Nonostante le apparenze... e purchè la nazione non lo sappia... all'onorevole piacciono le donne

Lucio Fulci is and will always be best remembered for the films that won him his 'Godfather of Gore' title, but like most of the best Italian directors; he was actually quite versatile and made films in many different subgenres. This is the second sex comedy I've seen from Fulci; the first being Dracula in the Provinces, and I would say that this one is second best; but that's not to say it doesn't offer what you want from a sex comedy (a good fun time) and I'm sure that most people wont be too disappointed. The title makes you think it's going to be an Exorcist parody...until you realise this film actually came out before William Friedkin's masterpiece. The base of the plot is really simple and we focus on Senator Gianni Puppis; a man with an embarrassing problem. The problem is that whenever he gets close to a woman's backside, he gets the uncontrollable urge to grab at it; and as you can probably imagine, that leads to a few problems! It's not long before he realises that something needs to be done about the problem, and he goes off to live with a priest (and some nuns) to help him solve it.

The first thing I noticed about this film was the near two hour running time and I worried that it might be heinously overlong. When the film is cracking jokes and sticking to the main subject material, it's fun and entertaining; but there's a bit too much focus on the political element of the story for my liking. I'm not sure if the film was trying to make some sort of political comment (seeing as I wasn't in Italy in the seventies), but even if it trying to do this; I wouldn't give it credit as that isn't what I tuned in for. The film does feature plenty of good moments, however, that more than make up for the problems. There's a host of beautiful women – the well endowed Laura Antonelli is a big standout towards the end of the film, and there's no shortage of nice female behinds for our hapless lead to grope. Lando Buzzanca is great in the lead role and fits into his character really well. The dream/fantasy sequences are all big standouts and Fulci obviously delighted in making things as lewd and surreal as possible. Overall, I'm happy that Fulci stuck to horror films in the long run - but he makes a decent sex comedy too and I'm sure most people who catch this one won't be disappointed!

Italian cop & mafia thrillers of the Seventies regularly brought up political corruption and drawbacks, but a dark comedy on said topic was a rare thing. And that's exactly what horror cult director Lucio Fulci had in mind with „...All' onorevole piacciono le donne".

Senator Giacinto Pupis is a successful politician, bachelor, totally asexual and married to his job you could say. Now, while running for state presidency, he has developed a nasty habit: He can't control his urge to grab womens' butts. When such an incident is even caught on film and he's blackmailed, he flees into a convent headed by a friar who's dabbling in psychology and tries to help Pupis. Meanwhile in Rome, rumours around Pupis' mysterious disappearance spread: Police, army, mafia, and the unscrupulous cardinal Maravigli suspect a coup and a chain reaction gets started...

This movie did have problems with the Italian censorship board, but as so often, the extra publicity made it even more successful. It's easy to see why some people felt offended, as the politicians and state representatives are shown at their worst – stupid, greedy, malicious. The Catholic Church is getting hit the hardest, however, with Cardinal Maravigli depicted as puppet master that will work with the Mafia and will kill anybody who might cause problems to his interests. This is a very biting, dark satire that can at some points astonish and offend. Everybody gets the just desserts.

While the English title might suggest an easy erotic comedy, the movie is clearly talkative, plot-driven, has depth. A lot of parties and characters are introduced, and especially while Pupis is in the convent, a very complex subplot unfolds. For such a vehicle you need a convincing lead actor, and Lando Buzzanca is great as usual.

There is a marginal amount of nudity during the hilarious dreams (and one daydream) of Pupis. But this gets pushed extremely after 85 minutes, when Laura Antonelli is seen for about fifteen minutes – mostly in the nude. Her part is not written too well (added very late on request of the production). Why on earth would Pupis overlook the probably hottest nun ever during his crazy night at the convent? Said cathartic experience would have served far better as the turning point for him, and not this single encounter. Well, I certainly won't complain about seeing the nude Laura, what a feast for the eye, even with her extremely short „nun" haircut. There is at least one good aspect about all this: The "German" Italian of the convent members is as ridiculous as it is funny (all added in post-production dubbing of course).

So overall, „All' onorevole piacciono le donne" is a dark, fun and biting satire, focussing on the political aspects, and benefitting from the great Lando Buzzanca. Definitely offending and not stopping for anything. If you expect a typical sexy comedy, you might be disappointed and should better go for „Il Merlo Maschio" - Lando, Laura and lots of fun.

Lando Buzzanca sex comedy by Lucio Fulci is worth seeing

From 1970 onwards, the Italian actor Lando Buzzanca (born 1935) played the recurring type of strong-armed daredevil in numerous "Commedias sexy all'italiana" from 1970 onwards, but with his mannered Latin lover behavior he sometimes took on neurotic traits. This made him the male figurehead of the sex comedies from Italy, which were quite successful in the 1970s. On the female side, Laura Antonelli and Gloria Guida, who achieved similar popularity, should definitely be mentioned here.

This little masterpiece, also known in English as "The Eroticist", is directed by the master Lucio Fulci (1927-1996), who was at home in every genre. Whether Giallo (The Seven Black Notes, 1977), Western (Silbersattel, 1978) or Poliziottesco (Das Syndikat des Grauens / (The Syndicate of Horror): something special always came out. Of course, he is known to most fans for his groundbreaking horror films (Woodoo Island of Zombies (1979) and Ein Zombie hing am Glockenseil / A Zombie Hanging on a Rope (1980)). Incidentally, he was also one of German GOLDEN GLOBE winner Elke Sommer's co-discoverers when he cast the young actress in his musical comedy "Ragazzi del Juke-Box" (1959). Here he takes on the Italian sex comedy and turns it into an interesting satire about politics, the Catholic Church and the mafia.

Edmondo Amati (1920-1992) was active as a producer, who also released the worth seeing EuroSpy films with Ken Clark and the spanking films "All for One - Spanking for All" and "Ettore lo fusto / The Horse Came Without Socks" with the great Giancarlo Prete.

Gianni Puppis (Lando Buzzanca) is a successful politician who strives for higher things, but has a significant problem: he can't keep his hands to himself. As soon as he sees a well-shaped bottom, he can no longer hold on and has to grab it. It's not just the women in his immediate surroundings who are popular victims. Even when his chauffeur Carmelino (Aldo Puglisi) is at his worst, the troubled Gianni cannot contain himself. When everything gets worse and worse and at the same time he has the prospect of becoming the next president, Gianni decides to take a radical cure. Through the mediation of Cardinal Maravidi (Lionel Stander), he is admitted to Father Lucian's (Renzo Palmer) institute, where the beautiful nuns Hildegard (Laura Antonelli) and Brunhilde (Agostina Belli) self-sacrificingly take care of his numerous needs. In the meantime, however, his political opponent Senator Torsello (Feodor Chaliapin Jr. - the Jorge von Burgos from "The Name of the Rose" (1986)) and the mafia boss Don Gesualdo (Corrado Gaipa) have also caught wind of the aspiring politician's little weakness , which they obviously intend to use for their own purposes.

Unfortunately, the monastic seclusion and the promising treatments failed to have a soothing effect on Gianni. At an important state reception, the hormone-stricken philanderer gets the better of it and he and the French ambassador's extremely attractive wife (Anita Strindberg) spontaneously disappear into the surrounding bushes. Now the fate takes its course and it comes to a more than surprising end...

In this frivolous fun, all the institutions of Italian society at the time get their fat. Fulci then had to struggle with the Italian censors to get his film into cinemas, which he managed to do after a certain delay. Of course, this film is not politically correct by today's standards. But you can certainly be amazed at what filmmakers dared to do 50 years ago. And you can dream a little too.

Lucio Fulci is best known for his "over the top" super gory horror Flicks: Zombie, City Of The Living Dead, The Beyond etc. This on the other hand is a full-blown comedy about a senator with a compulsive Fetish for female "buttock's". Someone will have to cure him before he creates a national scandal, so where else to go than a monastery! The film is totally insane and as funny as it can be. It's great to see films that doesn't say, "Far enough, we might offend someone". Because this movie is peppered with "let's go a bit further, and even further than that, isn't it cool to offend someone?". The film is visually beautiful as well, and Fulci's famous style is very visible. The use of hand held camera, P.O.W shots and extreme close up's is used to great effect to enhance the comedic effect. Very similar to his horror style. If you're a fan of Fulci, This is a must see because it's probably one of his best films.

Whenever you talk of Lucio Fulci, you immediately think of the his role as the Godfather of Gore. Films like Zombie and The House by the Cemetery are more well known by this director, but he made many films before that were comedies and westerns. This is one of his satirical comedies that is both surreal and a major did at the Catholic Church and Italian politics.

I would not presume to get all of the jokes in this film, as most are not known outside of Italy, but it was funny enough when they lampooned the Catholic Church and their involvement in Italian politics. There are also laughs aplenty at the military and the police as they attempt to stage a coup. I would not like to give away military secrets, but the clandestine operations in this film remind me so much of what our country does to it's "friends," and vice versa.

There is even a nunspoitation aspect to this film as the Presidential candidate goes to a convent to get treatment for his particular paraphilia, and manages to deflower 21 nuns in a single night. His dreams had nuns in lace habits that exposed their breasts and buttocks so that he could grab them. A nun who got left out managed to find him and they enjoyed a night of passion.

This was hilarious and sexy and surreal and irreverent. Fulci at his best.