Review of The Stuff

Larry Cohen was one of the most inspired and inventive writer/directors of the 1970s/80s, frequently coming up with b-grade gems on skimpy budgets. 'The Stuff' isn't his best work (I'd say that was 'Gold Told Me To', closely followed by 'Q The Winged Serpent'), but it's still a lot of fun. It's a very silly but entertaining movie about a mysterious new desert ("The Stuff") which comes out of nowhere and takes America by storm. Michael Moriarty, who was absolutely terrific in 'Q', plays "Mo'" Rutherford, an industrial espionage expert who is hired to investigate The Stuff. Along the way he hooks up with a PR person (Andrea Marcovicci, 'The Hand'), a suspicious little kid (Scott Bloom), and 'Chocolate Chip Charlie' (Garrett Morris) whose business has been destroyed by The Stuff. There's also an amusing performance from Paul Sorvino as a nutty Right Wing militia leader, and a few surprise cameos in the TV ads for The Stuff. This is the kind of movie that collapses after any kind of scrutiny, but if you enter into the spirit of things it's a hoot. Moriarty is always a fascinating actor to watch, and Cohen keeps the movie interesting right up until the final frame.