Bone Appetit: The Stuff

If you thought the recap was silly, just wait until you see the actual film. I know what you’re thinking, no I didn’t mean to say “his kid” instead of “a kid”. The kid has no relation to any of the other characters whatsoever, and just happened to find out that the paste is evil. This isn’t a bad movie, however. While not the cinematic masterpiece I covered in last week’s review, The Stuff isn’t as terrible as the recap would make it seem. If the purpose of cinema, for you, is to entertain, then this is a good film, even if for all the wrong reasons. 

Each character is strong, and you find yourself rooting for all of them. The FBI agent has a lot of great one-liners, and he has the ability to be both a dick and a likeable character at the same time. Random side characters like the founder of The Stuff’s competitor, “Chocolate Chip Charlie,” always kept things interesting, even when nothing about them made any sense. They were still interesting to watch. 

While there weren’t many scenes of horror, the ones included were effective at their jobs: being scary. There was one scene towards the end that stood out, which made me not want to touch iced cream for a few hours after watching it. 

As you might’ve guessed by now, this movie’s biggest strength is its own idiocy. You only get a semblance of an idea of what’s going on, and each scene barely fits with the last. But, it’s an hour and thirty minutes and a quick hour and thirty minutes. It feels like it was created as a result of concepts being pulled out of a hat, tied together loosely, and it’s all the better for it. The Stuff is excellent at not keeping on one thing for too long. It’s never boring. The dialogue and acting are campy, goofy, and wonderful. 

If you’re going into this film thinking you’re about to watch a horror movie you’ll be disappointed. That’s not what the creators were trying to make, it’s just how it was marketed. The Stuff is a sci-fi comedy with a few elements of horror. 

As far as it’s downsides, there are many as you can imagine, though none that affect your viewing experience. For example, the power and sentience of “The Stuff” varies throughout the film, and the visual effects and editing are horrible. Again, this movie pairs a former FBI agent with a marketing manager and some random kid. A racist army corporal who owns three radio stations makes an appearance. This is not a cinematic masterpiece we’re talking about here.

Unexpectedly, there are some valid social criticisms that are explored, including the fact that we have no idea where some of our food comes from, or how safe it is for us to eat. This film shows a society where the effects of this impassivity are deadly.