The Stuff (1985) The rogue independent writer-director Larry Cohen has always been one of BQ's favorites.......he's the guy who came up with 'high concept' ideas for movies and TV series long, long before 'high concept' became a mantra and golden rule for screenwriters and studios.
His directing skills, however, were barely competent and nowhere near the level of his outrageously imaginative scripts.......but we loved to go along for his wild fantasy rides every time he ground out another grindhouse classic.
"The Stuff" offered something new from Cohen.......a direct, no-holds-barred satirical assault on American consumerism. In this movie, we are what we eat, literally......until what we eat turns the tables....... and eats us.
The film's titular substance is a sweetly addictive yogurt-ice cream-like goop that bubbles up from deep in the ground and in no time at all, an American corporation markets it as an all purpose breakfast, lunch and dinner meal, With the help of a constant barrage of bouncy catchy TV ads and jingles, the 'Stuff' becomes a national obsession, with hungry 'stuffies' shoveling down gallons of it.
The stuff-addled populace are oblivious to the fact that this sentient slop has a life all its own.....and once enough of it goes down your gullet, the Stuff then devours you from the inside out, bursting and oozing out of your grotesquely elongated mouth to go hunting for more humans.....(just like its Sci-Fi movie ancestor, The Blob......)
And as an extra dessert topping to all the loony, comedic horror, Cohen gives his actors leeway to turn in wild-card, over-the-top performances. So in addition to the spectacle of watching enormous tsunamis of white goo devour people, you can chuckle at Michael Moriarty as a ex-FBI agent turned corporate spy and Paul Sorvino as a General Jack D. Ripper type whom Moriarty enlists to wipe out the Stuff before it wipes out the world.
Even better, 'The Stuff', unlike other Larry Cohen entries in his Cinema Of Crazy, doesn't suffer any serious damage from his fast 'n cheap directing deficiencies Cohen keeps the laughs, chills and gross-out gore coming at you so fast, you'll hardly notice how cheesy it all is........(actually, more like Reddi-Whip than cheese, heh, heh, heh....)
For everyone who loves and savors way-out-there, cult movies, "The Stuff" contains the right stuff And in case you didn't get the satirical points made here, the final scene puts it all in perfect perspective......a 4 star (****) 'don't miss'.
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