Suitable Flesh
By Jeffrey Anderson,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Lots of gore and sex in bizarre but fun horror throwback.
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Suitable Flesh
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What's the Story?
In SUITABLE FLESH psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Derby (Heather Graham) is being held in a padded room in a psychiatric hospital, having murdered a man. She tells her story to a friend, Dr. Daniella Upton (Barbara Crampton). In flashback, Dr. Derby is visited by Asa (Judah Lewis), who claims to be tormented by his father. He has a seizure, recovers, and begins behaving completely differently. At home with her husband (Johnathon Schaech), Dr. Derby can't stop thinking about Asa. Later, she finds Asa's sick, elderly father, Ephraim (Bruce Davison), near death. Asa pleads with her to let Ephraim die, but before that happens, Ephraim speaks an incantation that, once again, causes Asa to have a seizure and start behaving differently. Then Asa speaks the incantation and switches bodies with Dr. Derby! She slowly realizes that whatever is inside Asa now has power over her, too, and she must find a way to stop it.
Is It Any Good?
A throwback to certain beloved 1980s cult favorites, this twisted tale is exceedingly weird, darkly funny, and fairly edgy in ways that may only appeal to a particular breed of horror hounds. Surprisingly, Suitable Flesh features a screenplay by the legendary Dennis Paoli, who started out in the '80s adapting H.P. Lovecraft stories for the big screen with the late director Stuart Gordon, making classics like Re-Animator and From Beyond and finding a clever blend of humor to exist alongside Lovecraft's unnamable terrors. (Other Gordon regulars, co-star Crampton and producer Brian Yuzna, have returned as well.) Based on Lovecraft's 1933 story "The Thing on the Doorstep," Suitable Flesh is Paoli's first screenplay in over two decades, and he's found a suitable new partner in director Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2, Mayhem).
Their finished movie is outlandish, garish, and sometimes (perhaps purposefully?) awkward; Dr. Derby makes some very obvious wrong choices for a horror movie character. The film embraces both gore and human sexuality. It's a full-body horror movie. On the whole, it's not as finely tuned as one of Gordon's classics (and not as imaginative as another more recent Lovecraft adaptation, Color Out of Space), but it has the power to give jaded viewers something they might not have seen before.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Suitable Flesh's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?
Is the movie scary? What's the appeal of horror movies? Why do people sometimes enjoy being scared?
How is sex depicted? Is there consent? Is there trust? If so, how?
How are smoking and/or drug use depicted? Are they glamorized? Are there consequences? Why does that matter?
How does the movie compare to the original story? Why are H.P. Lovecraft's stories still compelling to many people after so many years?
Movie Details
- In theaters: October 27, 2023
- On DVD or streaming: October 27, 2023
- Cast: Heather Graham , Judah Lewis , Barbara Crampton
- Director: Joe Lynch
- Inclusion Information: Female actors
- Studios: RLJE Films , Shudder
- Genre: Horror
- Run time: 99 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: November 1, 2023
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