‘The Stuff’ (1985) Is The Social Commentary We Need Right Now

Please tell me you remember The Stuff, the 1985 satirical horror comedy from writer/director Larry Cohen. The ridiculously campy film was an instant cult favorite to rival other ’80s horror classics the likes of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and Killer Klowns from Outer Space. But where those movies bank on the ridiculous, The Stuff is grounded in social commentary that still hits home nearly 40 years later.

Let’s taste some mysterious goo.

It all begins when some quarry workers find a mysterious white substance bubbling up from the ground. They do the oh-so-wise and totally not bonkers thing and bend down to get a little taste. Super logical. No problems detected here. And, as luck would have it, the stuff tastes great. It’s sweet, it’s tasty, and boy is it addictive.

A blink later and the mysterious white ground goo is now being sold as The Stuff. The name makes sense. They have no idea what it is. All they know is it’ll sell like hotcakes. Not only is it beyond tasty, but it’s calorie-free. And we all know how much America loves guilt-free indulgences. The Stuff is an instant success.

Oh, the commercialism.

“Enough is never enough, of The Stuff.” That’s the fun little jingle for The Stuff in the movie. Throughout the film, we’re bombarded by commercials and billboards. American capitalism rears it’s ugly head, showing how The Stuff is almost literally shoved down people’s throats. Sounding kind of familiar, huh?

Of course, Larry Cohen had an easy time finding real-world inspiration. He said:

The sheer volume of junk food we consume every day. We continue to eat these foods despite the fact some of them are killing us. That’s when I started thinking that The Stuff could be an imaginary product— in this case an ice cream dessert— that is being consumed by millions and is doing irreparable damage to humanity. Everybody is gobbling down this yummy food, so how can it possibly be wrong for us?

Larry Cohen, Larry Cohen: The Stuff of Gods and Monsters by Michael Doyle

And kill people, The Stuff did.

Monster consequences.

You’d think at some point the corporation selling The Stuff would do some testing on that weird white goo bubbling up from the ground. Maybe figure out what it is. Nope. Apparently all they needed to know was that it was addicting and had zero calories and they threw that viscous white goo in some colorful containers and shoved them down the gullets of the masses.

It turns out, The Stuff has a mind of its own, and it’s hell-bent on eating its hosts from the inside out. Now all of a sudden that wonder-goo is turning its munchers into mindless zombies. Can’t we ever have nice things? Cohen said:

I was constantly reading in the newspapers about various goods and materials being recalled because they were harming people. For example, you had foods being pulled off the market because they were hazardous to people’s health.

Larry Cohen, Larry Cohen: The Stuff of Gods and Monsters by Michael Doyle

And that’s where the horror of this multi-genre movie comes in. That bubbling white goo was sentient all along. It wants to eat us almost as much as we want to eat it. Despite its old age, this movie could be made today and still hit home. Maybe we should be a little skeptical of any mystery foods that hit the shelves.

If you want to watch The Stuff, you can catch it with an AMC Plus subscription, Shudder, or for free on Hoopla or Tubi.