Two roommates, desperate to feel successful in the milieu of New York City, turn to macabre money-making schemes by performing underground surgeries and serving human meat to unsuspecting customers.
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Review by Julie C. Sheppard:
Two unlikely misfits come together in the feature The Flesh People, a grisly, yet riotous comedy. The filthy apartment is the main setting which starkly represents the broken dreams of an aging stage actress, with little left to show of her career but old show posters, a bygone rehearsal schedule and a sexually graphic drawing on the wall representing her biggest onstage flop. At first, it is hard to see how the two main characters will connect, being from such different walks of life, but we gradually discover from the brilliant screenplay that they are linked by failure, her lost career and the fact that he has dropped out of a prestigious medical school, that will likely devastate his hopeful parents. It is oddly heartwarming to see this duo support one another in their loneliness and begin to develop a friendship.
These performers play well off each other as they share giddy sessions of getting high and find violent, but ingenious ways to survive. They use skills they gleaned from their former careers to keep from starving: her acting finesse to fool victims and his comfort with sharp instruments, to perform hackneyed, yet hilarious surgery given his truncated, but useful medical training. The wet, gory visuals of operations are nauseatingly brilliant – – so realistic – – as are the gooey sounds of slicing and dicing. The confident cinematographer is not shy using extreme close-ups to magnify terrifying drug trips and vicious murder scenes. Jazzy musical refrains are used sparingly, but aptly serve SOC transitions, highly dramatic interactions and longer monologues, notably by the actress.
This film offers both horror and moments of light. Despite the dark themes of failure and despair, when these two characters break moral taboos (though with surprising ethical standards about children), there is a distinct undertone of humour bubbling below the surface in their fight for survival, and their almost childlike playfulness to achieve their goals.
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