YMMV / The Stuff

• Accidental Innuendo: The Stuff is gooey and white... Try not to think of that too hard..
• Anvilicious: Like most of Larry Cohen's films, there's some sort of unsubtle social commentary. Here, it's about consumerism and possibly also cocaine (the Stuff is an addictive white substance that causes you to lose weight and gain energy—in the middle of The '80s, no less).
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Chocolate Chip Charlie doesn't get much screentime, but what he does get is nothing short of amazing.
• Narm: The man trying to placate his Stuff-controlled dog. They were probably having the possessed dog from The Thing in mind, but suffice to say it comes up short.
• Nausea Fuel: Just read the plot and try NOT to shudder in disgust.
• Paranoia Fuel: Your ice cream or yogurt may look suspicious after this...
• Retroactive Recognition: Jason's brother is Captain America and Yuri!
• So Bad, It's Good: The hokey special effects and sometimes stunningly bizarre dialog are most of the reason to see this.
• Special Effects Failure: Constant and spectacular (and even the cause of a lawsuit between Cohen and the film's effects team, Effects Associates, over payment). Most notably is Charlie's death when The Stuff starts gurgling out of his throat. The puppet representing him has a grotesquely fake head. Then there's the awful way characters are matted into shots featuring the Stuff in multiple scenes or vice-versa.
• Strawman Has a Point: When Jason tries to tell his family that The Stuff is sinister because it's alive and moving, his Stuff-stuffed father responds that the yogurt everyone eats has active cultures that are moving on a level too small to be seen. He's defending The Stuff because he's already been brainwashed by it, but he's not incorrect in asking for more evidence that it's evil.
• Unintentional Period Piece:
  • In the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, Ruby Ridge and other calamities, there is no way that a Right-Wing Militia Fanatic group would be portrayed as The Cavalry.
  • The plan to spread the word to stop the Stuff involves… taking over a radio station. No noticeable attempt at taking pictures or video for evidence, which would become increasingly easier with cell phones.
  • The marketing campaign for The Stuff that is showcased constantly through the film is so Eighties it hurts, including a cameo by Clara Peller (the Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" woman), who died in 1987.

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