Non si sevizia un paperino (1972)

Directed by Lucio Fulci [Other horror films: Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (1971), Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco, ovvero: Dracula in Brianza (1975), Sette note in nero (1977), Zombi 2 (1979), Paura nella città dei morti viventi (1980), Gatto nero (1981), …E tu vivrai nel terrore! L’aldilà (1981), Quella villa accanto al cimitero (1981), Lo squartatore di New York (1982), Manhattan Baby (1982), Murderock – Uccide a passo di danza (1984), Aenigma (1987), Zombi 3 (1988), Il fantasma di Sodoma (1988), Quando Alice ruppe lo specchio (1988), La casa nel tempo (1989), La dolce casa degli orrori (1989), Un gatto nel cervello (1990), Demonia (1990), Hansel e Gretel (1990), Voci dal profondo (1991), Le porte del silenzio (1992)]

For a long time, Don’t Torture a Duckling (the well-known English title of this giallo) has been among my favorite Lucio Fulci films. That’s probably still true, as it’s a pretty solid giallo, and while not overly violent, has a decent amount going for it.

The story is fun, and somewhat atypical as far as gialli goes. The victims are almost exclusively young boys, and while their deaths aren’t violent (they mostly seem to be strangled or suffocated), there is a certain pleasure in seeing a younger victim range, as not too many films deal with dead kids.

I also love the setting, being a rather rural and small Italian town. It’s filled with superstitious people, which unfortunately plays a part later on in the film when some confessed killers come out of the woodworks. There’s a lot of mob mentality in the film, kept in check partially by the mostly logical police force.

Most of the central performances were pretty good. Tomas Milian was a bit generic, but he was more interesting once he began working with Barbara Bouchet’s (The Black Belly of the Tarantula, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times) character. The main faces we see from the police force were all fun – especially Virgilio Gazzolo, but both Antonello Campodifiori and Ugo D’Alessio were solid also. Marc Porel (who died at the young age of 34 in 1983) was great here, and Florinda Bolkan had quite the tragic story to her.

Unlike later Fulci films, this movie is pretty tame as far as the violence goes, with two exceptions. There’s a sequence in which a woman is beaten with a chain – if you remember the opening to The Beyond, it’s quite similar. It looks hella painful to get chain whipped across the face, so I may avoid that part of Italy. Also, there’s a character who falls off a mountain at the end, and their face bumps and scrapes against the mountain. The thing falling is obviously a dummy – it looks incredibly fake. Even so, the sequence is quite fun.

In fact, the finale is quite great overall. During the scene in which the character is falling to their death, we’re given flashbacks as to explain the reasoning behind the revealed killer’s actions, why they went out of their way to kill kids. It’s even a bit emotional, with soft music playing in the background, and it’s a finale, despite the dummy, that has always stuck with me.

Like I said, this has been my favorite Fulci film for a long time, and I think that’s still pretty true. I finally watched The New York Ripper earlier this month, and I quite liked it, and it might be fair to say that Don’t Torture a Duckling is on par with that one. Even so, I think this one is a bit better – the mystery is mildly more interesting, and the finale is definitely a bit stronger.

I don’t think Don’t Torture a Duckling is perfect. Unlike Dario Argentino with Deep Red, Fulci’s been unable to amaze me quite that much. Even so, Don’t Torture a Duckling is quite a good film, and definitely a giallo that’s worth seeing.

8/10