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Studio: Arrow Video
Release Date: 7/22/2025
Rating: R
Film Grade: C
The Story: Bursting onto the East Coast supermarkets, The Stuff is soon expected to sweep its way across the nation. Satisfyingly sweet and nutritious while light on calories, its meteoric rise threatens the existing dessert market. Thus, Big Ice Cream plots a countermeasure by hiring David “Mo” Rutherford as an inside spy and saboteur to uncover the secret formula and take down or copy this new rival.
Mo will need to gain the assistance of a diverse group of allies if he’s able find the truth behind this seemingly benign treat.
My Take: The movie quickly sets up an interesting premise around corporations and the markets they need to serve, weaving it into a straightforward horror movie. Unfortunately, it lacks bite with both. Some of this is due to the disjointed narrative of the story. In the commentary track (well worth listening to), director Larry Cohen talks quite a bit about the structure of the story and the choices that were made. One of the things he likes to do is bring characters in and out at different times. While this can be used to great effect, it also fragments the story at various points leaving the audience slightly bewildered.
At one point, I turned to my wife and asked if we had missed a part of the plot. It turns out we didn’t, as a significant event was intentionally cut from the film, leaving us to wonder how we had gotten from point A to point C. The accompanying Blu-ray disc features an earlier cut of the film that includes those missing events, and it completely fills in that gap, among others. Cohen makes the point that the film flows better without the extra scenes, I felt the opposite since it deletes the reasons for a critical change in one character’s viewpoint.
That a partial illustration of why the movie falls a bit flat for me which is also related to his method of film making. Cohen would create the script but never storyboard it, rather he would adapt things on the fly. Part of this was due to the low-budget nature of his films, where he would need to be prepared to fit things to the locations that were available. He also encouraged improvising changes as they were shooting, as actors became more comfortable with the material and their roles. There’s a double-edged sword to this, as there are some fun moments that couldn’t have been put on paper, but it also plays loose with the narrative. The result is a series of hits and misses, coming off as uneven in tone and theme.
The same can be applied to the special effects, which range from completely believable to hokey. Because there wasn’t any storyboarding, Cohen would turn over the filmed scenes to the special effects guys who were limited in what they could do afterwards. Given that restraint, there were some flaws, such as the SFX plate not being held steady and in synch with the live action shots. This, along with the ubiquitous matte lines that were common for the time, call attention to themselves. Other work, like the extensive use of miniatures, could be planned out more thoroughly. In most instances, the viewer’s imagination and suspension of disbelief are enough to compensate for the flaws, with some of the segments being surprisingly shocking. There’s a sequence shot with one of the set pieces from A Nightmare on Elm Street that is a great use of that technique, for example.
Michael Moriarty leads the cast as Mo, bringing an outwardly warm, southern charm to his sly and ruthless character. The role was hard to figure out at first, but he has so much fun with the role that it isn’t long before the audience leans into the smooth but calculating ex-FBI agent. Opposite him is Andrea Marcovicci as Niccole, brand specialist for The Stuff, who is almost as cunning as Mo. The cast is packed with a surprising amount of other talent, including Garrett Morris as the founder of a cookie company, Danny Aiello as an FDA administrator, Paul Sorvino as a repulsive leader that Mo has the goods on, and Patrick O'Neal as a corporate leader. All are used to great effect, and Cohen deserves credit for bringing them onto the project.
Even given the somewhat campy nature of the movie, it does include some themes that are still relevant today. Corporate politics and conglomeration, food health and safety, and the effects of mass consumerism are all touched upon, but only as a light snack, not meaty enough to stick with the viewer once the film has ended. The same can be said of The Stuff itself. While we find out its origin and effects early in the movie, we’re left to guess at what its general nature and greater purpose might be.
Visuals: Taken directly from the camera negative, grain has not been scrubbed from this transfer and is prominent throughout the movie, most evident in darker scenes, as one would expect. This is one of the advantages of a 4K format, where the additional bits can be used to better render the underlying picture. Compared to the unreleased print on the Blu-ray, details are more apparent and there’s much better gradation, and better color accuracy. The Blu-ray has an overall blueish cast to it, and the lower resolution combined with the grain results in a splotchy picture, especially for indoor and lower-lit scenes.
There’s a stark difference between the two, with the 4K version being a significant improvement. This is seen early in the movie, with certain shots of clothing looking overly dark and monochromatic on the Blu-ray, while the 4K disc adds color and detail. It’s obvious that a character is wearing a pinstripe suit on the latter, while it’s barely distinguishable as anything other than uniform darkness on the Blu-ray. No doubt this is partially due to one being a print and the other being the actual negative, but there’s a clear-cut winner in the comparison.
Audio: The mono soundtrack oozes with foreboding atmosphere and mystery, enhancing the events of the film, switching to a surprisingly heroic and rousing theme during the climax of the movie. Dialog is clean and clear throughout.
Special Features: There are two big highlights here. The bonus Blu-ray is an earlier cut of the movie that fills in some unfortunate gaps present in the released version along with a slightly different ending. It also has some additional fun commercials and extended commercial segments that add to the lighter side of the film. There are also some parts, like a visit to a police station, that were better left on the cutting room floor. Overall, it reflects a longer, but more cohesive version of the story.
Adding to the fun is the commentary track from Cohen on the 4K disc, which is hugely entertaining and informative. His brash, New York style of speaking and accompanying bravado provide insight into his personality and filmmaking methods. There are lots of fun anecdotes, such as Mo’s hairstyle, Morris’ heads, and what was used to represent The Stuff that were fun to listen to. Highly recommended for anyone interested in a filmmaker’s perspective and what it’s like to make small budget films.
There’s also an accompanying commentary track by David Flint and Adrian Smith, two featurettes detailing the making of the movie, a full-length documentary about the sorted history of New York’s lurid 42nd St., plus a number of commercials, trailers, and stills. Along with the disc, there’s a booklet with two detailed pieces that talk about The Stuff in relation to events of the times and similarly-themed movies.
Disc One (4K Blu-ray)
- Brand new audio commentary by writers and critics David Flint and Adrian Smith
- Archival audio commentary by writer/director Larry Cohen
- 42nd Street Memories
- Can’t Get Enough of The Stuff
- Enough is Never Enough
- Trailers and TV spots
- King Cohen trailer
- Image gallery
Disc Two (HD Blu-ray)
- An early, pre-release cut of the film featuring over 30 minutes of additional footage and a different music score, exclusively remastered by Arrow Films
Final Verdict: The Stuff offers some nostalgia for anyone that lived through the 80s, with some cameos that would be thought of as memes in today’s world. There’s a compelling setup that adds a horror element to larger themes about mass-market food and consumerism that might prompt some thought, but could have used more development to satisfy on a higher level than simple B-movie entertainment. It does offer some genuinely fun moments, but one has to be willing to overlook some of the storytelling flaws. Some are easily forgivable, realizing that it was a small budget film, but others could have been easily fixed through editing. I found myself wishing for a mixture of the 4K original version along with some of the additional footage found on the included Blu-ray version to get the maximum effect of the story.
While it may not fully satisfy a general audience, it’ highly recommended for fans of Cohen’s other works. Arrow has put together another package that’s filled with value-added extras for fans of this movie and Cohen’s work in general.
Fun Fact: In one of the early scenes, Mo is escorted to a meeting by an FBI agent. That agent’s voice was actually later dubbed by none other than Cohen himself.
https://youtu.be/7oRLNc1X2es
My Review System:
JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup