Il miele del diavolo

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, 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.

Also known as Dangerous Obsession,this movie was intended to be Lucio Fulci's comeback after more than a year of dealing with hepatitis. It's a return to the giallo (or at least sexually related drama) that he was creating in the early 70's instead of the gore that he'd become infamous for throughout the 80's, but when you're dealing with Fulci, you know you're going to get something certifiably insane and also something that doesn't fit into any set category.

The film opens on Johnny playing that tender, tender saxophone that the ladies love so much. And no one loves it more than Jessica, his woman, who runs into the booth to lick the spit off his lips rather than let him wipe it himself. Johnny responds by fondling her in front of the engineers and his band, who are all like, "Brah, you gotta get outta here with that noise." Instead, Johnny kicks everyone out and he takes her right in the middle of the studio, against her protests, telling her that he is her master and that everything he loves is in her. She argues that he doesn't want her, only a piece of her, and Johnny responds by playing sax music directly into her woman parts. Honestly, I don't even know if this is physically possible, but it's one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen in a movie. It's like Fulci was upset he couldn't just cut out someone's eyeball, so he decided to do the most ridiculous sex scene possible.

You know how you get jaded and say, "I've seen everything?" Well, I'm here to tell you that you haven't until you watch The Devil's Honey.

Unbeknowskt to our lovers, everyone was in the booth watching. They blame Jessica for distracting Johnny, so she leaves for the bar.

We cut to a Dr. Wendell Simpson (Brett Halsey, Return of the Fly, Demonia) being stripped of his scrubs after a successful surgery. He calls to tell Carol (Corinne Clery, who of course is Kala from Yor, Hunter from the Future), his wife, that he will be late. And why is he late? Because he's visiting Anna, a prostitute, a fact that his wife knows only too well. He's obsessed with work and finds it hard to concentrate on anything. Well, that is until she tries to fix a run in her stockings with red nail polish — something no human being has ever done before in the history of human civilization. The doctor responds by rubbing that red nail polish all over her face before taking her violently and quickly, then he pays her to leave, as she calls him a monster.

Honestly, Fulci stages a sex scene like he stages a spider eating off someone's face.

Carol catches the doctor leaving the prostitute's apartment, just as we move back to Johnny and Jessica on a roller-coaster. They're fighting, because there's a thin line between love and hate. They lick faces as the coaster goes up and down the hills, which is intercut with Caol lying in bed, unfulfilled as the doctor sleeps.

Just when you think Fulci is going to back off on the insanity, we have Johnny and Jessica on a motorcycle, where he forces her to fondle him while he races the bike faster and faster until they nearly hit a car.

Ladies — if you're into dudes wearing Cosby sweaters, tight jeans and brown leather, Johnny is the man for you.

They head back to their house, where they make love while Dickey from The Beyond barks outside their door. Afterward, Jessica sits outside, angry. Seriously, her mood swings seem like a red flag, but I'm 45 and not a famous saxophone player. I can see these things a little better.

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Cecilia (Blanca Marsillach) is in love with the sax player Gaetano (Stefano Madia) who has an accident with his motorbike. Later, Doctor Guido Domenici (Brett Halsey) supervises the operation, but he makes a fatal mistake because he doesn't pay attention. He has problems with his wife Carole (Corinne Clery) who wants a divorce. Understandably, Cecilia doesn't care about the doctor's personal problems - she only knows he is responsible for the death of Gaetano and wants revenge. She phones him, threatens him, then abducts him, tortures him and says she will finally kill him. However, as they spend a lot of time together, a strange relationship begins to form... (Note: the names of the characters are different in the original Italian version compared to the English version.) Although this may have similarities with "9 1/2 Weeks" on the surface, "Il miele del diavolo" reminds me more of the deeper, obsessive films of Andrzej Zulawski or even Luis Bunuel. Stylistically, this is quite experimental, as Cecilia sees her dead boyfriend walking around and has flashbacks like visions. Beyond the obvious bits of exploitation, this is an ambitious and interesting work by Fulci (who briefly appears as a talisman seller).

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