Suitable Flesh (2023) #480

    Making appearances at film festivals around the county during the autumn of 2023, "Suitable Flesh" is a grand return of a H.P. Lovecraft story adapted for the big screen. If this feels like a movie Stuart Gordon might have made, it's because it is written by his long-time screenwriter Denis Paoli, the gentleman responsible for the screen plays of "Re-Animator", "From Beyond", "Castle Freak" and others. The amazing Barbara Crampton is back as well, both co-staring and co-producing the film. With familiar creatives like these two working on a new Lovecraft movie, "Suitable Flesh" is also a film by noted director Joe Lynch, a man with his own vision and sense of production. Most of all though, "Suitable Flesh" is all about Heather Graham in the lead role as Elizabeth Derby. Heather dominates the screen in every scene that she's in, seducing the characters in the story as well as the audience watching the narrative unfold. 

   

"Suitable Flesh" is an inspired take of Lovecraft's story "The Thing on the Doorstep". I truly appreciate the new title because this is both a homage and its own story, touching on some but not all of the original story's main plot points. In this version the gender roles have been flipped and the demeanor of the characters are more relatable than the original story. This Derby is not a timid, mother smothered occultist wannabe, but rather a successful therapist who feels her life has become stale. Work is dull, her sex life with her husband is boring, and life seems repetitive. 

Elizabeth's life takes a drastic turn when Asa White shows up at her office, asking for help. She is initially intrigued by his request when he tells her that he has read her book about out of body experiences and that he has been having such moments. Asa is a nervous and anxious young man, and he begs for Elizabeth to visit his house so he can further explain what he's concerned about. Then Asa's phone rings, and when he answers it, he appears to have a seizure of sorts, but in a few moments he's fine and displaying a nearly opposite set of behaviors; confident and egotistical. Unknown to her, Dr. Derby had just witnessed a mystical body swap between Asa and his sorcerous father Ephraim. She agrees to visit Asa at his house, which in turn begins a chaotic spiral of events of body swapping and mistaken identity that involves Elizabeth, Asa and his father, and even her best friend Dr. Daniella Upton.

While there are noticeable differences between "Suitable Flesh" and "The Thing on the Doorstep", the spirit of the story is here and presented in a fun and memorable fashion. The film also has some interesting editing choices that also help set it apart from other current horror movies. The pacing is great and the movie ends with a violent, chaotic crescendo. 

Watch the movie trailer here!

https://youtu.be/e52fRshVMRU?si=dKlsM6rqS75QZ2hz

 

From Hell (2001)

"From Hell" is a horror film that makes it's own guesses as to who Jack the Ripper might have been. Adapted from the graphic novel written by Alan Moore and directed by the Hughes Brothers, "From Hell" stars Johnny Depp as Inspector Abberline, a brilliant but moody man who uses his slight psychic visions to help him solve cases. The role was a perfect fit for Depp, an actor who started out in a horror film ("A Nightmare on Elm Street" and who has since revisited the genre from time to time. Ian Holm ("Alien") is another great fit, portraying Sir William Gull, a retired surgeon who worked directly for the Queen and her family. The odd choice in casting is Heather Graham as Mary Kelly. one of the five prostitutes who become the focus and victims of the famed Ripper; she is an odd choice only because she never really looks the part. She is able to keep an accent throughout the film and has her own sense of presence when sharing the screen with Depp, but the way that her face and her clothes never look as dirty or worn down as the others becomes annoying after you notice it.


Inspector Frederick Abberline is rudely awoken one day in an opium den by morning by his friend Sergeant Peter Goldy, who needs his help in solving a gruesome murder of a prostitute in the Whitechapel District. It appears that the body was stabbed, gutted, and had an organ removed. Abberline realizes that the murder has to be someone educated and trained in surgical techniques considering how the murder and removal of the organ was completed. Soon another prostitute is killed in a similar fashion as well as having a different organ carefully removed in the dead and dark of night. Abberline finds the remaining prostitutes that had been friends and worked together. With the help of Mary Kelly, Abberline eventually discovers that they may be involved with a plot conducted by the Royal family, or those loyal to it, to cover up a scandal and to take revenge upon those who have "wronged" them. When Abberline begins to fall in love with Mary Kelly, he begins to take the case very seriously, ignoring the direct requests of his superior to leave the case and forget all the he has already seen. But of course that's not going to happen....