Editorials
‘The Devil’s Honey’: Lucio Fulci’s Erotic Thriller [Horrors Elsewhere]
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
Lucio Fulci’s fans have differing opinions about the tail end of his career. Some say his better days as a filmmaker were behind him by the 1980s. Then there are those who are more lenient; they take into consideration the number of factors that played into the decline in quality of both Fulci’s final films and Italian cinema in general. A spot of contention is most certainly Fulci’s first film as a director after battling a serious case of hepatitis, though. What this risqué, 1986 thriller lacks in Fulci’s signature style and imagery, it makes up for in boldness and pure confrontation.
Even when considering the director’s unconventional oeuvre, The Devil’s Honey is more outlandish than almost anything that came before it. The film wastes no time establishing that weirdness either; a musician named Johnny (Stefano Madia) arouses his girlfriend with his (other) instrument. In what viewers have dubbed the “sexophone” scene, Jessica (Blanca Marsillach) writhes to the point of orgasm as her lover stimulates her with only his sax between her legs. From there the couple’s relationship is shown to be a lustful one where Jessica repeatedly acquiesces to Johnny’s carnal desires. That is until he injures his head after one of their more aggressive encounters.
Another story simultaneously takes place; a surgeon named Dr. Wendell Simpson (Brett Halsey) is having his own relationship issues. His wife Carol (Corinne Clery) is not only unhappy with her husband’s busy and intrusive work schedule, she is sexually frustrated. Knowing Wendell has been cheating on her with a sex worker only adds to Carol’s anger, and she threatens divorce right before Wendell is called in to the O.R. for Johnny’s emergency surgery. Unable to focus on the operation, Dr. Simpson loses his patient. The sinister elements of The Devil’s Honey eventually rise to the top and start to make it feel more like a psychosexual horror movie. And in no time, the Godfather of Gore turns grief into something ominous and irrepressible. Jessica’s overwhelming sorrow leads to her repeatedly menacing Dr. Simpson on the phone and finally taking him prisoner at her house.
As the hostage endures his captor’s belligerent form of coping, Wendell realizes a truth about himself he was unaware of or never felt safe enough to confess. Before that epiphany arrives though, Wendell is seen going through the motions. Cheating on his wife is never as gratifying as it should be — the good doctor cannot perform to his fullest — and when he tries to please his estranged better half, work gets in the way again. However, the thing Wendell ultimately yearns for is dominance; he wants to be submissive for a change. Being a surgeon as well as a man of a certain class, Dr. Simpson is always in control by default. Now he wants someone else to call the shots.
On the other side of things, Jessica is searching for control in addition to closure. Being with Johnny was not easy for her; he had a voracious appetite for sex. And when his physical needs were not met, he satisfied them without any regard for Jessica’s feelings. This included ignoring her protests and putting her directly in harm’s way. From having Jessica pleasure him while they ride his motorcycle in the path of oncoming traffic, to Johnny forcing himself on her one last time before his demise, it was obvious their relationship was chronically imbalanced with Jessica on the low end of the scale.
At first, it appears Jessica’s erratic behavior has all to do with mourning Johnny and blaming Wendell for her loss. With the doctor bound and tied up in her house, Jessica supposes killing him will somehow remove the hurt. What she fails to see is, the trouble goes beyond Johnny’s death; she is angry at the wrong person. Her wavering resolve and forthcoming change of mind has all to do with this important revelation. Throughout the last two acts, the audience is given access to Jessica’s most intimate memories as she cycles through her grief. Even when they seem good, they wind up being soured by something Johnny said or did. Jessica slowly comes to terms with the fact she had to give up a part of herself to be with Johnny.
By the film’s end, the two main characters reach the nadir of their mutual sufferings. Wendell was too afraid to be open about his sexuality, and it cost him his marriage. It is only when Jessica unknowingly dominates him does he then feel content and unashamedly excited. For Jessica, she is on the road to recovery after losing her agency with Johnny. The pain she inflicted on Wendell was a product of a deeply toxic relationship where intimacy came with violence. The deciding moment for Jessica is a memory that admittedly reads as problematic in today’s light, but the main takeaway is she now acknowledges love does not need to come at such a high cost — namely her consent and personal well-being.
Although Fulci’s forte is perceived to be zombies and the macabre, he strikes a loud chord with this probing story devoid of anything otherworldly. On the contrary, The Devil’s Honey eagerly examines the interiority of two woeful characters and the weight of sex in regards to their relationships and wellness. What many will dismiss as dated sleaze verging on softcore porn is also a harrowing tale of healing and self-discovery. The graphic and bizarre depictions of sex within will without a doubt startle, but the film’s cathartic quality is even more surprising.
The problem with filming sequels back-to-back is that, unless you can afford expensive reshoots, there’s no easy way to adjust course in between movies if fans react badly to where the story is headed. That’s why it’s important to have a complete narrative thought out well in advance lest you accidentally kill a budding franchise.
However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.
That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.
A Trilogy Planned on the Fly
Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.
At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.
The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.
In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.
Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.
The Evolution of Radu
Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.
In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.
The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.
Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.
Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last
Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.
Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.
Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.
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