RETRO erotic body-swap horror Suitable Flesh, now streaming on Shudder, is based on the 1937 HP Lovecraft short story ‘The Thing on the Doorstep’.
Heather Graham and Barbara Crampton star in this horny adaptation, written by Dennis Paoli and directed by Joe Lynch. Deemed a “spiritual successor” to Stuart Gordon’s 1980s Lovecraftian horror films, Re-Animator and From Beyond, Lynch’s film fits right into this comic sideshow for all its totally bonkers goofball comedy, euphoric curative mutilations, and glossy sensual swagger.
A cinematic love letter to the late, great horror filmmaker, it comes off as an unpredictable and delightfully perverted gift to fans of everything from erotic thrillers to body horror and HP Lovecraftian cosmic mayhem. Actually, the only thing really missing here is Bruce Campbell’s manic cheese-eating grin.
Graham is brilliant in the starring role as Elizabeth Derby, a once successful psychiatrist who had a loving husband (Johnathon Schaech) and the world at her fingertips.
Now, she finds herself locked up inside a mental institution after the murder of young male patient, Asa (Judah Lewis), to whom she had an inexplicable and almost otherworldly attraction.
Hoping to clear her name, Elizabeth confides in her doctor and best friend Dr Dani Upton (Barbara Crampton). She recounts what happened, giving way to a freakish and unsettling tale of sexual madness, supernatural horror, and homicidal rage. The deeper the story goes, the more unhinged and carnage-laden life becomes, not just for Elizabeth but for everyone in her path.
Outlandish and mind-bending throughout, Lynch does a really great job at tipping his hat to the horror cinema great and clearly lots of fun was had along the way. This has an old skool 80s and 90s feel to it and will provide real thrills and sentimental VHS flashbacks to fans of warped Lovecraftian horror with sex and gore aplenty.
(4/5)
