‘Suitable Flesh’ Just Gave Us One of Horror Movies’ Coolest New Kill Scenes
When the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mandated standard inclusion of rear backup cameras in automobiles made after May 2018, the bureaucrats in charge had safety at the top of mind. Innovation in the art of the kill, one of horror cinema’s most cherished mores, probably didn’t factor into the agency’s decision. But five years after the fact, Joe Lynch figured out how this stock feature in today’s cars could facilitate good old-fashioned carnage in his latest movie, Suitable Flesh, with a bloody death scene that melds dark comedy to horror’s core entertainment, all while buttressing character detail.
(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)
The film is a body-swap tale adapted from H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “The Thing on the Doorstep.” Suitable Flesh concerns Elizabeth Derby (Heather Graham), a psychiatrist confronted by a troubled young patient named Asa (Judah Lewis), whose claims of possession are interpreted as evidence of a severe personality disorder. But as Asa insistently pushes, and then breaks, the boundaries of a respectable doctor-patient relationship, Elizabeth comes to realize the kid’s telling the truth: His crusty wretch of a father, Ephraim (Bruce Davison), really is trying to shanghai Asa’s body, like eminent domain by way of black magic.