Suitable Flesh (2023)

Director Stuart Gordon, though he never made a story-accurate version of an H. P. Lovecraft story, was still the first film director to successfully bring the author's works to the screen.  There had been attempts previous.  Roger Corman's The Haunted Palace attempted to offer some Lovecraft along with all of his Edgar Allen Poe adaptations, while "The Colour Out of Space" was given life as the late-career Boris Karloff film Die, Monster, Die!  There was even attempt at bringing The Dunwich Horror to the screen, with mixed results.  Gordon, however, found success in one of Lovecraft's lesser stories, creating a cult horror classic with Re-Animator.

Gordon would make movies other than the Lovecraft adaptations, but it was the one-two punch of Re-Animator and From Beyond that many horror fans remember, and definitely everyone remembers Barbara Crampton from those films.  When director Joe Lynch teamed with Dennis Paoli, who had worked with Gordon on the original films, as well as Crampton to make an adaptation of "The Thing at the Doorstep", one would expect some of the thrills of the original films.  Unfortunately, Suitable Flesh feels more like a cheap Cinemax film, only without the nudity to hook the viewers.

Dr. Elizabeth Derby (Heather Graham) is a psychiatrist who acquires an unusual patient in Asa Waite (Judah Lewis).  While visiting with her the first time he receives a phone call from his father (Bruce Davison) and suddenly begins to act like a different person.  This leads Derby to obsess over the young man to the point where it has repercussions on her marriage to her husband Edward (Johnathan Schaech) and affects her personal career. 

She soon finds out that the reason for the change is because of a nameless entity that possessed Asa's father and is now possessing the boy.  However, after switching bodies with Elizabeth and Asa during sex, the entity decides it wants to take her instead.  As Elizabeth tries to keep her body she finds that everyone doubts her, although she soon finds a willing ally in Dr. Daniella Upton (Crampton). 

There are a number of "erotic" scenes that don't really work.  Part of the problem is that Graham seems to have had a no-nudity clause.  Either that or Lynch just fell victim to the current trend of not having female nudity in films.  Therefore, that angle is out.  It doesn't matter too much because I get the feeling that Lynch really doesn't know how to film a sex scene anyway.  Throughout I was amazed at how amateurish this looks, and how it reminds me of a direct-to-video movie from the '90s.  Even worse, Lynch showed himself capable in Mayhem, which required a higher budget and much more effort.  I have no idea what happened here.  

The story takes place in the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts at Miskatonic University, and some of the same exterior shots are recreated from Re-Animator.  There are some interesting gore effects toward the end, but every effort to align this with Gordon's films falls short.  Part of it is the impossibly pretty people playing the roles, with Judah Lewis having the typical doe-eyed emo look and Johnathan Schaech a ridiculous six-pack despite hints that he is probably a chef.  Delivering his lines as if he was dubbed doesn't improve matters.  Both Graham and Crampton are glaringly perfect as well as Bruce Davison doing the silver fox thing as the dying Ephraim Waite.  It is as if this was done for soap opera casting rather than a horror film.

This also belabors the plot way beyond where it needs to be.  There is barely enough movie here to keep one's interest for 80 minutes, let alone 100.  Good intentions aside there is nothing here that is even a patch on what came before, and Suitable Flesh is yet another bland nostalgia attempt that is neutered by modern sensibilities and a general lack of competence behind the camera. 

Suitable Flesh (2023)

Time: 100 minutes

Starring: Heather Graham, Judah Lewis, Barbara Crampton, Johnathan Schaech, Bruce Davison

Director: Joe Lynch