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The Plot: Don’t Torture a Duckling begins with three young boys catching the village idiot spying on a couple of men having sex with prostitutes. They proceed to make fun of the mentally challenged man and are chased away and threatened by him. Shortly after this, one of the boys comes up missing and is eventually found dead.
This death would be the first of several more young boys to be discovered. The authorities are somewhat dumbfounded as there are so many possible suspects. However, they think they have the man who’s responsible for the killings, the village idiot. He confesses to threatening the kids, but tells the authorities that he didn’t commit the murder and that he found the boy already dead.
Soon after they put the man behind bars, a strange woman who studies the black arts (a witch) confesses to the crimes. But the authorities are suspicious of her confession and release her due to a lack of evidence. Shortly after her release, she’s hunted down by the townsfolk and is beaten to death with a thick chain. After her death, several other characters in the film become suspect as the police scramble to find a child killer on the loose.
The Takeaway: Don’t Torture a Duckling is a delight for those of you who love suspenseful horror films, Giallo’s if you will. All the characters in the film are drawn as suspicious and each one of them is less than perfect. This leads the viewer to suspect anyone within the story could be committing these ugly crimes. Director Lucio Fulci does a wonderful job pacing the film with powerful performances by Florinda Bolkan as Maciara the witch, the beautiful Barbara Bouchet as Patrizia the creepy sex starved nymph and Thomas Millian as Andrea Martelli the newspaper reporter.
As far as the film goes, Fulci uses his trademark close-ups to capture facial emotions from his performers. This, along with a strong script, an amazing soundtrack and gorgeous Italian landscapes, help drive the film to success. And although the film is light on the Fulci trademark gore, it’s heavy on suspense and works extremely well. The gore we do get to see, in particular, the beating of Maciara the witch, is extremely effective and would help define Fulci’s directorial career later in life.
Film Facts: What can I say about Lucio Fulci that you don’t already know? Nothing, so I won’t. Seriously, a cursory Google search on Lucio Fulci will come back with all you need to know about the man (and then some) and his history in filmmaking so there’s no need to retread old ground.
Don’t Torture a Duckling was directed by Lucio Fulci, written by Gianfranco Clerici, Roberto Gianviti and Lucio Fulci and shot by cinematographer Sergio D’offizi. The film was distributed by Medusa Productions and was released in September of 1972 to a limited number of theaters in Europe. The limited released was due to the films criticism of the Roman Catholic Church. Don’t Torture a Duckling never saw a theatrical release in the United States but was picked up and released on DVD by Anchor Bay in 2000 (this review source).
Gianfranco Clerici has had a wonderful career as a writer and is a very talented individual. He penned films such as The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971), Last Cannibal World (1977), the infamous Cannibal Holocaust (1980), House on the Edge of the Park (1980), The New York Ripper (1982) and most recently, the unreleased The House on the Edge of the Park II (2012). Cinematographer Sergio D’offizi has had an equally amazing career shooting films such as The Ruthless Four (1968), Cannibal Holocaust (1980), House on the Edge of the Park (1980). Deadly Impact (1984) and Woman in Arms (1990).
Barbara Bouchet appeared in over 80 film and TV roles throughout her career and is a former Playboy Playmate appearing in the February of 1967 issue. The German born actress moved to America (San Francisco) with her family early in life and was discovered in Hollywood afterwards. Hollywood, however, typecast her making it difficult for her to get the roles she desired. Tired of this, she moved to Italy where her career then flourished.
Thoughts In My Head: - I’m pretty sure this woman wants sex from this 12-year old boy - This film is dead serious - Barbara Bouchet is HOT - The witch lady is certifiable - This is one beating the witch won’t survive - Clearly they want you to think the HOT woman is guilty
Favorite Badass or Badass Moment: Sorry kids, no badasses in this one Favorite Boobs or Boobs in a Scene: The only pair in the film are Patrizia’s and they’re glorious Favorite Death Scene: The final death of the film gets the nod
Boob Count: 1 pair Body Count: 6
IMDB Rating: 7.1 / 10 My Rating: 8.5 / 10
Final Thoughts: Don’t Torture a Duckling is certainly one of Fulci’s better films, if not his best. That’s debatable I suppose. But with amazing direction, cinematography and writing, this film is lightening in a bottle. I’d highly recommend it if you have an interest in what Fulci did prior to his years in heavy gore.
RT @ proboothcast : Mark your calendars! Mike is on Outside the Cinema tomorrow (Monday). Show starts at 5PM EST live at... http://t.co/ ... 4 hours ago
RT @ 3BlackGeeks : @ DrunkonVHS @ timthefilmguy @ digitalhorror An emphatic YES, I agree that movie can burn in hell. 6 hours ago
RT @ DrunkonVHS : @ digitalhorror tweet of the day man, tweet of the day hahaha 6 hours ago
“@ DrunkonVHS : @ digitalhorror weird...I generally enjoy it when things suck my ass hahaha” me too, but not when there's a finger involved! 6 hours ago
“@ DrunkonVHS : @ digitalhorror yeah I'm not a big fan of modern possession films”it sucked my ass and I fucking hated it 6 hours ago
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