The film “Suitable Flesh” is based on H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “The Thing on the Doorstep”, but I’m pretty sure the famed horror author’s brain would melt out of his ears if he saw it. My understanding is H.P. was somewhat prudish, and “Suitable Flesh”, starring the vivacious Heather Grarham, is a breastiliscious sex-fest. It’s almost horror-porn. 

The overall plot is “Freaky Friday” gone bad. Graham’s psychologist character comes into contact (and I mean that in every possible sense) with a distraught young man. She eventually discovers he is, for brief spells, changing consciousnesses with his father. Soon she is changing consciousness with him, back and forth, and a few other people as well. As a result, Graham and a few other actors get a chance to demonstrate their acting chops (with mixed results.)

It’s not a bad little film, though it struggles with its cheap effects. (It looks to have had about 100th of the budget of the other Lovecraft inspired flick I reviewed recently, “Color out of Space”.) The main optical trick seemed to be blurring the camera lens really fast. A lot of the blood looked like tomato juice.

The film has some direct connections to the 80s Lovecraft films of director Stuart Gordon. Barbara Crampton, who looks FANTASTIC in her mid-sixties, served as Gordon’s muse in both “Re-Animator” and “From Beyond” (which make up two-thirds of his top three Lovecraft titles which would also include “Dagon”.) Dennis Paoli, screenwriter for “Suitable Flesh”, wrote many of Gordon’s best works. Steve Moore’s melodramatic music also seemed indebted to Richard Band’s work on the Gordon films.

I want to point out the pun in the title. The flesh sought by this possessing entity needs to be suitable both in the sense of being “ideal” and “like a suit.”

If your expectations are set correctly, this is a fun watch.