Film Year: 1985
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Comedy
Director: Larry Cohen
Starring: Michael Moriarty, Andrea Marcovicci, Garrett Morris, Paul Sorvino
The Movie
You ever find a white sludge on the ground and decide to eat it? Don't we all! Neveryoumind that it's probably bird shit, let's just shove that stuff right into our mouths!
This is the origin of "The Stuff," a new product on the market that's supposedly a creamy dessert of some kind. But people love eating it. Like, they won't eat anything else. And they'll just keep eating it and eating it until they turn into crazed creatures and puke out white vomit goo that will leave your body a husk. "The Stuff" is actually a sentient creature that will control a person and eventually kill it. But few will listen, because it's so delicious!
When I reflect upon this movie I feel that there is a bit of influence on it by George A. Romero's Dead series, which mixes horror with social satire. Sometimes Romero's satire can be as subtle as a scalpel, while in other moments (often in the same film) it can be as blunt as a sledgehammer. The Stuff feels more toward the latter, as it's commentary toward consumerism, the marketing machine, and corporate greed and apathy is noted, but holy shit do they drive it into your skull.
As a story, it's fair. The idea of rebelling against a junk food consumable is interesting, though I feel there is nothing very interesting done with it. The Stuff itself is reminiscent of The Blob (which was actually just a few years away from getting its own 80's makeover), but this white glop doesn't always feel intimidating. I get that the idea of what it can do is scary, but it feels a tad boring and unimaginative in execution. It feels like there is something here, but it needs to be refined and passed through people who maybe have different ideas on how to make it more exciting.
Sometimes the film's sense of humor can be a bit uneven, as it sways back and forth between trying to be goofy and trying to be biting. It never quite succeeds at either, so even if it had picked a style it probably wouldn't have fixed the flaws in the film. The Stuff can be unique at the best of times, though it probably would have been stronger had it leaned further into horror and less into underlining its satire.
When I reflect upon this movie I feel that there is a bit of influence on it by George A. Romero's Dead series, which mixes horror with social satire. Sometimes Romero's satire can be as subtle as a scalpel, while in other moments (often in the same film) it can be as blunt as a sledgehammer. The Stuff feels more toward the latter, as it's commentary toward consumerism, the marketing machine, and corporate greed and apathy is noted, but holy shit do they drive it into your skull.
As a story, it's fair. The idea of rebelling against a junk food consumable is interesting, though I feel there is nothing very interesting done with it. The Stuff itself is reminiscent of The Blob (which was actually just a few years away from getting its own 80's makeover), but this white glop doesn't always feel intimidating. I get that the idea of what it can do is scary, but it feels a tad boring and unimaginative in execution. It feels like there is something here, but it needs to be refined and passed through people who maybe have different ideas on how to make it more exciting.
Sometimes the film's sense of humor can be a bit uneven, as it sways back and forth between trying to be goofy and trying to be biting. It never quite succeeds at either, so even if it had picked a style it probably wouldn't have fixed the flaws in the film. The Stuff can be unique at the best of times, though it probably would have been stronger had it leaned further into horror and less into underlining its satire.
The Drive-In
Darcy's very fond of this film, though Joe Bob feels it's Larry Cohen's worst. But he'll concede that Larry Cohen at his worst is still "Better than 50% of the movies we show on this show." Joe Bob feels "The Stuff" isn't that scary and the ideas of the film are unfinished (I agree) and that the film lacks a villain. I'm not sure I can side with him on that last one, as The Stuff itself counts as a villain, as do corporations in general. Joe Bob even feels the need to lash out at a corporation himself, as he objects to Kimberly Clark's Man-Sized Kleenex being renamed to "Extra-Large" in a hilarious rant.
Trivia includes more Larry Cohen tidbits, after going into detail on the director during Q - The Winged Serpent. Joe Bob has already gone in detail over Cohen's film career, so he decides to talk about his TV work. He covers episodes of random anthology shows he had written for and has a bit to say on Branded, starring Joe Bob favorite Chuck Connors (from Tourist Trap). He also mentions that he feels Cohen's casts are always too good for the budget, and it's hard to debate with him there.
But Joe Bob spends a lot of time questioning the movie, and what he feels are inconsistencies and leaps in logic. He's not wrong most of the time, though The Stuff sometimes feels like it's feeding more into a satirical joke more than the logic of its story so it feels like complaining about it is a lost cause. But whether or not you have issues with the film itself, you'll forget them all the minute Darcy becomes a spokeswoman for "The Stuff" at the end of the episode, and you'll want to go out and buy some. I'm sure it's almost as addictive as The Last Drive-In. I GOTTA HAVE MORE!
Joe Bob's Rating
⭐⭐1/2
No comments:
Post a Comment