Suitable Flesh (2023)

Heather Graham and Barbara Crampton in Suitable Flesh Photo: RLJE Films

A Manic Body-Switching Horror Comedy

Remember Freaky (2020), that movie where a teenage girl body-switches with a serial killer, leaving her inside the maniac’s body, and vice versa? Suitable Flesh takes that concept and turns the volume up to 11, with numerous characters switching to and from each other’s bodies and getting into outrageous, and occasionally kinky, situations.

The movie stars Heather Graham as psychiatrist Elizabeth Derby. A mysterious young man named Asa (Judah Lewis) pops up unexpectedly at her office. He tells her a seemingly insane story about his dad sometimes occupying his body. Elizabeth finds herself inexplicably obsessed with Asa. She travels to his house, where she meets the boy’s father, Ephraim (Bruce Davison).

Elizabeth is soon subjected to malevolent paranormal forces as the body-swapping begins in earnest. A supernatural spell enables the father to switch bodies – not just with his son, but with Elizabeth as well. Later, Elizabeth’s therapist friend, Daniella Upton (played by longtime horror veteran Barbara Crampton), also gets involved with the body-swapping hijinks.

Versatile Performances

A movie like Suitable Flesh presents a special challenge for its actors. All of them have to play multiple roles. Judah Lewis, for example, has to essentially portray three main characters: Asa, Ephraim in Asa’s body, and Elizabeth in Asa’s body. The enthusiastic efforts of the cast keep this movie interesting and entertaining throughout.

Suitable Flesh is cheesy, campy, and gory. It’s also as thin as a razor blade. The bare bones storyline is barely enough to sustain a feature-length film. It is designed to emulate the corny, outrageous low budget VHS movies of the ’80s and early ’90s. Horror fans looking for ridiculous and goofy fun will love it.

How It Compares to other Lovecraft Adaptions

The film is one of a long line of H.P. Lovecraft film adaptions. It is based on the story “The Thing on the Doorstep”. The Nicolas Cage sci-fi thriller Color Out of Space (2019) and the Stuart Gordon film Re-Animator (1985) are among the most well-known films based on Lovecraft works.

This is weird to say about a movie involving people invading each other’s bodies, but Suitable Flesh feels more conventional than its Lovecraftian counterparts. The bizarre imagery and tentacled monsters have been put aside this time. In Suitable Flesh, the real terror is found inside the human soul.