I STILL want to deliver juice to the woman in this.
Don’t Torture A Duckling (1972)
Directed By: Lucio Fulci (Cat In The Brain, Zombie 2)
The Prologue
So here we are again, folks! Don’t Torture a Duckling! The film that many call THE film by the legendary, Lucio Fulci. Now while I myself am fond of some of his other films, I won’t deny the entertainment this one does have. As I’ve said before, this film packs all the man’s trademarks, be those good or bad (depending on your opinion). But this time however, we take a look at the film in the form of the UK based, Shameless Screen Entertainment version. A version that as far as look and overall packaging goes, I heavily prefer to any other release of this I’ve seen, and that does include Blue Underground’s version as well.
The Movie
In a small Italian village, pre-adolescent boys are turning up dead and evidence points to either the local witch (Florinda Bolkan), or a beautiful, bored, city girl (Barbara Bouchet) hiding out after a drug scandal…From Lucio Fulci, the infamous director of The Beyond and The New York Ripper, comes this accomplished, stylish thriller in the Italian ‘giallo’ genre. Naturalistic settings, stunning make-up effects and inspired use of music lend a genuinely shocking intensity to a violent tale of tragedy, prejudice and murder, depicting a world in which injustice goes unpunished, moral values are a sham, and innocence is destroyed. Don’t Torture a Duckling is also a stinging attack on the Italian Establishment which allegedly resulted in Lucio Fulci being blacklisted for many years.
This film sets up for a “who done it” plot where things aren’t always as they appear, people are getting naked, and when someone dies it’s usually gory if not slightly too over the top to a point it does indeed look fake, an issue Fulci’s movies would deal with for as long as he made movies. Also everything here sums up just what this movie is, a Giallo film. This being a Giallo also means this film doesn’t get in much of a hurry as it’s 102 minutes do seem to drag along at a snail pace at times. But that’s not saying it’s not fun to watch, because it is. While perhaps a lot of us won’t be able to say this is our favorite film by the great Fulci, I admit that I do greatly appreciate it. I also get a hoot out of the fact that our leading lady, is pretty much a pedophile, but she since she is a female and hot we can let that pass..right?
People say this is Lucio at his best here, but I must beg to differ (a man can have his opinion, right?). On top of the slow pace, we deal with a leading man that is just kinda there and really doesn’t stand out at all like a leading man until later in the film and by that time a good deal of the film has passed by already. I hate to say it, but at times the film does seem to have slightly bad story telling but it does however makes up for it at different moments. I like the gore, even if it’s a little corny in spots. Gore like this, in these types of films, are really acquired taste. Sorta like a live action “key-lime” pie, and I like that kinda pie. And all the same, I like this kind of gore to. Fake look? Yeah, but ten times better than crappy GCI like we get today.
The violence is something worth seeing in this film alone. It’s either really good or so over the top it’s funny, which still equals entertaining. From one scene I called “The Passion of the Gypsy”, to the iconic imagine of a drowned boy, to the very unintentionally comical climax. The gore is well worth watching the film for, if for nothing than the gore alone. Maybe the man behind the camera wasn’t at his blood pouring peek just yet but it’s fun to see where he started. Also there are some very interesting characters and twist in this one. Just sadly the most interesting characters aren’t really the main character (not the male anyway) and the ending and stuff leading to it was soo controversial for it’s time that the movie was banned in places and never saw light of day. And it never did in America until Anchor Bay got the rights in 2002. But still, a very entertaining film all things aside. And I think Shameless does a flawless job bringing it to us.
The Conclusion
Don’t go into watching this looking for none stop excitement, but you can for sure come looking to be entertained and amused in one way or another. It’s no Zombie 2 by any means but I feel, Don’t torture A Duckling is very much worth watching if you can deal with the slow pace. Shameless releases are region free so CLICK HERE to get this. And yes, if you guy it the censured cover I have at the top of this review is uncensored.
The Rating (6/10)
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