Stuff, The

Released by: Arrow Video
Released on: April 19th, 2015.
Director: Larry Cohen
Cast: Michael Moriarity, Paul Sorvino, Danny Aiello, Garrett Morris, Andrea Marcovicci
Year: 1985
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The Movie:

Never one to shy away from taking some well-aimed pot shots at various social maladies, writer/director Larry Cohen points his finger at the evils of massive corporations that put greed and profit over doing the right thing. When the movie begins, a nameless corporate entity buys out the Chocolate Chip Charlie company to get their hands on a product called The Stuff. Released to the market without proper testing, it fast proves to be highly addictive and as such, it's a key piece in the company's attempt to completely take over the frozen treat market.

When a corporate rival named Evans (Alexander Scourby) can't figure out what The Stuff is made out of, he enlists the aid of a former federal agent named Mo Rutherford (Michael Moriarty). No longer with the F.B.I., Rutherford uses his skills and contacts to engage in well-paying acts of industrial subterfuge! Evans gets Rutherford on the case but the only connection he can make at the FDA is to a man named Vickers (Danny Aiello). He pays him a visit and finds his behavior… unusual. Undeterred he continues his investigation and winds up in the small home town of Chocolate Chip Charlie (Garrett Morris) himself where, with his help, he finally figures out once and for all what's really going on with this strange, foamy sweet treat and what it really does to those who cannot resist it! Along the way a teenager (Scott Bloom) who seems to know the truth, an advertising mogul (Andrea Marcovici) and a potentially insane militia man named Colonel Malcolm Grommett Spears (Paul Sorvino) join in.

A very clever mix of horror and twisted comedy, The Stuff is fast paced and entertaining. The cast all play things seriously enough to make it work no matter how preposterous certain aspects of the story get, and the picture is all the better for it. Moriarty is a lot of fun in the lead. He plays his private detective style character with plenty of enthusiasm and brings just the right amount of quirky personality to the part to make it his own. He's surrounded by more eccentric types - Garrett Morris and Paul Sorvino being the stand outs here - but his more serious take on the character anchors the picture nicely enough.

Shot with an eye towards garish colors and big, bright lighting, the movie's intended look complements the story's pokes and jabs at the advertising world and the food industry. The way that commercial advertising is worked into the film is a big part of why the story succeeds here, as it's quite clever and often times spot on in its satirical intent. Of course, the movie is infamous for its effects scenes wherein the effects that The Stuff has one those that consume too much of it are graphically portrayed. While the effects are at times obviously just that - effects and not real life - seeing all of this done with practical effects work is a blast. There's a lot of very inspired creativity behind the more extravagant set pieces portrayed in the film that, again, tie into the movie's dark sense of humor while at the same time gleefully exploiting its more horrific side.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Arrow presents The Stuff on Blu-ray in North America using the same “high definition restoration of the film from a brand new 2K scan of the original camera negative” that graced their UK release a few years back. Framed 1.85.1 widescreen and presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition, things look really great here. Detail is very strong, the transfer is very colorful without looking oversaturated at all while black levels stay pretty solid and quite deep throughout. Texture and depth are impressive and there are no problems with any obvious compression artifacts. The image is nice and clean, showing only natural film grain and very little in the way of actual print damage.

Audio chores are handled by way of the LPCM Mono track, in the film's native English, with optional English SDH provided. There are no alternate language options or subtitles provided. Clarity of the audio here is fine. Levels are properly balanced and there are no problems with any hiss or distortion to note.

The commentary track from the older domestic DVD release wasn't arrived over to this Blu-ray release, which is unfortunate as Cohen's commentary tracks are always great, but in its place we get an excellent featurette entitled Can't Get Enough Of The Stuff: Making Larry Cohen s Classic Creature Feature which includes interviews with director Larry Cohen, producer Paul Kurta, actress Andrea Marcovicci, makeup effect technician Steve Neill and critic/film historian/author Kim Newman. This piece runs just over fifty-two minutes in length and the well put together piece is both interesting and entertaining. Cohen, understandably, has the most to say as he chimes in on his inspiration for the movie, the themes he was trying to work into the story and getting the money together to actually make the thing. He and Kurta talk about the cast, what the different actors and actresses brought to their roles and more while Marcovicci discusses what it was like working in front of the camera on the feature. As you'd expect, Neill talks about the effects featured in the film while Newman offers some critical insight and analysis.

The disc also includes the film's original trailer and a Trailer's From Hell alternate with commentary from Darren Bousman (the director of Saw II, Saw III and evidently a big fan of The Stuff!) alongside menus and chapter selection.

Additionally, the disc comes packaged with some reversible sleeve with the original artwork on one side and and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin on the reverse. Inside the Blu-ray case along with the Blu-ray and DVD discs is a collector's booklet containing an essay on the film written by Joel Harley that is accompanied by a wealth of archvial stills and promotional material.

The Final Word:

The Stuff blends social commentary, black humor and horror movie highjinks into a deliriously entertaining picture. Cohen keeps things moving fast and doesn't shy away from gooey effects work while at the same time he manages to get some pretty great performances out of his cast. Arrow's Blu-ray, which is identical to the previous UK edition, looks and sounds fantastic and the lengthy documentary does a great job of detailing the film's history.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!