The Devil's Honey (1986) ***

The Devil's Honey (1986) found Lucio Fulci back in the director's chair after a year off to recover from a liver illness. Here he explored a genre he'd never explicitly worked in before (if you don't count his more erotic gialli from the late ‘60s/early ‘70s), the erotic thriller. Though "erotic thriller" isn't really accurate, considering how messed up all the sex scenes in the film are. And there are plenty of them, some jaw-droppingly audacious, along with copious nudity. Lead actress Blanca Marsillach is nude so often—and almost always in sex scenes that are more degrading and disturbing than titillating —that attempts at eroticism are mostly thrown out the door.

But, while the film is unabashedly sleazy, there is actually an interesting psychosexual and downbeat vibe running throughout Honey, a tale of sadomasochism, lust, love, emotional abuse, and mental instability. In another director's hands, with some dialogue work and a bigger budget, this could have been a popular movie in the genre, like Fatal Attraction (1987), but without the temerity, the perversion, and the depravity it just wouldn't be a Fulci film. Add to this an unforgettable, steamy, sax-heavy score and you've got a melodramatic, admittedly amusing, but at times dark slice of cinema for those more adventurous viewers.

You can find my Lucio Fulci Feature Films Ranked list here.