Summary
- Heather Graham stars as psychiatrist Elizabeth Derby in the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired horror film Suitable Flesh, where her perfect life spirals into terror when she has an affair with a mentally ill patient.
- Suitable Flesh pays homage to horror legend Stuart Gordon, with frequent collaborator Barbara Crampton producing the film and recommending director Joe Lynch, who made the decision to switch the protagonist from a man to a woman.
- The film is based on Lovecraft's short story "The Thing on the Doorstep" and premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. It will be released in theaters and on VOD on October 27, and will be available on the streaming platform Shudder in January 2024.
A wild new trailer for Joe Lynch's H.P. Lovecraft-inspired horror Suitable Flesh has been unveiled. The campy horror stars Heather Graham as psychiatrist Elizabeth Derby, who, according to the first seconds in the trailer, seems to be doing pretty well: she's got the perfect life, the perfect husband, and the perfect career. But things begin to unravel pretty quickly as Elizabeth begins an affair with a young patient suffering an extreme personality disorder. The affair leads to some terrifying situations, and before the trailer's conclusion, we see Elizabeth dealing with demonic possession and trying to seduce her way out of a mental institution. Check out the sexy trailer below.
Suitable Flesh stars Graham, Johnathon Schaech (That Thing You Do!), Judah Lewis (The Babysitter), Bruce Davison (X-Men), Jonah Ray (Mystery Science Theater 3000), and horror legend Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator), who also serves as a producer. Suitable Flesh is directed by Joe Lynch from a screenplay by Dennis Paoli, who has worked on numerous H.P. Lovecraft adaptations, including Re-Animator, From Beyond, Castle Freak, Dagon, and Masters of Horror: Dreams in the Witch-House.
The film, based on H.P. Lovecraft's 1933 short story The Thing On The Doorstep, premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival and will hit theaters and VOD on October 27, just in time for Halloween. According to Fangoria, Suitable Flesh will be available to stream on Shudder in January 2024.
Joe Lynch Follows in Stuart Gordon's Footsteps; Takes on H.P. Lovecraft
Shudder
Before Suitable Flesh, there was Re-Animator, From Beyond, and Castle Freak; those previous H.P. Lovecraft adaptations (along with some others) all saw Stuart Gordon, who passed away in 2020, at the helm. Paoli and Crampton, frequent collaborators of Gordon's, wanted to honor the late master of horror by bringing Suitable Flesh to life.
According to Crampton, Gordon considered Lynch, whose past credits include Wrong Turn 2: Dead End and Mayhem, a kindred spirit in filmmaking, ultimately leading to his participation in the film.
“I said to Stuart, ‘Who do you think in today’s modern world of directing is close to your sensibility?’ He said, ‘Joe Lynch,’ and I agreed. Joe was the first person that I thought of to direct this movie, and I sent the script to him," Crampton said.
Once Lynch was on board - a move he says "saved his life" - he made a big change, one he felt Gordon would agree with: in the film's early drafts and in The Thing on the Doorstep, the tale's protagonist was a man:
“That was really exciting to me, that we could see what the thematics of obsession and desire and sexuality would be like in [a female character’s] shoes. Barbara and Dennis [thought it was] interesting. Dennis really dove deeper into what it would be like if we swapped these genders, and something clicked — it felt dangerous again. Often we said, ‘What would Stuart do?’ and this felt like something Stuart would do,” said Lynch.
Crampton produces alongside Bob Portal, Inderpal Singh, and Amp's Joe Wicker, in association with Eyevox Entertainment. Brian Yuzna (who produced Re-Animator and From Beyond and directed the Re-Animator sequels) serves as an executive producer alongside Lynch, Eyevox’s Rick Moore, Amp’s James Norrir and Nina Kolokouri.
Suitable Flesh lands in theaters and VOD October 27.