Suitable Flesh

A great and entertaining adaptation of HP Lovecraft as only Dennis Paoli could write. I'm glad Joe Lynch didn't change Paoli's already well-known absurd pace to fit the current horror sluggishness. "Suitable Flesh" starts off frenetic and, accustomed to the format of streaming movies, I expected it to slow down after 30 minutes and subsequently lose direction. That didn't happen.

What begins with a call for help quickly reveals itself to be a trap for a real curse. A possession in several aspects, with an emphasis, of course, on the carnal. Judas Lewis has the physical attributes necessary to make Heather Graham's seduction plausible and his character enters a never-ending sexual nightmare, until it intensifies and expands to the point of completely losing its meaning - like real nightmares.

I may have missed a bit more "flesh" given the nature of this story, but I wouldn't have been embarrassed by a bit more heat on screen and a bit more ingenuity in the cinematography and delirium effects. Despite that, the soundtrack is great, the direction is nimble and it easily brings to mind Brian Yuzna, Stuart Gordon, Sam Raimi and Wes Craven, and the entire cast plays their roles well, with special mention for Barbara Crampton in the final act.

Didn't completely do it for me but on the bright side Judah Lewis reeeally did the most (perhaps served a little Chuck Bass?), and it had some lines that made me cackle: "Demon octopus.. awesome 😒" "Then I must've really wanted to F my old man" 🤣

Was definitely intentionally campy, 80's, soap opera-y, so don't go into it expecting a straight-forward or serious horror movie. I think it's important for critics to remember that horror is one of the only genres where people can get weird with it. It may not be your thing, and it may not be Oscar worthy, but just be glad the creativity is alive and happening.

For fans of Malignant, Tales from the Crypt.

Unlike the majority of retro-Horror that comes out this does not rely too much on nostalgia, on archetypes, clichés and set pieces that viewers find comfort in. It actually tells a story of demonic possession/body switching competently, effectively and with just the right tone: not ironic or meta, but also not taking itself too seriously. It's a B-movie that just works, with everybody doing as good a job as can be excepted within the constraints of the genre and budget. There's some suspense in how exactly it is going to get to the unhappy end, and fun it the telling. No real wrong steps, and a hell of a lot to enjoy.

I really enjoyed this. It felt consciously crafted to honour the style and work of both H. P. Lovecraft and Stuart Gordon. It conveys a purposeful lack of factual reality in service of creating a special story-world tone that was commonly found in the 80s/90s Lovecraftian horror. At times it becomes a campy melodrama which adds to its fun, while at other times walking a fine line between emotional truth and absurdity. I get the feeling that modern audiences may not like this due to the association with H. P. Lovecraft and/or the lack of medical or emotional realism, but for me, that is exactly the point. I grew up on horror movies just like this - fun, campy, fleshy, sexy, they didn't take themselves or life too seriously while still conveying a message worth exploring. They weren't afraid to take some risks, and they didn't expect to win any oscars. These types of films have so much value. They offer us a glimpse into the depravity of our deepest desires and a shedding of the internalised scripts of social civility and explore the craziness that lives in all of us, challenging us beyond the comforts of our social conditioning and into our primal nature. Plus I'm a big fan of Barbara Crampton so this film very easily won me over.

Elizabeth Derby (Heather Graham) has an happy marriage and a good career as a psychiatrist. All of this changes, when she comes across a patient named Asa Waite, seeking her assistance with a weird issue. Elizabeth who prefers to believe science gets late to understand what Asa got her into. His dying father has the ability to body swap via an incantation and so he does, switching into his son's body as well as Elizabeth's. With her life turned upside down and not getting the help she needs from her friend Danielle Upton, she is forced to take matters into her own hands. Will she able to stop this forms rest of the story.

Based on an H. P. Lovecraft's short story, this is as old school as it gets with the ever dependent Heather Graham and Barabara Crampton in the lead. It doesn't try to deliver anything extraordinary, instead it aims for a proper 90mins entertainer with a controlled budget and it almost succeeds. For a while, the entire body swapping is fun with a crazy baddie and desperate Elizabeth along with this being an erotic horror thriller. It does drag on in third act till that climax twist, predictable all along yet mostly serviceable. Overall, it makes up for a one time watch.