Don't Torture a Duckling

When researching the recent movies I have talked about, I came across a giallo with the silly name of:

Don't Torture a Duckling (1972).

First off, don't worry. There are in fact no actual ducklings in the movie, tortured or otherwise. Secondly, I may have seen this movie back in the 90's, but I had no real memory of it, nor did I recognize any scenes.

Set in the poor rural town of Accendura in southern Italy, this giallo is directed by horror maestro Lucio Fulci, and marks his first cinematic use of heavy gore. He has also called it his favorite movie in his catalogue.

Don't Torture a Duckling stars Florinda Bolkan, Tomas Milan and Barbara Bouchet. Bouchet has been in several of the movies I've talked about recently and Tomas Milan starred in Almost Human that I've also reviewed.

So on to the plot. The movie starts by showing us some of the immoral and sinister people in town. The slow witted Giuseppe Barra who spies on people. The mysterious witch La Magiara who unearths a baby skeleton. Young thrill seeker Patrizia who taunts and flirts with an eleven year old boy while naked. This scene landed Fulci in hot water with the law, as he was accused of corrupting a minor until he could prove that the child actor was substituted for an adult little person when on screen with the naked Bouchet. Fulci was cleared off all charges.

Soon enough, a boy disappears and a few more are murdered. The police start an expansive investigation with several competent officers. In many giallo movies, the police are usually just there to answer the question; “Why don't they call the cops”, but normally it's the main hero who solves the case. In Don't Torture a Duckling the police are pretty sharp, especially once the eagle eyed and clever journalist Andrea Martelli arrives from Rome to help.

Every time a boy gets killed, the townsfolk get more angry and a mob soon starts forming. Violence follows and everyone is on edge. It all comes to a boil in the end, and as usual, I'm not spoiling it.

Don't Torture a Duckling stands out from many of the other gialli I've written about. It feels like a much bigger movie with a larger budget, and the whole piece feels a bit more competent. I'm not trying to trash anyone's work, it's more a gut feeling than anything else. I have no technical complaints whatsoever, even though none of the shots feel as artistic as some that appear in other movies. Despite that Fulci demonstrates a smooth competence throughout.

My biggest and perhaps only real complaint apart from the title, is that there is such a small pool of suspects and once the police starts eliminating them, the field is very narrow. I would have liked to see more paranoia between the townsfolk, but I get it. With a runtime of 105 minutes, it is already a long movie and one that drags a bit as it is. For the paranoia to work, we'd have to get to know even more characters and that just isn't possible. You'd need a mini series for that to work.

So, do I recommend this movie? Oh yes, to giallo fans, absolutely. It is one of the benchmark movies in the giallo genre. Not as good as Argento's Bird With the Crystal Plumage perhaps, but a solid movie nonetheless. Other thriller fans might like it, so perhaps give it a shot.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a safe and great week! Oh, and Happy Holiday's to you all!