Netflix Reviews: "The Stuff"

Yet another interesting gem you can find on Netflix. The Stuff is a fun sort of "invasion" movie that borrows numerous ideas from other films like Invasion of The Body Snatchers, Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, and numerous others and mixes them together into a rather satisfying treat. This is a film that reminded me of the days I used to read R.L. Stine's Goosebumps books when I was in elementary school. It has a light heart for such a grim story, much like most of Stine's books, and reminds me a lot of the slime saga of books in the series. If you enjoy horror movies with an extra serving of campy goodness The Stuff is right up your alley.

While the poster may fool you into thinking this is a straight up horror movie it is much more than that. It is a goofy take on the story of Invasion of The Body Snatchers replacing invading aliens with the titular Stuff. There are numerous instances in the movie that are more camp that horror. Such as the inclusion of numerous hilarious advertisements for The Stuff as its popularity grows. However, it is Garrett Morris' "Chocolate Chip Charlie" who practically steals the show with his over-the-top performance which you can't help but love.

The premise is fairly straightforward with numerous sub-plots that come together as the movie progresses. To begin, a group of men discover a strange substance seeping from the ground that they discover is unbelievably delicious. Naturally, they start to sell the substance, which they simply call "The Stuff," and it becomes a national phenomenon. However, not everything about The Stuff is great, as our protagonists soon learn as it begins to gradually take people over.

The protagonists include David, an industrial spy sent to discover the secret behind The Stuff; Jason, a young boy who hates The Stuff for a very good reason; and the small band of people who help them reveal the truth about The Stuff to the world. However, the most memorable character in the movie, I found, was Chocolate Chip Charlie a junk food mogul who is so hilarious and over-the-top he's up there with some of the more memorable loony characters in film and television like Jack Sparrow and Cosmo Kramer.

The horror elements here, while being very 80's, are still fun to watch. The Stuff is a film where the more ridiculous the effects are the better they are. There are numerous effects shots that, while being horrendous, you can't help but enjoy for their clever implementation. There are some better effects in the movie, but not many, and I can't go into them for the sake of spoiling the movie. Needless to say, though, it's fun to see squibs explode that have been loaded with white yogurt instead of blood for a change.

However, it's not all horror and camp here. The Stuff actually manages to examine our culture's obsession with junk food and the ramifications of popularizing substances that, while tasty, aren't exactly good for you. While it doesn't take a genius to really see the subtext it still provides an interesting subject to ponder on as you munch on your bag of Doritos.

While The Stuff may not be appetizing to everyone, it is definitely a treat to watch.

First Impressions: Dead Space 3

So I've recently finished watching a twenty minute video that presents the first official gameplay footage for Dead Space 3 (the link to which you can find here) . If anyone reading this also follows my twitter page you'll know my initial first impression of Dead Space 3 was rather negative. This was in response to the first trailer that came out a few weeks ago which I found to be a bit... disappointing to say the least.

I mentioned how the game looked to be more action shooter and less survival horror (much like another popular survivor horror title I now supremely dislike), as well as pointed out some glaring similarities it has to Lost Planet. So far, while my thoughts are still in the early stages of forming considering the game isn't even out yet, my thoughts on Dead Space 3 are very negative.

So has any of this changed with the new gameplay footage? It's safe to say yes.

To start off, I will focus on what I liked about the footage. Gameplay still looks to be similar to that of the previous two Dead Space entries. This is a good thing considering the fact that this game is looking to turn into another action shooter. The setting for Dead Space 3 is, I'll admit, something new to behold for the franchise. While I'm still on the fence about the designers' choice to set the game on a "Hoth" planet when there are so many different setting that would've fared so much better for this franchise (my mind instantly goes to worlds like that in Aliens and Prometheus: a dead or primordial world with a landscape composed of ancient lava flows and wind storms composed of ash that go on for days at a time) I can still accept the fact that the new open spaces bring a breath of fresh air to a series that has always been made up of cramped metal corridors. Another aspect I found myself liking was the inclusion of cooperative multiplayer. While some things Executive Producer Steve Papoutsis said about the inclusion of extra story content you can't find in the single player campaign, which called back haunting memories of Mass Effect 3's terrible Galaxy At War system that had multiplayer games effect the outcome of the single player story, here it feels like the differences between co-op and single player campaigns are minor to the overall story but the co-op does add some welcoming character moments. This includes banter between the series protagonist Isaac Clarke and the new guy John Carver which I couldn't help but enjoy as they fought a giant, out of control, drill in one segment of the game. So far, these additions to the series seem to be fairly interesting and add something new to the series, something that I really wanted in Dead Space 2.

Onto the aspects I didn't like about the video. First off, this doesn't have anything to do with the game but the video itself, Executive Producer Steve Papoutsis just comes off as obnoxious as he describes the scenes he's presenting. Repeatedly using phrases such as "super awesome" to the point he was reminding me of the notorious Mr. Caffeine. The aspects I saw in the gameplay footage that bothered me included the lack of the traditional laser sightings on ever weapon the player uses. This has, seemingly, been replaced by a traditional set of crosshairs. However, this may only be for the weapon we see Isaac use in the footage (the only one he uses in the footage mind you) and we may still see the laser reticules make a return with trademark weapons such as the always versatile Plasma Cutter (which I do hope is in this game). Other issues I have with what I saw are minimal at best. While I'm still on the fence about the inclusion of human enemies, plot and story wise it does make sense to have Unitologist soldiers trying to kill Isaac so I can't really disagree with their inclusion.

Apart from that, my first impressions of Dead Space 3 are now a bit more positive than they were previously. I'm really trying to keep an open mind on this one because this could still be a great game. I'll have more for you as more of the game is shown.