wrightiswright

A key instance of a great idea not executed to its full potential, here we have 'The Stuff'... an alleged horror movie about a disgusting-looking white yoghurt-like substance. It's discovered in a festering pool at a building site, and turns out to be absolutely delicious (despite its icky appearance). The product quickly sweeps America via cheesy advertising and irritating jingles, but when a young boy sees it moving in his fridge one day, he discovers it might not be so benign in nature after all...

And so begins a very confused plot which attempts to alternately make you jump one second and laugh the next, but all it really succeeds in doing is grossing you out. The movie also tries its hands at commercial satire, with some intentionally awful adverts for The Stuff parodying real-life 80's television promotions. These are so on-the-nose though that the impact is irredeemably blunted. As for the 'special' effects... well, let's just give the technicians participation awards and move on, shall we? It's the polite thing to do.

I can imagine 'The Stuff' garnering a significant cult following in the years following its release, a collective you can quickly rule me out of. The screenplay is too slapdash, the humour too wink-wink, the horror too inefficient for it to earn that sort of unique status. Not saying it isn't worth at least one watch for sheer incredulity value alone... but this would be one property where I'd be eager to see a remake one day (for a change).