Those who think of Lucio Fulci as just a horror director will be surprised by this one-of-a-kind mixture of sex comedy and political satire. Unfortunately, The Eroticist is a mixed bag: the script's sexual satire and political satire angles never quite blend together into a coherent whole and the film's pacing flags in the second half, when its political content begins to overwhelm the story. That said, Fulci fans will want to check it out just the same because it shows him using his skills in a different cinematic venue. The Eroticist is particularly notable because it allows Fulci to show off a flair for the erotic (often seen in his early 1970's giallo films) that he rarely got a chance to use after he began to focus on horror material. He also displays an often unheralded ability to work with actors: he gets very effective comedic performances from Lando Buzzanca as the conflicted politician hero and Laura Antonelli as the secretly lusty nun that he accidentally pulls into his orbit. It's also amusing to see the director use the suspense techniques he's known for to depict scenes where the hero tries to fight off his compulsion to grab an attractive set of buttocks(!). In short, The Eroticist isn't entirely successful but fans of Lucio Fulci will want to see it because it offers the director a noteworthy change of pace.