Don't Torture a Duckling
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Movie Reviews of Don't Torture a Duckling
Movie Review: Fulci's Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
Italian director Lucio Fulci is rarely given the credit he deserves. Fulci was a director of great utility, who traversed generic boundaries regularly before he became firmly associated with the horror genre. His final gory step into the horror genre with "Zombi 2" was as much the result of economic imperatives and producer influence as it was a conscious decision on Fulci's part. These films were marked by an ambivalence towards conventional narrative patterns, which makes his 1972 effort "Don't Torture a Duckling" all the more exceptional. This film is as tightly plotted and efficiently constructed as any giallo film, but with its undertones of peasant superstition, the supernatural and witchcraft, places it firmly within the thematic universe of the director. This is giallo Fulci style and the concessions he makes to the conventions of this form are purely within the remit of iconography. This is a giallo marked by a particularly unsettling atmosphere of hypocrisy and perversion (one only need look toward a truly shocking scene in which a young boy of 12 is prick teased by a naked Barbara Bouchet). This is further augmented into the white washed walls of this rural northern Italian city, and its superstitious villagers, who aren't above a bit of chain whipping vigilante action. Fulci invests a great deal more in the procedures of the police, but ultimately the resolution is arrived at by amateur detectives, who represent both modernity and bourgeois society. The murders of innocent children, intriguingly, are not due to perverse motives, but instead an idealistic religious conviction which sees the modern world as a haven of vices which can only corrupt the innocence of youth. Fulci shows the negative side of both modern Italy and its rural counterpart. By showing that both are marked by ignorance and arrogance, Fulci seems to offer a particularly nihilistic vision of mankind.
This DVD re-issue by Blue Underground is excellent value for money. The picture quality is very good for a film that has been mishandled and distributed badly for decades. This is a must buy for anyone interested in European horror, not only is it an exemplary giallo, but also Fulci's most rounded cohesive and enjoyable pictures.
Movie Review: A masterpiece of the giallo genre, and one of the most disturbing horror films ever made.
Summary: 5 Stars
At the beginning of Duckling, you may be a bit disorientated. There are no dark shadows, no murder in the opening minutes, nothing looks undead or even a bit ripe. No, nothing but a beautiful sweeping shot of the Italian countryside; in the distance, a young boy sings in Italian. But as Lucio Fulci's name pops onto the screen, so does a 30-something woman, digging in soft wet earth with long beautiful fingers and what she's exhuming places us exactly where we are. The woman is tenderly digging up the deformed remains of an infant, almost certainly her own, and we are in the middle of one of the most disturbing giallo ever made.
The essential plot of Duckling is that someone is killing little boys in a very religious Sicilian town. Unlike an inferior horror film, this is a true mystery flick as well. The film is filled with rich characters and possibilities, and the tension that holds the town makes everyone fear the skeleton in their closet--and everyone has one.
Movie Review: Saving Souls...
Summary: 5 Stars
I fell in love w/ Lucio Fulci's work after seeing HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY many years ago. Ever since then, his movies have had a special place in my cold, black heart (this, in spite of my not being a big fan of overt gore!). DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING is one of Fulci's earliest, more restrained, yet utterly disturbing titles. Why? Because the subject of child murder is presented so bluntly (especially for 1972). DUCKLING also takes on superstition / religion, insanity, and small town ignorance. We are privy to the -almost useless- police investigation that only serves to uncover red herrings and dead ends, while a killer roams the countryside. Fulci has constructed an airtight mystery full of suspense and shocks. You may figure out who the killer is early on, but even that doesn't detract from the overall impact of the story. This one sticks in your head...Movie Review: Giallo rules!
Summary: 5 Stars
Another great classic from the master of extreme horror. This giallo tale is about a mad-man(or woman)roaming the Italian countryside murdering little boys. It is not by any means his goriest or most f****d up but for the time the child murders and anti-catholic message were unheard of. There are a couple of cool special effects scenes and it is not completely devoid of gore, especially one scene that is reminiscent of "The Beyond" (the cliff scene is cool too) and can definitely see the start of a gory career for the maestro. The other great thing about this movie is the music is done by Riz Ortilani, the same man who made the excellent music for "Cannibal Holocaust". If your a giallo fan or a Fulci fan this is a must have. FULCI LIVES!Movie Review: Classic Fulci Giallo
Summary: 5 Stars
While some of his films are very disoriented and loose on plot (BEYOND, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD), DONT TORTURE A DUCKLING is a very well structured murder-mystery. Some children of an Italian village are being murdered in brutal fashion. The bodies look very real. Fulci does a good job of keeping the viewer guessing who the killer is. Of course there are a couple sequences of extreme gore as well.
If you wanna get into Fulci, get THE BEYOND & NEW YORK RIPPER. These two movies really exemplify his style. If you enjoy NEW YORK RIPPER, get DONT TORTURE A DUCKLING. If you like THE BEYOND, buy GATES OF HELL (AKA CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD).