Director Joe Lynch, who started with Wrong Turn 2, is currently riding out the success of his newest film, Suitable Flesh. As well as opening to the best reviews since his 2017 flick Mayhem, it also served as a way for Lynch to infuse what he thinks modern film has been missing for some time. 

The film stars Barbara Crampton and Heather Graham, keeping close to the feel of Crampton’s other works like Stuart Gordon’s  Re-Animator. Suitable Flesh is an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Thing On The Doorstep, pitched to Lynch by Crampton. 

Recently, The Hollywood Reporter sat down with Lynch and sought out insight into his newest flick, as well as asking about his career in general. 

As stated, the film takes a lot of inspiration from Stuart Gordon, but the film wasn’t originally slated to pick up where Gordon left off. “So when Barbara asked me to take a whack at it, it wasn’t really supposed to be that tethered and that much of an homage. She was just like, “Make it your own.” But the more and more I read it and the more and more I got under the hood, I got excited about, “Well, what if this was set in the same Arkham, Massachusetts?” There was one line right in the beginning that referenced Miskatonic University, and I was like, “Wait a second, there’s a hook right there.”

The film draws on many mature elements, some of them sexual. Lynch stated that he wanted to approach this aspect as best as he could, wanting to make it feel essential to the story. “So everybody walked on set and knew exactly what we were doing, to the point where they would go, “Okay, we know what you’re going to do now, let’s feel free and let’s feel comfortable.”’ He also clarified that many old, manipulative practices did not fly on set. 

Despite opening to positive reviews, the film also garnered negative press. MXDWN described the film as an “erotic-horror B-movie that has no idea what it is, or what it should be.” 

To the mixture of reviews, Lynch said, “Suitable Flesh is out now, and we’re getting really great reviews. We’re also getting some people who say it’s the worst piece of shit ever. I can’t control that.”