Feature Presentation: SUITABLE FLESH with screenwriter Dennis Paoli Q&A
Suitable Flesh
Successful psychiatrist Elizabeth Derby (Heather Graham) has brutally murdered her young patient Asa Waite (Judah Lewis). Locked up in a psych ward, she recounts to her friend Dr. Daniella Upton (Barbara Crampton) an insane, obsessive tale of erotic attraction, out-of-body experiences, ancient curses, grisly deaths and unspeakable evil. The things Elizabeth has felt, seen and done have destroyed her marriage, ruined her reputation, left bodies in her wake, and led her to a ‘kill or be killed’ desperation. If Daniella doesn’t believe her now, more deaths will follow, and Elizabeth will be forever lost. But who would believe such a mind-bending story? And worse, if it is all true, who will be left to tell it?
Screenwriter of 2023's Suitable Flesh, directed by Joe Lynch and based on H. P. Lovecraft's "The Thing on The Doorstep", Dennis Paoli achieved his greatest enduring cult popularity by penning the wickedly witty scripts for two superior 80s H.P. Lovecraft adaptations directed by noted horror genre icon Stuart Gordon: the terrific Re-Animator and its equally excellent follow-up From Beyond. Paoli and Gordon first crossed paths working for the experimental Organic Theater in Chicago. Besides those two films, Paoli has also written The Pit and the Pendulum, Castle Freak, Dagon and the Masters of Horror episodes "H.P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House" and "The Black Cat" for Gordon. Paoli has done several screenplays for prolific low-budget movie producer Charles Band: a segment of the horror anthology Pulse Pounders, Spellcaster, Meridian, and Ghoulies II. He collaborated with Larry Cohen and Nicholas St. John on the script for Abel Ferrara's supremely creepy and underrated sci-fi/horror winner Body Snatchers. In addition to those credits, Paoli wrote the gruesome The Dentist for Brian Yuzna. Outside of writing screenplays, Dennis Paoli has a regular day job as a Writing Instructor and Coordinator of the Hunter College Writing Center at Hunter College in New York. He's especially knowledgeable on Irish literature and has taught a course on Gothic fiction.