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Stephen Baldwin and Pauly Shore Bio-Dome (1996) Dir. Jason Bloom

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Bio-Dome - 1996 - Dir. Jason Bloom

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The Stuff

Killer ice cream? You’d think that would be one of the worst ideas in horror film history, but in the hands of Larry Cohen, THE STUFF (1985, YouTube, Plex) comes off as an almost inspired satire of consumerism and the drive to convince people that “Enough is never enough.” It’s sheer pulp, but with such a loopy energy it’s easy to forgive its few weak scenes (Cohen was a great idea man who often couldn’t film a simple scene of two people talking) and the continuity lapses created when New World removed 30 minutes from the director’s cut. Cohen’s satirical aim can get a little broad at times. It may be hard to stomach the thought that humanity’s hope lies in the hands of a paranoid militia leader (Paul Sorvino) in Georgia, a state that here earns my nickname for it, “Stupidvania.”

In their second of five projects together (four features and one TV episode), Cohen’s muse, Michael Moriarty, is an industrial spy hired by a conglomerate of ice cream manufacturers to investigate The Stuff, an addictive, low-calorie desert that’s pushing them out of the market. At the same time, suburban kid Jason Bloom notices the product can move on its own and realizes his parents and brother (Bloom’s real-life brother Brian) are so addicted to it they can no longer think for themselves. He and Moriarty join forces with the ad exec (Andrea Marcovicci) who sold it to America and set out to uncover the secrets behind The Stuff and warn the world before what everybody’s been eating eats them.

Cohen’s film is delightfully off-the-wall, starting with Moriarty’s largely improvised performance as a man who plays dumb (and Southern) to get info that might be withheld from a smarter man. As in their first film together, Q: THE WINGED SERPENT (1982), Moriarty makes something charming out of a potentially irritating character. It’s a treat watching him con the foolish and connect with the wise. Marcovicci doesn’t get as many opportunities to shine (a scene developing their relationship was among the cuts), but she has moments of wit in dealing with the crazies they encounter and makes running from The Stuff in heels a comic comment on horror-film improbabilities. There’s also a nice turn by Garrett Morris as “Chocolate Chip” Charlie, a cookie magnate whose business has been taken over by The Stuff’s distributors. Eric Bogosian cameos as a supermarket employee, and Patrick Dempsey figures in the final scene. Even Cohen couldn’t tell you where a very young Mira Sorvino turns up (she did a bit while visiting her father on set). A big highlight are the commercials for the product, featuring the likes of Tammy Grimes, Brooke Adams, Abe Vigoda and, best of all, Clara Peller, demanding “Where’s the Stuff?”