Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Stuff Blu-ray Movie Review

It's Alive, or Invasion of the Body Snackers.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 5, 2016

If you’re old enough to remember when Häagen-Dazs first became a national rage, somewhere in the late 70s or early 80s (see, it's hard to remember even for those of us who can remember), you may recall how suddenly the little pints of frozen goodness were all that any dedicated sweet lover, let alone an ice cream aficionado, seemed to crave. There was something a little decadent not just in the creamy goodness of any given spoonful of Häagen-Dazs, but also in the somewhat similarly exotic fact that you were plunking down a couple of bucks (more or less) for a pint of ice cream (this was back in the day when you could probably get a half gallon of the "store brand" for under $2.00). One of the more amusing things about the whole Häagen-Dazs phenomenon is the supposed foreignness of the product's name, something that is obviously meant to evoke frigid Nordic climes but which in fact was a nonsense word invented by Häagen-Dazs' creator, a nice Brooklyn Jewish man named Reuben Mattus. There's no similar allure to The Stuff's moniker, a generic sounding label that doesn't hint at the Häagen-Dazs- esque allure of the strange white goop a worker finds gurgling up out of the ground at an industrial site. Because this worker is an idiot, he decides to taste it, finds it irresistible, and the next thing you know (The Stuff is not especially strong on development or even segues), the gunk, now renamed The Stuff, has become the favorite snack of untold millions.

The Stuff predated John Carpenter’s They Live by a few years, but as different as the two films ultimately are, they also share a certain jaundiced perspective on America’s consumer culture and the lemming like proclivity of large masses of people to either do as they’re told, or (if I may once again be permitted to pun horribly) do as they’re sold. The Stuff delights in skewering the advertising business, with several rather believable commercials for the product, an element which allows the film to introduce Nicole (Andrea Marcovicci), an agency guru whose marketing efforts in support of The Stuff have made eating it a national pastime of sorts.

In one of the film’s fairly artificial seeming set ups (and one which is weirdly reminiscent of Pillow Talk), an imposter pretending to be a southern entrepreneur meets Nicole and tells her he’s interested in purchasing her agency outright—if she can help him figure out the top secret ingredient list for The Stuff, and how exactly it’s manufactured. This guy is in fact a former FBI agent named (or nicknamed, as one of the film’s pretty unfunny running gags goes) “Moe” Rutherford (Michael Moriarty, who also starred in Cohen’s Q: The Winged Serpent). Moe has in actuality been hired by a bunch of ice cream magnates who are terrified that The Stuff’s popularity will put them all out of business.

Meanwhile, in a plot point which will probably remind some of Invaders From Mars (or indeed of Invaders from Mars ), a young boy named Jason (Scott Bloom) becomes aware that The Stuff may have a mind of its own (so to speak), and that it is starting to “change” his family in mysterious ways. Of course no one, least of all his family, believes him, and it seems that he may be the only one who realizes The Stuff is not all (or is actually more than) it’s cracked up to be.

To say that The Stuff is wildly uneven is a bit of an understatement, but while downright goofy at times, there’s some adroit commentary on contemporary culture, and the cast (which also includes Garrett Morris, Paul Sorvino and Danny Aiello) is certainly eclectic. Moriarty is an acquired taste (no pun intended), but he’s a bit more affable and less tic filled here than in some other performances, though he skirts with a cartoonish quality at times that is a bit at odds with Marcovicci’s relatively more restrained take on the contents. Some of the effects are fun, if dated, and the film ends with a sting that seems to hint at a sequel that never came. Kind of amusingly, the frequently questionable Wikipedia states that Häagen-Dazs was used for several of the effects sequences and as a suitable fill in for a delicious goody that is highly addictive.

The Stuff Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Stuff is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.83:1. This appears to be the same transfer as Svet Atanasov covered in his The Stuff Blu-ray review for Arrow's UK edition (the UK review is currently inaccurately listing a 1.85:1 aspect ratio for the release, when in fact it's the same 1.83:1 as this release). The booklet included in this edition states that the transfer was culled from a 2K scan of the original 35mm negative on a pin-registered Arriscan, and then graded using the Nucoda Film Master solour grading system. Typical restoration efforts including removing dirt, debris, scratches and the like. Interestingly, the booklet specifically states that the restoration efforts took care not to disrupt "texture, details and grain structure." The result is a somewhat soft but appealingly organic looking presentation, one that offers some good saturation and a nicely suffused palette. Close-ups offer great detail, sometimes to the detriment of the "special effects" (as can be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review). Grain does look very natural, though it spikes fairly heavily in both opticals (plus a pretty obvious optical zoom of Marcovicci late in the film) and some darker scenes.

The Stuff Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Stuff's LPCM Mono track is surprisingly forceful at times, offering some great "gloopy" (that's a word, right?) effects when the titular material starts wreaking havoc. Dialogue is also rendered very cleanly, and is well prioritized even in some more chaotic quasi-horror moments. Fidelity is fine throughout the presentation, and there's no damage of any kind to report.

The Stuff Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Can't Get Enough of the Stuff (1080p; 52:10) is a great retrospective, featuring good interviews with Cohen and others involved in the production.


• Darren Bousman Trailer Commentary (1080p; 1:48)


• Original Trailer (1080p; 1:35)

Additionally, the release comes with some standard Arrow perks like reversible cover art and a nicely done insert booklet with a good essay by Joel Hartley.

Update 9/10/2021: As is standard operating procedure with Arrow, once their Limited Editions sell out, they reissue without things like insert booklets, and that is evidently the version being fulfilled by Amazon now several years after the original release.

The Stuff Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Stuff may not be as irresistible as the product it focuses on, but it's often wryly humorous (some of the fake commercials, featuring folks like Tammy Grimes and Abe Vigoda, are a hoot). Stylistically and performance wise, it's all over the map, but that seems to fit in well with the film's portrayal of a society overcome with irrepressible consumer appetites. Technical merits are great, and The Stuff comes Recommended.