diets and nutritional habits of the general public did not emphasize the importance of healthy eating like they do today. Our nation has been consumed over the years with a lot of "Stuff" (pun intended) in food consumption that causes such serious health concerns as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart problems.

An underlining message in this movie shows how companies can be motivated to maximize profits while ignoring heath risks. Just because something "tastes great" doesn't mean that it IS great. The acting in The Stuff is very campy, cheesy, and at times way over the top. But the hidden messages about America's compulsion with food consumption plays well here.

See The Stuff! It is a much better film than you would expect!

They should remake/reimagine 'The Stuff.' The premise is good, for B-Movie quality, that is, and was originally well executed in the film. Then all of a sudden, the director and actors remembered they were making a silly B-Movie and acted accordingly. But, even with the worst B-Movies, there is always a level of consistency, such as the similar 'The Blob.' The original 'Blob' showed us a creature (mass) that consumed victims and grew bigger. The horrid 1988 remake showed us a (now) pink blob and gave a more realistic reasoning behind why it consumed humans. (Pink?) 'Stuff' shows us some yogurt that pumps from the ground, sometimes moves on its own, sometimes doesn't. Sometimes it leaves its host and returns, sometimes it leaves killing the host. Sometimes it's allergic to fire (a cheap reverse rip off of the freezing cold enemy of the Blob) sometimes it rolls in it. Sometimes it needs to be refrigerated, sometimes it's fine warm. There was no consistency. I am aware it is a campy B-Movie, but like I said in the beginning, there was hope here for a decent sci-fi thriller – so remake it with a better script. It was if the creators had "special effects" to spare and screamed 'Look at what I can do!' (Said in best Stuart voice from MadTV reruns.) Believe it or not, the main character (not that boy – oh, God, I hope this was his first/last film) 'Mo' Rutherford (Michael Moriarty) was actually funny enough to get through to the end. I first watched this film when I was 8 or 9 and it freaked me out beyond terror. Not that I would recommend it to the under 10 crowd, but you'd really have to have that mentality to be scared of…'The Stuff.'

And just what IS The Stuff? Well, physically, The Stuff looks like marshmallow Fluff, but it's also as addictive as supercrack and as zombie inducing as an alien space pod. And it just happens to be the latest dessert craze to sweep our nation, in Larry Cohen's 1985 sci-fi satire "The Stuff." As other dessert manufacturers go belly up, industrial spy Michael Moriarty is hired to find out just what this Stuff is all about, and he is assisted by Andrea Marcovicci (a Madison Ave. exec who is pushing The Stuff) and by a Famous Amos-like character played by Garrett Morris. Paul Sorvino pops up toward the end as Col. Spears, who seems to head his own private army, and he too is instrumental in the fight against the deadly confection. Anyway, like The Stuff itself, "The Stuff" is fun to consume but leaves one wanting still more. It has an intriguing plot, and its satire on this country's rampant consumerism does work, but at the same time, there aren't enough exciting set pieces, and the film's joking tone fritters away any real sense of suspense. This movie might have worked a lot better if it had been more serious, and less tongue in (Stuff-stuffed) cheek. It doesn't quite hold together somehow--possibly the fault of the script or the editing--and though the film looks fine, with nice Blob-like Stuff FX, it still feels slapdash somehow. But wait till you see Abe Vigoda and Clara "Where's the Beef?" Peller do a Stuff TV commercial, and hear that catchy jingle ("Enough is never enough, of The Stuff"). Fun stuff indeed!

A delicious, mysterious goo that oozes from the earth is marketed as the newest dessert sensation. But the tasty treat rots more than teeth when zombie-like snackers who only want to consume more of the strange substance at any cost begin infesting the world.

Writer and director Larry Cohen does what he does best... we are brought a story of real-life American values, twisted into horror to tell us what we may already know but simply do not realize. Consumers will buy anything that is popular, regardless of how awful it is. And big business will sell anything for a profit even if it is harmful... and pretty much no one will stop it. Even without the horror aspects (which borrow very heavily from "The Blob") or the social commentary, the story itself is pretty good and Michael Moriarty (multiple award winner) is the same guy we have come to love from "It's Alive III" and "Q".

Actually, Moriarty's presence in Cohen's films is always something of a mystery for me. Moriarty, as many know, is also a very conservative commentator, sometimes even bordering on racism with his critique of the Muslim and Arab world. He seems to be on the opposite pole as Cohen, if I am interpreting his films correctly. Kim Newman apparently sees this, too, as he describes their relationship as "thorny". But maybe this is the proof of just how great Moriarty's acting really is. Cohen says they work well together because they both look through the world as if they're playing jazz, improvising off of each other. Indeed, few actors could be as professional and simultaneously eccentric as Moriarty.

The special effects are pretty decent. A few scenes are cheesy, and you can tell shots are layered... but the hotel room scene (where they use the spinning room from "Nightmare on Elm Street") is awesome, and even in general you have to hand it to them for making a very lifelike creature from what looks to be nothing more than spoiled egg nog (but probably not as tasty).

Any Larry Cohen fan is going to like this, and even by mainstream horror standards it is pretty good. It is a b-movie, but not nearly as "b" as some of the films he pumps out. As I have said, underneath it all is just a retelling of "The Blob" (noticeably released before the remake with Shawnee Smith came out).

Cheap DVD copies are floating around, but now fans have an even better option, thanks to the Arrow Video blu-ray. Beyond the improved sound and picture (a 2K scan of the negative), we have a 52-minute "Can't Get Enough of The Stuff: Making Larry Cohen's Classic Creature Feature" with Cohen, a producer, actors and effects people. Oh ,and historian Kim Newman. And one other treat: An introduction and trailer commentary by director Darren Bousman!

From the off, I found myself at odds with this, so maybe it was just my mood but line after line passed me by. The dialogue seemed at once unrealistic and juvenile. As the movie progressed I found myself being partially engaged and then alienated with over obvious, almost facile digs at consumerism, addiction and communism. By the end there were some good lines but largely hidden beneath the gooey mass of crass ones. Incidentally mention has ben made of the 'stuff' itself, which is fairly well represented but not green on my Blu-ray as some have suggested, on there it is very white.

Stuff is coming out of the ground and it's delicious. It becomes a taste sensation as one of the mysterious ingredients in a new line of dessert. Rival food companies are desperate and they hire industrial saboteur David "Mo" Rutherford (Michael Moriarty) to uncover the secret ingredient.

There is great potential for camp here but Moriarty may not be the one to bring it out. This is before his Law & Order days but even without that, he doesn't strike me as a guy with a sense of humor. He's still a great actor but he seems out of place when the movie descends into campy B-movie territories. This could have been more fun although there are moments with gleefully ridiculous B-movie horrors.

In contrary to the previous comment, I have to say this was a great movie. Who would ever come up with an idea that ice cream would be the instrument for our doom? What person would ever come up with tricking his parents that he was eating it, but he was actually eating shaving cream? When I was a child, after watching this movie, I had the mad rush of curiosity and tried it myself..Yuck!

Anyway finally, where else can we find great horror, suspense with humor without the hell of CGI?;) This is why I love 80's movies so much and I highly recommend it for a Friday night with pizza.

I really enjoyed this mid-80s Larry Cohen film, which I admit is kind of surprising. Seeming if you A) Have no idea who Larry Cohen is, or how never seen and enjoyed any of his other films or B) Witnessed the cover art that is emblazoned on the DVD that I own. Just so you know it looks very much like the poster that is shown on this site. It looks like you are going to watch a potentially gross, gory and more-than-likely bad horror movie with probably very little plot. Yet, if you look at it from the right direction what you get is a very 80s, low-budget horror flick that really does have a message within.

There is a new food that is taking the world by storm and you guessed it it's called The Stuff. Problem is nobody seems to know anything about it. So, Moe Rutherford (Michael Moriarty) is hired to find out all he can about this product. Meanwhile, a lonely, misunderstood boy named Jason (Scott Bloom) knows there is something wrong with The Stuff.

A B-Movie with a heart and it may have been more clear perhaps if some of the gore and coarse language were toned down a bit and went for more of a PG rating. Nevertheless, I ain't gonna bring this movie down because of its rating and works well just the way it was made. It also has a nice sense of humour going on through out the film.

Quite a very good cast that also includes Garrett Morris, Paul Sorvino and Danny Aiello.

Satire about our obsessions to consume, horror about our obsessions consuming us. And vice versa. The backdrops; a deserted town, a mining compound, a photo shoot where models advertise the thing from a catwalk, crowded New York streets with street vendors selling it like candy, a sleepy suburbia shattered from inside.

As with so many of these 80's horrors, we get a sloppy, cheesy, garish, gleefully absent-minded concoction. But for all those reasons, a film that is ultimately easy to relax in, strangely soothing because we know it's so harmless it can never bite back.

It's not a better gooey mess than The Blob, From Beyond, or Night of the Creeps, but it makes a pretty fine mess just the same. You can spend some time with it and be sure you'll be easily able to clean yourself off and forget about it the minute it ends.

Eventually, the victims who consumed the gelatinous substance are shown to be hollow inside, eaten up by their desire to consume. The reckless corporate bosses get a taste of their own medicine. Society we're led to believe is restored - until something else comes along.

I have been trying to find this movie for over the last 20yrs. Back in 1985, I saw the trailer for it on T.V. and it started out with an ice cream truck driving down the street. Some kids and adults gathered around the truck while the announcers stated that "The Stuff" was here. It's creamy, yummy and you can't get enough of it. Then it showed a man who had eaten about half his ice cream cone and the announcer changed his tone and said, "It will take you over, eat you and kill you." and the camera zooms up on the guys mouth, and you can see the creamy white "Stuff" eating away the inside of his mouth. Bleah!! It was pretty gross and freaked me out back then. Something like this would have 4-10yrs old running from their T.V. sets. Talk about setting up kids for nightmares.

I tried googling "parasite eating ice cream" to no avail, until one day on IMDb, I was looking up info on an old "Snuff" film from the 70's and saw "The Stuff" come up. Immediately, I knew this was the film. So I ran to the video store and was able to rent it.

Not only was this movie, not scary, but the acting and the comedic nature were even worse. To make a long story short, here is the premise. Two guys working at a petroleum factory stumble across a pool of white creamy stuff in the ground. One of the guys sticks his finger in it and tastes it. Now I don't know about you, buy any normal person would never taste anything coming out of the ground unless it was water from a Spring pool. Anyway, the guy who tastes it says it taste real good. So good in fact, that they decide to market it as a new kind of ice cream treat, even though it's "not" ice cream. Before you know it, it's the best thing since the hot dog and everyone is eaten the stuff in gallons. People who try it, can't stop eating it. This causes other tasty treats on the market to lose profits. Several snack food manufacturers come together and hire an investigator to find out where and how this "Stuff" is made. In comes David 'Mo' Rutherford, the private detective who will investigate this tasty treat's mystery. He soon finds out that "The Stuff" is causing people to become uncontrollable zombies. The Stuff takes over their bodies and when it's done using them, it eats their insides and leaves through their mouths. It's alive. He also eventually finds out where this stuff is being stored.

The special effects of this "stuff" is average at best. The movie "The Blob" (Steve McQueen) did a better job and that came out many years before this. The acting is pretty back. Only Michael Moriarty seems to be enjoying himself. Paul Sorvino and Danny Aiello are completely wasted in this film. Garrett Morris makes a short appearance, but he was actually better in "Car Wash" then in this campy horror flick. Actually, his scene is the only scary part in the film. You'll see.

The whole movie is pretty far fetched and if this "stuff" was at retailers everywhere, wouldn't there be other investigators and even FBI agents investigating this problem? I think Larry Cohen was basically trying to send a message to consumers who constantly eat and drink the same bad foods day after day (Starbucks coffee, donuts, burgers, french fries and of course ice cream). He's saying don't eat this crap as it can eventually kill you, just like "The Stuff". We get it, but it still doesn't make the movie any better.

I also think some of the scenes were removed from the film as well. Besides the ice cream truck scene in the trailer, I thought the poster scene with Jason's family in the kitchen on the floor being eaten by the Stuff was in the movie as well. It didn't show up on the DVD, so either it was cut or it never existed and I'm imagining things. A sequel to this movie could be interested if done right. The story of how the "stuff" is discovered would need to be changed of course, but an adequate sequel could be accomplished. Similar to how "The Blobl" was remade.

This movie is not really worth a look. If you must see it, just rent it. It's not even a horror cult classic like The Cube, Phantasm, The Howling or Donnie Darko. I gave it a 4/10 and that was probably being generous. If you're going to made a comical horror film, watch Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 and take lots of notes. "The Stuff" isn't funny or scary. It's mostly a waste of time.