Suitable Flesh.

Review #2470: Suitable Flesh.

Cast: 

Heather Graham (Dr. Elizabeth Derby), Judah Lewis (Asa Waite), Bruce Davison (Ephraim Waite), Johnathon Schaech (Edward Derby), Barbara Crampton (Dr. Daniella Upton), Graham Skipper (Pathologist), Brett Newton (Professor Fisk), Chris McKenna (Crawley), J. D. Evermore (Detective Ledger), and Ann Mahoney (Susan) Directed by Joe Lynch (#2469 - Mayhem)

Review:

"I think part of it stems from I grew up watching a lot of horror movies -- and again, this is just my kind of cinematic fetish -- I like to be affected by watching something. I don't like to just complacently let something wash over me, whether it's watching Airplane! or Top Secret where you can't help but laugh at the absurdity of everything that's happening on screen, to A Serbian Film, where you can't help but go [cringes] "Ohhhh, ugh, my god." There's something about the kind of films I grew up watching and still watch today that push the limits because I like to be provoked. I like to see where that line is as a viewer and go "Yeah, go ahead, push it over." I want to be challenged. I like cinema that challenges me."

You might remember that Dennis Paoli wrote a handful of films with Stuart Gordon to varying success. Paoli had been friends with Stuart Gordon since high school with a shared interest in films and reading. Naturally this became a fit for Gordon's Re-Animator (1985), which was based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Paoli served as a co-writer on From Beyond (1986), another loose adaptation of Lovecraft. Paoli worked on a handful of scripts for movies in the years that followed, such as The Pit and the Pendulum (1991), Body Snatchers (1993) and Dagon (2001). Gordon and Paoli had planned to work together on an adaptation of Lovecraft's The Thing on the Doorstep, but it never got all the way off the ground before Gordon died in 2020. The resulting remembrances of Gordon led to Paoli and Barbara Crampton reconnecting and talking about scripts, as she was now a producer. He brought it over to Crampton, who in turned showed it to Lynch. Lynch had an interesting idea that intrigued Paoli and others: gender-swapping the leads. The film had a limited release in 2023 before getting onto the video/streaming circuit.

Admittedly, I do sometimes check the rating of a film by other folks around the Internet to get a gauge on how people view something because, well, it never hurts to check. For whatever reason, this is apparently one of those "love it or hate it" type of flick, and I guess the viewpoint doesn't help matters, since Lynch wanted to make a movie where the lead character visualizes the movie as if it was a "late night 10 o'clock erotic thriller from the '80s or '90s". If you go in thinking the movie will just be a Gordon pastiche, well, you might not get all you want, particularly with the effects, but I don't really see a problem with that here. This is a body-swapping movie that wants to ask what all the fuss is about in feeling around new things that, proudly or not, would be fit for the "Skinemax" comparison...or an offbeat Freaky Friday with a few camera spins. Honestly, I dug the movie, mostly because there is something to have fun with in the mayhem of body politics with a demon that likes to jump around for the sake of trying new things (and also smoke) at the expense of people's lives. In that sense, Graham and Lewis have a bit of a challenge in making the swap game interesting beyond just doing the "how to prove one isn't who they are" thing. Each approach it in different ways, naturally (a tiny bit of nudity comes from seeing Graham and maybe a tiny bit of kinky nature). A good chunk of it could be considered a "midlife crisis" when it comes to Graham's character, as if writing books and having to hear people prattle on in therapy while being married just can't compare to maybe, just maybe, having a bit on the side. Graham makes this trouble work, I can believe that one could be tempted (and then, well, horrified) by a new presence among the doldrums of life. When it comes to the scenes of swapping, she makes it quite charming to actually see engage with the new self (yes, the demon craves flesh and doesn't really care who it is, which I guess makes it a greedy bastard more than just bisexual). In the torment of what is and what isn't quite there in the body, Lewis makes a worthy performer to display some of the charm and some of the strangeness in trying to adapt around, mainly because the chemistry between him and Graham is more the fact that he is just something new rather than because he's God's gift to talking to women. Admittedly, it is nice to see a few moments with Davison commit to the bit of playing a hungry demon needing a nibble for a time, and Crampton makes a capable presence of going with the growing absurdity of events without being swept away by it. Some might think it a bit hokey with its body swapping and maybe not nearly as gooey as it could be, but I had a fun time with the movie, mostly because I thought it was a pretty amusing movie in seeing the perils of basically a midlife crisis explode in your face. I liked its sleazy nature, right down to its ending and would say that even if it isn't for everybody, it is nice to have a movie as weird as this come around every now and then.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

And so ends the 7th rendition of Halloween: The Week After. Nine reviews over the course of those seven days went mostly without a hitch. The horror season will be a fun one in 2026 with all of the runner-ups we had in October/November. We'll see how the rest of the month goes and beyond. 

Some of the movies we missed in the 38 days of horror: 

The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963), Frankenstein Unbound, Nightmares, Inn of the Damned, The Legacy (1978), The Guardian, Daughters of Darkness, The Uncanny, Torture Garden, The Company of Wolves, A Taste of Blood, Scream Blacula Scream, Monkey Shines, Basket Case, Full Circle (1977), Nightbreed, Innocent Blood, What Lies Beneath, He Knows You're Alone, Schlock (1973), Asylum (1972), The Monster Squad, People Toys, The Brood, The Descent Part 2, Messiah of Evil, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)

Quartermass 2, Lust for a Vampire (1971), Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter, Paranormal Activity, Ring 0, The Funhouse, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, The Evil Dead (2013), Child's Play 3, Critters, Ginger Snaps, Possession (1981), Repulsion, The Omen II, One Missed Call, Van Helsing, Toxic Avenger II, The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Insidious II, Scream 2, Phantasm II, Hellraiser II, Ravenous, and Drag Me to Hell.

Be ready for Halloween: The Week After - Crazy Eights in 2026.

Chopping Mall.

Review #2435: Chopping Mall.

Cast: 

Kelli Maroney (Allison Parks). Tony O'Dell (Ferdy Meisel), Russell Todd (Rick Stanton), Karrie Emerson (Linda Stanton), Barbara Crampton (Suzie Lynn), Nick Segal (Greg Williams), Suzee Slater (Leslie Todd), John Terlesky (Mike Brennan), Paul Bartel (Paul Bland), Mary Woronov (Mary Bland), Angela Aames (Miss Vanders), and Dick Miller (Walter Paisley) Directed by Jim Wynorski.

Review: 

You have to know that the movie was going to be called "Killbots". Apparently, Vestron Video had a deal with Julie Corman (working with Roger with Concorde Pictures) to do a movie set in a mall. Who better to make a pitch but Jim Wynorski, who already had done writing work for the Cormans in writing and publicity before debuting as a director with The Lost Empire (1984). Wynorski and Steve Mitchell took inspiration taken from the 1954 movie Gog. With the setting in mind, they actually first came up with a "Phantom of the Mall" type of idea before Wynorski came up with just doing it with robots; they wrote the idea in about 24 hours that was soon approved. The effects for the robots (as envisoned by Robert Short) are interesting as the things (all five of them, as one does when preparing for an emergency) had construction from wheelchair frames and conveyor belt pieces, complete with remote control operation or using cables to move them around (you can read more about it here). The movie was shot at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Los Angeles (with exterior shots being of the Beverly Center), and it only makes sense that it was done when the mall was closed at night; you can recognize the Galleria from its use in Commando (1985) and uh, Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). The film was shot over the course of roughly three weeks. Apparently, the movie had a regional release with the Killbots title in Spring of 1986 and tested poorly* but was later reissued months later as Chopping Mall, complete with nearly 20 minutes cut out that resulted in the 76-minute runtime (there apparently is a bit of extra footage that was included on TV, but its not easy to find it). While the movie was a mild hit on release, it found a better life with release on VHS and cable. Wynorski made a litany of movies (some for the video market) that ranged from parodies to "erotic" ones, but Chopping Mall is likely the one people know best. 

Admittedly, it is a bubblegum type of horror movie, one that delivers most of the goods in having a neat adversary and a few interesting moments in mayhem (coincidentally, this was the other 1986 movie about robots being changed due to lightning strikes next to Short Circuit). Admittedly, the ensemble presented here is mostly just fine*, serving more as fodder for strangely paired death after death (seriously, most of the body count is delivered like that, because if your significant other dies, logic goes out the window I guess). They go around doing the type of thing you expect in lounging around in a mall by oneself (so a notch around Dawn of the Dead [1978]) for the setup that at least makes these folks useful enough to go with the ever-changing flow from partying to running (honestly it almost feels more favorable to try and hide in the store for several hours rather than trying to attack the three killbots, since even blowing it up with propane isn't favorable). The killbots look cool and even prove to be equal opportunity killers, whether in staging head explosions (okay maybe the effect isn't the most accurate thing ever but just look at it) or stabbing folks or, uh, throwing people off of railings that make them formidable and interesting to see play out. While I wish the excised material was available to compare the two movies, you could at least say the version we have today is serviceable in pacing and mayhem. As a whole, Chopping Mall is the kind of movie you encounter in the middle of the night (for the horror season, ideally*) and put on for a pretty refreshing time, mostly because of the mayhem you get to see from the bots that leads to a few bits of humor within the effects. It is a neat average little gem.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

*Honestly, Killbots is the better title. Pun or no pun, the bots don't chop anybody up in the movie. What, did someone think it was a Transformers thing with the old title?

*It was nice to see Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov from Eating Raoul for about three minutes, admittedly, most to remind me of that movie for a tiny bit. Or Dick Miller, mostly because he really could just pop up in a horror movie again and again.

*Honestly, the horror season is what, 38 days for me? It seems far better than encountering horror movies in the winter or spring, that's for sure.

Re-Animator.

Review #2127: Re-Animator.

Cast: 

Jeffrey Combs (Herbert West), Bruce Abbott (Daniel Cain), Barbara Crampton (Megan Halsey), David Gale (Dr. Carl Hill), Robert Sampson (Dean Alan Halsey), Al Berry (Dr. Hans Gruber), Carolyn Purdy-Gordon (Dr. Harrod), and Ian Patrick Williams (the Swiss Professor) Directed by Stuart Gordon.

Review: 

"We all knew that this was the scene. Because, before we started making the movie, we said among ourselves: look, there are all these horror movies that have been made in the last few years—we have to find a way to set Re-Animator apart. And if we wanted to get people’s attention, we had to show them something that they hadn’t seen before. This was that scene."

Oh sure, there are so many films that could be thought of as "cult classic" that it almost seems useful to have skepticism over it just as much as for films that the general folks think are just classics (like, say, The Rocky Horror Picture Show). The film is based on the short story "Herbert West-Reanimator" by H.P. Lovecraft, which was originally serialized in Home Brew magazine from February to July 1922 (there were six parts, one of which involved a boxer with the arm of a child in their mouth). Lovecraft was reported to have disliked the experience of writing Reanimator, since not only did it require him to write a cliffhanger at the end of every part, it also was one he did solely for the money ($5 for each part!) for what was basically a parody of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; in general, Lovecraft would not be the well-known name as an author for decades after his death, but the aforementioned West story is thought to be one of his worst. Relating to this, Stuart Gordon had a discussion over how many Dracula films there was compared to the seemingly small count of Frankenstein films. Gordon was a Chicago native and a graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison that majored in theater. He started doing productions in the late 1960s that went all the way to the 1980s in directing and producing plays, such as a naked stage version of Peter Pan (which saw him face charges of obscenity) and Warp!, a 1973 sci-fi play. Spurred to read the Lovecraft story, Gordon got the idea to do an adaptation, which would have Dennis Paoli and William J. Norris serve as co-writers. They first thought to do it for the stage and then to do it for television before a suggestion led them to try and do a feature film, which led them to producer Brian Yuzna. It was only during production that the script gained comedic elements, with the result being one that Gordon stated had influence from films such as The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958). Gordon would direct another Lovecraft story with From Beyond (1986). Two sequels to Re-Animator followed: Bride of Re-Animator (released in 1990 that retained Combs, Abbott, and Gale) and Beyond Re-Animator (released in 2003 that retained Combs), with Yuzna serving as director for both films. A Re-Animator: The Musical would come about in 2011, with Gordon having served as a producer; Gordon died in 2020 at the age of 72.

There exists a number of versions: The R-rated version lasted 93 minutes, while the unrated version lasts 86 minutes. The R-rated version is an edit done because originally, the filmmakers opted to not submit the film to the MPAA for a rating because they thought it would get an X. At any rate, this R-rated version just cuts a good chunk of the gore and replaces it with scenes cut for pacing (such as hypnotism from Hill). Okay, I wasn't actually worried this was going to be just "good" rather than a cult classic, but, well, going into it with as less knowledge is part of the fun. It is a delightfully gooey little film, one that proves worthy in its elements of gore with conviction and dark humor that is well-paced to go with being an interesting riff on Frankenstein in the Hammer method of the best way, complete with action of re-animated corpses coming around and around. This was the first big film role for Combs, who had done a number of stage plays and hadn't known of Lovecraft when he was approached for the role (he also didn't expect it to break through the way it did). His manic energy is hypnotically captivating from the very first time we see him in the opening, where he is frantically attempting to deal with a screaming man thrust with life. Of course, his interactions with Gale when it comes to just who knows what about science (complete with snapping pencils) or with Abbott & Crampton with living conditions is the real attraction. He just has a way of communicating this amorality that comes in obsession and arrogance in the most delectably entertaining of ways (those familiar with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine already know how good he is already, naturally). Abbott and Crampton make suitable straights getting sucked into such strange times without being played as just the folks to ignore or counter Combs in some sort of "do-gooder"-ness. With that in mind, Gale is ideal in odious qualities for the best of results, which is likely exemplified by a sequence involving a leering head interacting with a naked body. Trust me, it's a pretty good disturbing sequence in a film that has a steady chunk of body gore effects already present in buckets of blood - yes, it really is one fit for the non-squeamish. The closing delivers a good little stake in the grave in the best way possible for both a show in effects along with a note on just how far one could go in desperation. Bottom line, this is the kind of films fit for viewer of mad scientist films or body gore flicks in the best way possible. It is easy to see how the film became a cult favorite in all of the best ways possible. 

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Next: George A. Romero becomes part of a double-header to start the backstretch of closing out October in the right way.