The Stuff
Encyclopedia
The Stuff is a 1985 American horror
film written, produced, and directed by Larry Cohen
and starring Michael Moriarty
, Garrett Morris
, Andrea Marcovicci
, and Paul Sorvino
. It was also the last film of noted actor Alexander Scourby
.
. It is marketed as having no calories and as being sweet, creamy, and filling. The Stuff becomes a nationwide craze and drastically hurts the sales of ice cream.
A former FBI agent turned industrial saboteur
, David "Mo" Rutherford (Moriarty), is hired by the leaders of the suffering ice cream industry, as well as junk food
mogul
Charles W. "Chocolate Chip Charlie" Hobbs (Garrett Morris
), to find out exactly what the Stuff is and destroy it.
His efforts reveal that the craze for the dessert is far deadlier and much more evil than anyone had believed – the Stuff is actually a living, parasitic, and possibly sentient organism, and it gradually takes over the brain
, mutating those who eat it into bizarre zombie
-like creatures before consuming them from the inside and leaving them empty shells of their former selves.
A young boy named Jason (Scott Bloom) also discovers the Stuff is alive and sees how it affects his family. He gets arrested for vandalizing a supermarket
in trying to smash displays of the Stuff, attracting the attention of Rutherford, who comes to his aid. Rutherford also manages to charm Nicole, an advertising executive (Marcovicci), who becomes his partner and lover when she sees the effect of the Stuff.
The trio infiltrates the distribution operation, which is actually an organized corporate effort to spread the Stuff on the basis of eliminating world hunger, and destroy the lake of Stuff with explosives. Paul Sorvino
co-stars as Colonel Malcolm Grommett Spears, a retired right-wing soldier who leads a militia
in battling the zombies and transmitting a civil defense
message for Americans to break their addiction to the Stuff by destroying it with fire. The Stuff addiction is ended and Rutherford, Nicole, Jason, and Col. Spears are hailed as national heroes.
Mo then visits the Stuff company's head, a man named Mr. Fletcher (Patrick O'Neal). He tells Mo that the destruction of the mine has not hurt his business, since the Stuff seeps out from many places in the ground, but Mo vows to find those places and gets rid of them all. Another man, Mr. Vickers (Danny Aiello
), brings in Mr. Evans (Alexander Scourby
), the ice cream mogul with whom he is now working – and who had originally hired Mo to find out about what the Stuff was. They tell him they have come up with a new product that they call the Taste, which is a mix of 88% ice cream and 12% the Stuff, supposedly enough to make people crave more without it taking over their minds or killing them.
However, Mo then brings in Jason, who is carrying a box, and then holds the two moguls at gunpoint. The box is full of pint containers of the Stuff, and Mo forces both to eat them all as punishment for all the lives lost to it, including Jason’s family, and for their greed. As they do, Rutherford asks pointedly, "Gentlemen, are you eatin' it...or is it eatin' YOU?" When they finish, Mo and Jason leave them to the approaching police.
The movie ends with smugglers selling the Stuff on the black market.
ice cream, yogurt, and, for one scene involving an enormous avalanche-like effect of Stuff crashing through a wall, fire-extinguishing foam. Other shots, such as the ones of the giant lake of Stuff, required superimposed images and animation.
The scene in the motel where the Stuff comes out of the mattress and pillows and attacks the man on the wall and ceiling was shot in a room that could turn upside down, allowing the Stuff to move up and down the wall. It was exactly the same room used in A Nightmare on Elm Street
(1984) when Johnny Depp's
character Glen is sucked into his bed and his blood is regurgitated back out onto the ceiling.
Writer-director Larry Cohen
wanted to cast Arsenio Hall
as Chocolate Chip Charlie W. Hobbs, since he thought he was not only good but a rising star. However, the execs at New World Pictures wanted someone more recognizable, and thus cast Garrett Morris
instead.
A young Mira Sorvino
makes an uncredited appearance in the film. She had come to visit her father, Paul Sorvino, on set, and was used as an extra.
theatrically in the United States
by New World Pictures in June 1985.
The film was released on VHS
by New World Home Video. It was eventually released on DVD
by Anchor Bay Entertainment
in 2000. This version is currently out of print
.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
film written, produced, and directed by Larry Cohen
Larry Cohen
Lawrence G. "Larry" Cohen is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is best known as a B-Movie auteur of horror and science fiction films - often containing a police procedural element - during 1970s and 1980s...
and starring Michael Moriarty
Michael Moriarty
Michael Moriarty is an American-Canadian actor of stage and screen, and a jazz musician. He played Benjamin Stone for four seasons on the TV series Law & Order.-Early life:...
, Garrett Morris
Garrett Morris
Garrett Gonzalez Morris is an American comedian and actor from New Orleans. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980.-Early life and career:...
, Andrea Marcovicci
Andrea Marcovicci
Andrea Louisa Marcovicci is an American actress and singer.- Biography :Marcovicci was born in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of Helen , a singer, and Eugen Marcovicci, a physician and internist of Romanian descent. In her teens, she decided that she wanted to be a singer, but instead...
, and Paul Sorvino
Paul Sorvino
Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
. It was also the last film of noted actor Alexander Scourby
Alexander Scourby
Alexander Scourby was an American film, television, and voice actor known for his deep and resonant voice...
.
Plot
A man discovers a sticky white substance deep within a cave. It is found to be sweet and addictive. Later, the substance is marketed as the Stuff and is sold to the general public in pint (roughly half-liter) containers like ice creamIce cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
. It is marketed as having no calories and as being sweet, creamy, and filling. The Stuff becomes a nationwide craze and drastically hurts the sales of ice cream.
A former FBI agent turned industrial saboteur
Saboteur
A saboteur is someone who commits sabotage.It may also refer to:*Morituri , a 1965 film also known as The Saboteur*Saboteur , a card game by Frederic Moyersoen, published in 2004...
, David "Mo" Rutherford (Moriarty), is hired by the leaders of the suffering ice cream industry, as well as junk food
Junk food
Junk food is an informal term applied to some foods that are perceived to have little or no nutritional value ; to products with nutritional value, but which also have ingredients considered unhealthy when regularly eaten; or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all...
mogul
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
Charles W. "Chocolate Chip Charlie" Hobbs (Garrett Morris
Garrett Morris
Garrett Gonzalez Morris is an American comedian and actor from New Orleans. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980.-Early life and career:...
), to find out exactly what the Stuff is and destroy it.
His efforts reveal that the craze for the dessert is far deadlier and much more evil than anyone had believed – the Stuff is actually a living, parasitic, and possibly sentient organism, and it gradually takes over the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
, mutating those who eat it into bizarre zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
-like creatures before consuming them from the inside and leaving them empty shells of their former selves.
A young boy named Jason (Scott Bloom) also discovers the Stuff is alive and sees how it affects his family. He gets arrested for vandalizing a supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
in trying to smash displays of the Stuff, attracting the attention of Rutherford, who comes to his aid. Rutherford also manages to charm Nicole, an advertising executive (Marcovicci), who becomes his partner and lover when she sees the effect of the Stuff.
The trio infiltrates the distribution operation, which is actually an organized corporate effort to spread the Stuff on the basis of eliminating world hunger, and destroy the lake of Stuff with explosives. Paul Sorvino
Paul Sorvino
Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
co-stars as Colonel Malcolm Grommett Spears, a retired right-wing soldier who leads a militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
in battling the zombies and transmitting a civil defense
Civil defense
Civil defense, civil defence or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation, and recovery...
message for Americans to break their addiction to the Stuff by destroying it with fire. The Stuff addiction is ended and Rutherford, Nicole, Jason, and Col. Spears are hailed as national heroes.
Mo then visits the Stuff company's head, a man named Mr. Fletcher (Patrick O'Neal). He tells Mo that the destruction of the mine has not hurt his business, since the Stuff seeps out from many places in the ground, but Mo vows to find those places and gets rid of them all. Another man, Mr. Vickers (Danny Aiello
Danny Aiello
Daniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
), brings in Mr. Evans (Alexander Scourby
Alexander Scourby
Alexander Scourby was an American film, television, and voice actor known for his deep and resonant voice...
), the ice cream mogul with whom he is now working – and who had originally hired Mo to find out about what the Stuff was. They tell him they have come up with a new product that they call the Taste, which is a mix of 88% ice cream and 12% the Stuff, supposedly enough to make people crave more without it taking over their minds or killing them.
However, Mo then brings in Jason, who is carrying a box, and then holds the two moguls at gunpoint. The box is full of pint containers of the Stuff, and Mo forces both to eat them all as punishment for all the lives lost to it, including Jason’s family, and for their greed. As they do, Rutherford asks pointedly, "Gentlemen, are you eatin' it...or is it eatin' YOU?" When they finish, Mo and Jason leave them to the approaching police.
The movie ends with smugglers selling the Stuff on the black market.
Production
Some of the substance props or stand-ins for the real Stuff used in the movie included lots of Häagen-DazsHäagen-Dazs
Häagen-Dazs is a brand of ice cream, established by Jewish-Polish immigrants Reuben and Rose Mattus in the Bronx, New York, in 1961. Starting with only three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and coffee, the company opened its first retail store in Brooklyn, New York, on November 15, 1976...
ice cream, yogurt, and, for one scene involving an enormous avalanche-like effect of Stuff crashing through a wall, fire-extinguishing foam. Other shots, such as the ones of the giant lake of Stuff, required superimposed images and animation.
The scene in the motel where the Stuff comes out of the mattress and pillows and attacks the man on the wall and ceiling was shot in a room that could turn upside down, allowing the Stuff to move up and down the wall. It was exactly the same room used in A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film features Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film...
(1984) when Johnny Depp's
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
character Glen is sucked into his bed and his blood is regurgitated back out onto the ceiling.
Writer-director Larry Cohen
Larry Cohen
Lawrence G. "Larry" Cohen is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is best known as a B-Movie auteur of horror and science fiction films - often containing a police procedural element - during 1970s and 1980s...
wanted to cast Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
as Chocolate Chip Charlie W. Hobbs, since he thought he was not only good but a rising star. However, the execs at New World Pictures wanted someone more recognizable, and thus cast Garrett Morris
Garrett Morris
Garrett Gonzalez Morris is an American comedian and actor from New Orleans. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980.-Early life and career:...
instead.
A young Mira Sorvino
Mira Sorvino
Mira Katherine Sorvino is an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Mighty Aphrodite and is also known for her role as Romy White in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.- Early life :Sorvino was born in Tenafly, New Jersey...
makes an uncredited appearance in the film. She had come to visit her father, Paul Sorvino, on set, and was used as an extra.
Release
The film was given a limited releaseLimited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
theatrically in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by New World Pictures in June 1985.
The film was released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
by New World Home Video. It was eventually released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
by Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a U.S. based home entertainment and production company and is a division of Starz Media, which is a unit of Starz, LLC. It was previously owned by IDT Entertainment until 2006 when IDT was purchased by Starz Media. Anchor Bay markets and sells feature films, series,...
in 2000. This version is currently out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
.