Plaisirs pervers

Il miele del diavolo, also known as The Devil's Honey, is a tantalizing yet flawed treat from the master of gore, Lucio Fulci. This 1986 erotic psychodrama is a departure from Fulci's horror roots, offering a heady mix of sex, obsession, and supernatural elements that will leave viewers both intrigued and frustrated.

The story centers on Jessica a young woman who enters into a strange relationship. As the film progresses, Jessica 's world becomes increasingly blurred as she experiences visions of her dead boyfriend and flashbacks that cloud her perception of reality.

One of the film's strengths is its stylistic experimentation. The supernatural elements give the film a surreal, dreamlike quality, enhancing the sense of obsession and desire that permeates the story. The use of flashbacks and visions adds a layer of complexity to Cecilia's character, as we witness her struggle to differentiate between her fantasies and reality.

However, the film's pacing is often sluggish, with the plot meandering at times. While the slow burn approach can build tension in some films, here it feels like a missed opportunity to delve deeper into the psychological aspects of the story. The characters' motivations can feel murky, and the relationship at the center of the film fails to ignite with the intensity that the plot demands.

That being said, the film has a certain irresistible allure. The eroticism is tastefully done and integral to the story, enhancing the sense of obsession and desire. The acting is also commendable, with Blanca Marsillach portraying Jessica's descent into confusion and obsession convincingly.

In terms of visuals, Fulci delivers some stunning imagery, showcasing his talent for creating atmospheric, otherworldly scenes. The use of lighting and shadow adds to the film's dreamlike quality, and there are some beautifully composed shots that showcase Fulci's eye for detail.

However, the film's impact is lessened by its failure to fully explore the intriguing themes it presents. The relationship between Jessica and her love interest lacks the depth to make their obsession truly compelling, and the film's conclusion feels rushed and unsatisfying.

Overall, Il miele del diavolo is an intriguing yet imperfect film. While it offers a unique and atmospheric take on erotic thriller tropes, it fails to fully capitalize on its potential, leaving viewers with a sense of unfulfilled promise.

Despite its shortcomings, this devilishly sweet tale will undoubtedly find an audience among Fulci fans and those seeking a surreal, sensual cinematic experience. Just be prepared for a slow burn that doesn't quite ignite as expected.

I've seen overall 30 Lucio Fulci's movies, horror and non-horror, and have to admit that Devil's honey did surprise me. Many people doesn't like this one, because it's so different than Fulci's better known splatter-movies, but I have to disagree with that. Even though movie differs very much maestro's earlier works like for example Zombie flesh-eaters, Beyond, City of the living dead or even notorious New York ripper, doesn't make it bad. Sure there's different kind of elements involved this time, but movie is still worth to watch.

Basically Devil's honey, as it is titled in most English language countries, is a story of a love and disappointment, which leads eventually to a kidnapping and a torture. It's a story of a disappointed young woman, who kidnaps a doctor who failed to save her boyfriend and who tortures the doctor to the limits to get her satisfactional punishment. There's some sadomasochistic elements involved too, because doctor falls in love with his torturer and starts to enjoy his punishment. Many people see this as a main thing in this movie, but it isn't. Although the story behind the torturing is very simple and little twisted (like many other Fulci movies too), sadomasochism isn't playing the leading role here.

I'll give Devil's honey 8/10 just because it's nice to see that Fulci can handle this kind of erotic thriller as well as his earlier horror flicks. recommended.

Lucio Fulci's films are not known for their great scripts, and indeed the storytelling in "Devil's Honey" is often sloppy and the ending is weak. They are known for their gore (almost completely absent here), and their directorial flair (some of which is present here). Of course this is a rather atypical outing for Fulci (his answer to "9 ½ Weeks", perhaps?), and it works mostly thanks to Blanca Marsillach's surprisingly good performance: she's a beautiful young woman with a perfect body who walks around in the nude a lot, but beyond her looks she gives more depth than you'd expect to her character, making her innocent and curious (and easily aroused!) at first, sadistic and vengeful in the second half (I loved those little smirks that showed how much pleasure she got from her power over her male captive), but always very human underneath. Although she is 3rd-billed, make no mistake: she is the star of this film (2nd-billed Corinne Clery has a relatively small part, but she DOES get fully nude as well!). This is why this erotic thriller is so much more "erotic" than "thriller": who wouldn't want to be captured by a woman like Blanca and become her plaything? **1/2 out of 4.

Lucio Fulci, who is sometimes referred to as the "Godfather of Gore" (an honorific he shares with Herschell Gordon Lewis) is best known for horror films in which logic takes a step back to striking visual aesthetics and over-the-top gore. I don't mean this as criticism but rather as an observation in the spirit of acceptance that art does not necessarily always have to make sense.

In DEVIL'S HONEY, Fulci brings the same kind of aesthetics to the erotic thriller genre, and it makes for a movie which contains several scenes that have to be seen to believed. There is no gore to speak of, but it seems Fulci applied the same approach he uses in his gore scenes to his sex scenes.

All the major characters have kinks, and when tragic circumstances bring two of them together in a highly unusual manner-one kidnaps the other as part of a revenge plan-lo and behold, the kinks of the two turn out to complement each other.

This film is not for vanilla lovers. It is hard to categorize, as it is not quite porn and also not mainstream in any sense. There are not very many movies like it out there, the closest I can think of being THE IMAGE (1975) in terms of the kink, and the much tamer SEX &THE OTHER MAN (1995) in terms of the basic concept.

The movie is probably most of interest for those who would like to broaden their horizons in terms of what has been captured on film.

I do know Fulci as a horror buff from his splatter flicks but I even knew him from his sometimes almost porn look-a-like flicks. This here doesn't fit in one of those categories.

There isn't any blood to see in a gory fashion but it do gives the viewer a lot of nudity. Weird for being made in the late eighties that armpits are still hairy and bushes aren't trimmed. Nevertheless, for me this is a pure sleazefest. We do see some kind of masturbation done by a saxophone and we do have a close up of a pussy being satisfied with lipstick. If that isn't sleazy enough one guy is being wanked off by his girlfriend while riding a motorbike. Corinne Cléry is almost naked the whole flick and it is as gratuitous as it can get. It also contains the Stockholm Syndrome.

it's a weird story full of sex and torture towards the end. Fulci fans do search this rare to find flick but it's findable on fleamarkets in the Netherlands and Belgium on VHS. Most copies that are being sold on DVD do contain Dutch subs.

As I said before, not a typical Fulci but not boring at all.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 3,5/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5