phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2023

Suitable Flesh



IMDb Info

Release Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 40m
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre Tags: Horror, Thriller
Plot Summary: A psychiatrist becomes obsessed with one of her young patients, who she later discovers is linked to an ancient curse.

Poster - Title Card


phancy.com rating:

phancy.com notes: They don't make movies like this anymore. Direction, set design, lighting and acting are all a throwback to Stuart Gordon movies, specifically Re-Animator and From Beyond. Heather Graham perfectly plays the role Jeffrey Combs would've, and Barbara Crampton co-stars. If you're into those crazy Lovecraftian shenanigans, you'll be into this. It's all the same horny violence, gore and madness you loved as a teenager.


Outside Reviews:

Glenn Kenny
3 out of 4 stars - rogerebert.com

The vibe here isn't just Lovecraft and Gordon; it's Charles Band as well. That is, writer/director Joe Lynch clearly worked under B-movie budget conditions, revealed in elements like lighting that accentuates the set-bound nature of much of the film (for instance, the blue of the window in Elizabeth's office). Lynch is an inventive enough filmmaker to make this more a feature than a bug. And if by the end you're having trouble keeping up with whose body is whose, that too is entirely deliberate, as is the movie's disinclination to settle into a definitive view of what the reality of its entire story is. Just go with it is the best course; the head of horror froth this movie whips up is its own reward.


Tasha Robinson
Re-Animator fans, rejoice: The horror movie Suitable Flesh was made specifically for you

It'd be easy for impatient streamers who've never seen From Beyond in particular to miss the tone Lynch and Paoli are going for with Suitable Flesh. They might turn it off early, thinking it looks too cheap, flat, and glossy to feel convincing, that the acting is too broad, or that the emotions on display feel too fervent. Those are all no-nos in an era of oppressively realistic horror settings. But early quitters will miss out; by the time Suitable Flesh hits its peak and fully reveals its creators' intentions, it's a wild bacchanalia of violence, over-the-top humor, and authentic cosmic terror.