Hows this for a pitch for a film, Killer ice cream from under the ground which takes over all humans who eat it. Sound crazy? Well, that’s the premise of this 1985 horror/comedy from writer-director Larry Cohen called The Stuff. A delicious mysterious cream that oozes from the Earth is marketed as the newest dessert sensation. But things turn nasty when zombie-like humans addicted to The Stuff begin infesting the world.
With a low budget and some good actors, Cohen regular Michael Moriarty and Garret Morris especially, The Stuff doesn’t quite pull it off, it ends up more cheesy than anything but is good fun with some really silly dialogue and some of the gooey make up effects make it a good low budget Friday night treat.
The last time I saw this film was in the 80’s on VHS so you can imagine watching this new Arrow Blu Ray is like seeing it for the first time. The 2k scan 1080p transfer is very good, bright with rich colours, it does look a little flat at times but that’s probably just the low budget 80’s film stock limitations. The sound is a fine PCM mono and as such sounds clean and crisp.
Extra’s is where Arrow come into there own and this release will not disappoint fans of the film. The best is an hour-long documentary Can’t Get Enough Of The Stuff Making Larry Cohen’s Classic, Creature Feature – Documentary featuring Larry Cohen, producer Paul Kurta, actress Andrea Marcovicci, Steve Neill (mechanical makeup effects) and Kim Newman, Introduction and trailer commentary by director and The Stuff fan Darren Bousman, Original Trailer, Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin and Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Joel Harley, illustrated with original stills and promotional materials.
Overall a silly but fun throwback to 80’s horror and fans of the film should be over the moon with Arrow’s presentation and extras.
FILM: 6 PICTURE: 8 SOUND: 7 EXTRAS: 8
