Suitable Flesh (USA, 2023)

Loosely based upon HP Lovecraft’s short story The Thing on the Doorstep, Joe Lynch’s Suitable Flesh stars Heather Graham as psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Derby. Now pay attention because things are about to get very complicated. Derby confesses to her psychologist pal Dr. Daniella Upton (Barbara Crampton) from her padded cell in the lunatic asylum, that Asa Waite (Judah Lewis) visited Derby at her practice claiming that his father’s mind can change places with his and occupy his body. Derby thought this is rot until Asa suffered a seizure and seemed to change character,

Now this being a horror movie Derby decides to pay Asa’s dad Ephraim (Bruce Davison) a home visit and somehow ends up having sex with Ephraim possessed Asa while Dad with Asa’s consciousness onboard kicks the bucket. Needless to say there is no such thing as consequence less sex in a horror movie and Derby finds her body possessed by Ephraim. Now as she confesses to Daniella the only way she can free herself is to destroy Asa/Ephraim’s brain, before the switch is irreversible. Easier said than done with a career in patient care.

Essentially what we have here is Freaky Friday with a shedload more sex and violence. Graham makes a pretty fair fist of being two different people in the same body and is particularly brilliant when she metamorphizes into a rampant sex monster under Ephraim’s control, much to her husband’s (Jonathon Schaech) delight. There are plenty of good scares, lots of gooey special effects and the odd excruciatingly funny gag.

Shocking, messy and occasionally very funny we give Suitable Flesh a 666/666. Daily Mail offence scale: smaking, drinking, drug taking, sex, nudity and lots of gooey splattery violence.

Suitable Flesh is in UK cinemas now.