Review of The Stuff (1985) by Paul K — 15 Jan 2012

"The Blob" meets "Invasion of the Body snatchers" meets a tub of Cool Whip.

Long before he was Ben Stone, the righteous, morally uncompromising conscience of the New York City district attorney's office on "Law & Order," Michael Moriarty padded his resume with the part of Moe Rutherford, a failed FBI agent turned industrial spy in 1985's "The Stuff." We meet Rutherford as he's being hired by a bunch of corporate suits who want him to get to the bottom of the titular "Stuff" a fluffy, gooey-looking dessert product that's taking the country by storm and cutting into Big Ice Cream's bottom line.

Little do they know that the real secret behind The Stuff is that it's not made, but bubbles up from the ground and has a nasty habit of turning its consumers first into addicts (known as "Stuffies," natch) and then zombies animated by The Stuff, itself. Rutherford finds this out all too soon, aided by a singularly bizarre supporting cast highlighted by SNL alum Garrett Morris as Chocolate Chip Charlie, a down-on-his-luck ice cream magnate and Paul Sorvino as a Strangelove-ian, personal army commanding, military man, Colonel Spears.

From start to finish, "The Stuff" is a goofy homage to 50's sci-fi/horror dressed up for the big business 80s. At this point, the bad effects, hokey dialog all work in its favor, leading up to a classic "it's over... or is it?" ending.