asty! Sweet!” A couple of Fletcher Mine employees working late in Midland, Georgia, come across a strange substance bubbling up from the snow outside. Without hesitation, Harry (Harry Bellaver) scoops it into his mouth. It’s a risky move, yet he’s rewarded with a once-in-a-lifetime discovery of “The Stuff.” In just a couple of months, this miracle find hits the market and begins to take over the nation.

When ice cream moguls recognize that The Stuff may bankrupt their market, they hire industrial saboteur David “Mo” Rutherford (Michael Moriarty, sporting the most protracted of drawls) to get to the bottom of the hot new item. But it’s seemingly protected by the FDA – led in part by sketchy administrator Mr. Vickers (Danny Aiello) – while various scientists are unable to reverse engineer it. As society grows obsessed, only little boy Jason (Scott Bloom) can’t shake the feeling that The Stuff is dangerous. “Im telling you. It isn’t good!”

This Larry Cohen picture is clearly a satire, but the light commentary on propaganda, marketing/advertising (with fake commercials boasting more than one jingle and multiple slogans for the comically fake food), corporate shenanigans (even poor food-celebrity and martial artist “Chocolate Chip” Charlie W. Hobbs [Garrett Morris] loses his gig), governmental cover-ups, private militia wackos (brimming with racism), profits over public safety, nontransparent business practices, and America’s infatuation with perceived healthy products is soon overshadowed by horror elements. Fortunately for its entertainment value, the pacing is swift, leaping right into the paranoia and weirdness and side effects of the mysterious dessert. An investigation gets underway so that audiences can steadily uncover clues about the conspiratorial nature behind the company that oversees production of The Stuff – and its origins, nodding a bit to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” As it turns out, the lies and the red tape go all the way to the top.

“They kill the bad things inside us.” Even Jason isn’t immune to the powerful pull of the gooey white nourishment as he’s virtually attacked by his own family, coerced into consuming it. It’s almost like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” as The Stuff transforms its victims into insatiable consumers who feel obligated to spread it on to others – definitely not like the benign bacteria, yeast, and other microorganisms it’s likened to. Unfortunately, with the film’s low budget, the acting is only serviceable (character actors Andrea Marcovicci and Paul Sorvino in supporting roles add practically nothing – nobody behaves at all like they’re in any real predicaments), while the plot fails to do anything too surprising. Though there are mid-movie hints at the thrills to come, with a couple of decent special effects shots, the potential for far wilder episodes of foamy onslaughts exists; the film just doesn’t go as over-the-top as it could have, frequently enough, to make the visual nastiness remarkable. Gory sequences do finally arise at the climax – a nonsensical showdown of sorts – but it doesn’t offset the unnecessary humor and the pervasive lack of sincerity. An interesting idea or two can’t overcome the mediocrity of the execution.

– Mike Massie