Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972)

When several young boys of a small town start to show up dead a reporter and a young woman try to figure out who is responsible.  During the murder spree several locals come under suspicion, including a man who tried to ransom one of the already dead boys back to his family, and a local woman with mental issues.  After the woman is killed by a mob of men the attitude around the town starts to change.  So when Patrizia, the young woman, is concerned that the townsfolk may suspect her because she was the last to see one of the later victims, she asks the reporter for help.  The two of them then set out investigating and quickly stumble upon a few facts that the police missed.  Facts that ends up leading them to a surprising suspect.

Fulci certainly directed some great movies in his career and Don’t Torture a Duckling is one of them.  The story is very engaging and entertaining.  This is one of those movies that you will really want to pay attention to because it throws quite a bit at the audience.  There are the normal “red herrings” that come and go.  But what sets this movie apart is how mean spirited the film can be with not only the child murders, but also the killing of one of the suspects by a group of men.  I did finally figure out who the killer was before it was revealed, but it didn’t really impact how much I enjoyed the movie.  The cast is great, especially Barbara Bouchet (who you get to see quite a bit of) as Patrizia.  Her performance is very believable and at times very creepy.  Watching her either teasing or really trying to seduce a young boy is disturbing as hell.  The child actors that found for this movie are also quite good.  They don’t get much screen time after the killings start, but are used to setup the story in the beginning. 

Now I have to be honest and say that I’m not too thrilled with some of the special effects in the movie.  There are great effects shots, like the killing in the cemetery that look great on screen.  But then there is the death of the killer where a terrible looking dummy gets is face scrapped off by a cliff.  Not only is this one of the worst effects I’ve ever seen in a Fulci movie, they keep going back to it!  The music, camera work, and lighting are all classic Fulci and very well done.  I just wish they had used some better special effects.

Fulci seemed to try his hand in just about every genre possible.  This is the second of his Giallos that I’ve seen and is every bit as good as Woman in a Lizard’s Skin.  If you haven’t added this one to your collection I can’t recommend it enough.  It is almost a perfect movie, but those damn effects just bugged me!

3 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2010 John Shatzer