Comeuppance Reviews Johnny (Madia) is an up-and-coming saxophone player (this was the 80's, after all) who lets his sax do the talking. And if the scene in the recording studio is any indication, if I may paraphrase Color Me Badd, he really wants to "sax you up". Johnny is in an intense, stormy, and tumultuous relationship with Jessica (Marsillach). Meanwhile, Dr. Wendell Simpson (Halsey) is in a downright failing relationship with his wife Carol (Clery), primarily due to his frequenting of prostitutes and neglecting the needs of his wife. He's a surgeon, and he uses the hospital as his excuse to be away from Carol. When Johnny suffers a motorbike accident - again because he's the ultimate 80's coolguy - while proclaiming his undying love for Jessica, he ends up on the operating table of Dr. Simpson. But Simpson is so distracted by his wife's carping, he fumbles the operation. So Jessica reacts in the way anybody else would - she kidnaps the doctor and subjects him to endless psychological/physical/sexual torture. What will happen to Jessica and the doctor? Find out today? Did you know AIP released a Lucio Fulci film? Neither did we, until we came across Dangerous Obsession during our, well, obsessive AIP research. No one's a bigger Fulci fan than me, so I was delighted to stumble on to a movie of his I'd never seen before. Because of his famous horror movies, most people that know his name simply associate it with gore. But the truth is, the man has worked in just about every film genre there is. As we all know, the Italian film industry is known for, let's say, jumping on the bandwagon of prevailing cinematic trends, and at this point in time, erotic dramas were, no pun intended, hot. And while many people have drawn parallels between this movie and 9 1/2 Weeks, it's really like a "Last Tango In Rome" meets Emanuelle's Revenge (1975), which was directed by Joe D'Amato, himself no stranger to the erotic drama, namely Eleven Days, Eleven Nights (1987). Of course, the whole thing has a very European flavor to it that I personally found appealing.The aforementioned Emanuelle's Revenge is probably the closest parallel you'll find to Dangerous Obsession, because both are Italian psychological-erotic hostage dramas with a structure of flashbacks. But only Dangerous Obsession opens with live smooth sax. In fact, the music by Claudio Natili is not only enjoyable and noteworthy, but actually important to the plot and it drives it along. Probably the best place to turn at this point would be to quote Stephen Thrower, from his must-have monograph on Fulci, Beyond Terror: "Fulci turned in a trashy, often hilarious S&M fantasy with a few dark undertows of melancholia for good measure." So Fulci fans who haven't seen it should check it out, especially those only familiar with his horror output. For everyone else, those with a taste for this kind of thing most likely won't be disappointed, because Fulci and his team bring quality and interest to something that could have been a lot worse in the hands of a lesser director.

Coventry "The Devil's Honey" is definitely one of the rarest and possibly also the strangest movie Lucio Fulci has on his impressive repertoire. And even though it must be very appealing to fans of the man, I certainly wouldn't advise to move heaven and earth in order to purchase a copy of this film. Although not at all bad or boring, this is an extremely atypical Fulci-movie and the complete lack of gore and zombie-action is likely to disappoint people that only know Fulci from films like "City of the Living Dead" and "Zombi 2". "The Devil's Honey" is more like an erotic melodrama and it seems like Fulci took this opportunity to insert as many bizarre sexual fantasies as humanly possible in one screenplay. Especially during the first half hour, this film brings forward some of the oddest sex scenes ever, including sex with a saxophone (very creative!), sex with red paint (weird!), sex on the roller-coaster (exciting!), a threesome in the movie-theater (too strange for words) and sex on a motorcycle (don't try this at home!). We follow a young couple with an extremely healthy sexual appetite as well as a frustrated surgeon who regularly visits prostitutes in order to escape his boring marriage. All their lives interfere when the young man is involved in a banal accident and the surgeon isn't able to save his life. The slightly insane girl Jessica personally holds Dr. Simpson responsible for her lover's death and decides to kidnap him. Her plan is to kill him but, of course, they start a passionate sexual relationship instead. Like other reviewers pointed out correctly, it's very interesting to see how Lucio Fulci – universally known as the director of gorehound movies – is also capable of bringing an intense, non-graphic thriller. His directing is solid and straightforward, although he does waste too much time on pointless flashbacks and unfinished sub plots. The music is good & atmospheric and, perhaps the best thing, the chemistry between the girl and the surgeon comes across as very realistic. Nothing like the average Italian horror film, this movie reminded me most of artistic portraits like Paul Verhoeven's "Turkish Delight", Annaud's "L'Amant" or Catherine Braillat's "Romance X". Not as stylish perhaps, but also revolving on individuals struggling with sexual issues. Be warned!

The_Void Lucio Fulci's name has become synonymous with gore; and that is unfortunate, as there's so much more to the great Italian director than just splatter flicks. The four pre-Zombi 2 Giallo films that Fulci made prove this, and there's enough other gems dotted throughout the man's filmography that go a long way towards proving it further; The Devil's Honey being one of them. This is a surprisingly restrained film considering the more famous Fulci flicks, although the lack of gore is somewhat made up for in nudity; as this film is certainly not short on that front. The first twenty minutes aren't a far cry away from being a porn film, and it's not until the first plot point that we realise Fulci does have actually have a story to tell. The plot follows a young man who has an accident (which is completely his own fault) and ends up on the operating table of Doctor Simpson, a man tormented by his nagging wife and questionable manhood. After the young man dies, poor old Doctor Simpson begins receiving irritating phone calls from a woman repeatedly asking why he let the man die. Before long, he finds himself the captive of the vindictive female.It has to be said that the story plays out well, and while it's not exactly plot heavy; Fulci does a good job of keeping the sexual tension high, and that is highly beneficial since it's the main point of the movie. The film is bound to appeal to sadists and feminists alike, as much of the movie features the young women exacting her revenge on the man she blames for the death of her lover. The main intrigue comes from the relationship between the two leads, as although their acquaintance is based on hatred; they soon develop a perverse love for one another. Perhaps the most surprising thing about this film is the fact that the love doesn't come across as contrived! Fulci sets up the characters so well that it's easy to see how and why this relationship transpires as it does. The only real problem with the film is that Fulci spends a little too much time with flashbacks between the girl and her dead lover, and this takes the focus away from the girl and the doctor, which should always be kept at the forefront of the film. However, The Devil's Honey works well in spite of that and overall this little thriller is well worth seeking out! I'd also like to give a quick mention to the poem that the movie takes its title from, as like the rest of the film - it's rather good!

Jeffrey Wang This is an atypical Lucio Fulci film in that it focuses on themes which are usually examined by Jess Franco. Nevertheless, this is still one of my top three favorite Fulci films (behind Lizard in a Woman's Skin and New York Ripper). It is an interesting examination of an increasingly dangerous sadomasochistic relationship, a relationship tinged with unbridled lust, obsession, torture, and love.Although the first thirty minutes of the film (with the exception of the great saxophone sex scene) are quite silly and cheaply done, the second half of the film completely surprised me with its serious and dark tone. As the film progresses, we are increasingly drawn into a truly screwed up relationship, until we realize that the only resolution to this relationship is absolute nihilism and destruction.An atypical, yet ultimately satisfying film by the maestro Fulci. Would make a great double feature with Adrian Lynne's "9 1/2 Weeks"!