The ’80s Horror Comedy Classic With An SNL Star, Stream Without Netflix

The Stuff imagines a company producing an ice cream substitute that seems like the perfect treat. Its great taste and zero-calorie count make it a smash hit as consumers are buying stores out of it. The popularity of the new food is so strong that it’s beginning to put ice cream companies in financial turmoil.

No one really knows what The Stuff is. The film reveals that workers in a rock quarry discovered the white, creamy material oozing out of the ground one day.

After tasting it (for some reason) and finding it delicious, the quarry owner begins to pump it out of the ground, package it, and fill store shelves with it.

The problem is that The Stuff is really a living entity, a parasite with extraterrestrial origins that will take over its host’s brain over time.

The infected are then controlled by it and used as pawns to further extract more of itself from the ground. After being infected for too long, the hosts will explode with the substance, leaving behind a hollowed-out body.

A former FBI agent named Mo Rutherford (Michael Moriarity) teams up with the former owner of a snack food company, Charles. W. “Chocolate Chip Charlie” Hobbs (Garrett Morris) to investigate the product and the people behind it.

The Stuff takes the film’s heroes to where the deadly snack is being processed and distributed and discovers that there is a plot to spread The Stuff worldwide under the guise of eliminating world hunger.

The Stuff is a fun watch from start to finish. The satirical film does well in making a mockery of the American consumerism of the 1980s and shines a light on corporate greed. The message to audiences was delivered in a much more humorous vein than it was from terror, though the zombie-like human hosts are genuinely creepy.

There’s a decent amount of over-the-top gore in The Stuff, particularly when the hosts explode and the white substance oozes out of their bodies. It’s gory, but it’s all executed in the funniest ways imaginable.

REVIEW SCORE

The Stuff is also loaded with cameo appearances throughout. Sharp eyes will catch Abe Vigoda (The Godfather), Laurene Landon (Maniac Cop), and Brooke Adams (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) as well as familiar faces playing supporting roles.

Danny Aiello and Paul Sorvino break away from their stereotypical mobster movie characters, with Sorvino’s daughter Mira Sorvino playing a bit part in one of her earliest films.

The Stuff is one of the best horror comedies of its time and worthy of a 4.0/5.0-star rating.

You can stream The Stuff for free with Pluto or rent it On Demand with Google Play, Vudu, Prime, and AppleTV.