The Devil's Honey(original Italian title Il Miele Del Diavolo) was the 44th film from Lucio Fulci. And after a run of gory horror films in the late 70’s/ early 80’s –the film showed his ability to give the sexploitation genre his own distinctive & at times deranged-yet-creative twist.

The film's plot starts off as two stories- we have sax playing musician Johnny & his girlfriend Jessica involved in a rather sordid S & M relationship. And surgeon Dr. Wendell Simpson(played by respected & prolific US actor Brett Halsey), who is sleeping with prostitutes, at the tail end of his marriage. A quarter of a way through Johnny has an accident & lands up on the Dr. Wendell’s operation table, he passes away, and it's safe to say Jessica is none too pleased with the good doctor.

Within the first twenty minutes of the film, the sleaze comes in thick & fast- we get a jar dropping pleasuring with Sax scene between Johnny & Jessica, with Johnny blowing for all his worth. A kinky nail varnish on nylon set-up between the doctor & hooker. And Johnny & Jessica speeding on a motorbike, as she pleasures him. From here on the pace keeps fairly rapid, as we shift between 80’s soap camp-ness, sleaze, and depravity- all sound tracked by ultra cheesy Sax & synth score. It’s certainly a ride & a half of a film, and it’s a pity Fulci never did more films in the sexploitation/ thriller mold.

Extras wise we get a new HD scan of the film- which is ok, though still a little grainy & marked with its picture quality, and the sound re-mastering is rather low- meaning you have rump the volume up. We get a good selection of interviews with the cast & crew, and in all there are four of  these-each coming between 15 & 20 minutes, and the most interesting of these is the one with Brett Halsey- as he touches on most of his career, as well as focusing in on The Devils Honey, and the three other films he did with Fulci. Next, we get a twenty-minute interview with the always interesting & informative Stephen Thrower discussing the film. And a great twenty-minute audio essay from Tory Howarth- talking about the sleazy side of Fulci’s films, as well, of course, The Devils Honey.  You also get an alternate opening, and trailer- so all in all a good selection of worthy extras.

Like many genre fans, I started off watching Fulci filmography with the classic, often surreal, and highly gory films like Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Beyond, House By The Cemetery, and City Of The Living Dead. So it’s great to get a chance to see his non-horror output, and I must say The Devil's Honey is an enjoyable & often surprising slice of mid 80’s sleaze- with Severin doing another great job on this reissue.