‘Suitable Flesh’ Review – Heather Graham Makes This A Wickedly Funny Romp Worth Watching

It can not be mistaken that Suitable Flesh, from director Joe Lynch, is very weird. This is by no means a detriment or an insult. The film is wonderfully weird in all the right ways and it works as a revival for many facets of its production. On the one hand, it’s a welcome comeback for erotic horror that pulls very little punches. It’s also a rebirth of sorts for star Heather Graham, whose performance is so wonderfully committed that she’s worth viewing this romp on her own. Lynch’s style is a spin on the legendary Stuart Gordon, the man who gave us Re-Animator, From Beyond, and other classics. Gordon was also a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, having adapted several of the author’s stories for the screen, and Lynch proves successful with his own tale from the mind of Lovecraft that recalls the best from the body possession films from the 80s.

Written by Dennis Paoli, the film is based on the 1937 H.P. Lovecraft short story The Thing on the Doorstep. The story begins at the end with Doctor Elizabeth Derby (Graham) stuck in a padded cell of a psychiatric hospital. As she speaks with her friend, Doctor Upton (Gordon mainstay and horror icon Barbara Crampton), the audience must discover how Doctor Derby ended up in her current predicament.

Her troubles began when she started to help a young patient named Asa Waite (Judah Lewis), someone with a severe personality disorder. He believes that something is out to get him, which hints at a classic case of schizophrenia. This all takes a turn once Asa takes a particular phone call and something begins to consume him, gradually changing the way he acts. His behavior leaves Doctor Derby with no answers and it’s a mystery she feels compelled to solve. In her desire to help, the situation grows more complex and bizarre when the possessed Asa begins to seduce her and it becomes clear that what has latched on to him will jump from one person to the next. As the story progresses, the entity begins to latch onto anyone that comes its way, and with it, the hosts’ innermost desires emerge and they tend to be on the darkest side of nature.

Lovers of hardcore horror that does not hold back, will find the film to be a welcomed return to form for the genre. Body possession horror has a way of digging into the skin as if it’s actually consuming the viewer and that is exactly what happens here. The movie crawls into your brain and really doesn’t let go until it takes over your psyche. To say that Lynch and his team get the job done would be a vast understatement.

Even though the film becomes an unrelenting exercise in horror, it does take a little time to take hold. There is time given to explore the complexities of Doctor Derby, who the audience meets switching between her unpossessed and newly discovered self. Graham more than understands the assignment and is having a lot of fun playing a truly liberated character. In an industry that seems reluctant to let women of a certain age display sexuality in such an uncensored way, it’s refreshing to see Graham relish the opportunity to embrace being uninhibited. It’s a performance that allows her to lose control but also be completely in control at the same time. In many of the scenes, where men would normally be in control, she’s clearly taking that choice away from them.

It should be noted that the film is based on an unproduced Gordon script and it actually gender-swaps the source material’s characters to great effect. The decision to do so allows the film to dive into what would normally be a male-centric story and explore aspects of female sexuality that could make some viewers uncomfortable. Doctor Derby is also a happily married woman (to Johnathon Schaech, an actor not afraid to take on films a bit left of center) before Asa stumbles into her office and declares that something is trying to take over his body. As Doctor Derby grows closer to Asa, the film takes on the notion of fidelity and, through the angle of body possession, a woman’s need to explore unsatisfied desires. Suitable Flesh has been called a “horny” movie in many circles so far and that description isn’t far off. That’s not to say it’s sloppily sexual either. While it has no problem displaying acts of sexuality, there is a subtext to all of it. If you’re someone who is repressed and doesn’t act on a lot of these needs, what will that bring out of you?

While Asa is in his 20s, some might have something to say about his seduction of Doctor Derby, given that she’s a middle-aged woman. If the roles were reversed, and it was a middle-aged man seducing a girl in her 20s, it’s doubtful that anyone would blink an eye. The film is aware of the double standard and isn’t afraid to shy away from it by displaying the unconventional attraction in all of its glory. The script allows things to not be totally tawdry by showing her trying to discover what is happening to her through her friendship with Dani. Graham and Cramption are playing two very different women here but the story also shines a light on solid female friendships that can carry them through just about anything. Even an entity trying to consume one of their bodies.

For fans of gore, the film is not afraid to let it all hang out. There are moments of complete shock and the audience is treated to severed body parts and all the chaos you would expect from a movie like this. The last half hour in particular is very satisfying for various reasons and it showcases an ending, that won’t be revealed here, that makes the film one of the best genre efforts of the year so far.

Suitable Flesh has no problem playing all of its cards and letting the viewer know exactly what it is. Director Joe Lynch has a sure hand on the material but it’s the game efforts of Heather Graham that keep you glued to the screen. By the end of it all, you’ll find that the movie has latched itself onto you and it’s definitely going to be an experience that will be difficult to shake off.

Suitable Flesh will be available in theaters and everywhere you rent movies on October 27, 2023 courtesy of RLJE Films and Shudder. 

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