Don't Torture a Duckling

Starring:Florinda Bolkan, Barbara Bouchet, Tomas Milian, Irene Papas, Marc Porel, Georges Wilson, Antonello Campodifiori, Ugo D'Alessio, Virgilio Gazzolo, Vito Passeri, Rosalia Maggio, Andrea Aureli, Linda Sini, Franco Balducci, Duilio Cruciani, Don Semeraro, John Bartha
Director: Lucio Fulci
Studio: Anchor Bay
Product Type: DVD

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The oddly titled Don't Torture a Duckling (taken from a minor plot point) is one of director Lucio Fulci's most linear and conventional narratives, relying more on story and mystery than on gore and atmospherics. In a rural Italian village, young boys turn up dead, and the authorities are stumped as to who the murderer is. A reporter lends his efforts to the hunt for the killer, many red herrings turn up, and more kids are murdered while the police search for the culprit. A sexually liberated young woman from Milan, a local witch, and the village idiot all fall under suspicion until the killer is uncovered. Gone is much of the director's trademark visual style, replaced with the blinding sunlight of an Italian summer for a hyperrealistic feel (though Fulci's affinity for the zoom shot and deep focus comes through). More tellingly, though, Fulci points toward the superstition and ignorance of the villagers as being as dangerous and destructive as the murderer himself. Also, the film's vehemently anti-Catholic sentiment had to have been controversial at the time of its release. Fans of the giallo and Italian horror in general would do well to seek out this film for an example of Lucio Fulci at his most grim and serious. --Jerry Renshaw

Description

A Classic Of The Perverse From Director Lucio Fulci

Several young boys are murdered in a remote village rife with sex and superstition, and the townspeople go mad with rage and violence. But when a hard-nosed reporter and promiscuous young woman search for the true killer, they discover a fiend - and motive - even more shocking than the crimes themselves.

DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING is a landmark giallo so savage, it could only come from the mind of director Lucio Fulci (THE BEYOND, ZOMBIE, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD). Featuring an international all-star cast that includes Tomas Milian (RUN MAN RUN), Barbara Bouchet (BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA), Irene Papas (Z) and Florinda Bolkan (LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN), this re-discovered classic has been restored from the original vault materials and is now presented completely uncut and uncensored.

Customer Reviews:

Fulci's Masterpiece.......2007-06-14

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.

Great giallo..........2007-04-18

...this is unlike any other film by Fulci, other than Lizard in a Woman's Skin. It is about a serial killer who murders little kids. The townspeople become paranoid and police seek out the killer. Interesting story, and twist in the end. You think you know who the killer is, but you don't! Great movie. Excellent setting and pace. A must for your Giallo or Italian horror collection.

So you think Fulci is just a gore director?.......2007-04-02

Starting in 1979 with the release of Zombie, Lucio Fulci became known for gore movies. That continued through the 80s with a string of gore flicks, which include The Beyond and City of the Living Dead among others.

Don't Torture a Duckling isn't your typical Lucio Fulci film at all. There are pretty much no gore scenes, though there are two scenes where Fulci delivers some gore, but I'll touch upon that later on.

Don't Torture a Duckling as I stated before is very different then what Fulci did in the late 70s and 80s. If you're looking for gore you will not find much at all. Actually about half the murders take place off camera.

The plot is rather dark; pre-teens being killed is quite disturbing. Gore and violence is not needed when dealing with that subject matter. We also have a woman in her 20s that seems to have a weird sexual attraction to young boys.

It's really a strange movie and like I said unlike most of Fulci's other movies. While yes, Don't Torture a Duckling can be slow in some spots, and my biggest complaint is the sense of dread isn't quite there.

Here, Fulci at times creates some great tension and atmosphere and other times it just doesn't work. Oddly enough I found Fulci's gore movies to have more tension at times.

But with that said this is still an excellent movie and Lucio Fulci proves he is more then just a gore director. While some scenes I felt lacked tension others had overall Fulci nailed it.

While watching the movie I did enjoy it, but it was afterwards when I thought back I realized how good the movie actually was. There are several things while not directly brought up are hinted at, from sexual repression to pedophilia.

With all that hinted at and all going on in the movie it really does add to the movie and it shows what a talented filmmaker Lucio Fulci was.

While I won't spoil who the killer is their motive was really creepy and they didn't do simply because they are psychotic, which yeah sure the killer is, but the motive was downright creepy.

As for the gore; one woman is whipped with chains and while not overly gory like in Fulci's later movies the gore was decent and the scene was really disturbing and with the music playing in the back-round it was even more disturbing.

The last death in the movie is also a bit gory, but it's quite clear a dummy was used, but hey it still works well.

If you are a fan of Giallos I would very much recommend Don't Torture a Duckling. And for those who think Fulci is just a gore director should really check this out.

In closing, Don't Torture a Duckling isn't a perfect movie; it can at times be a bit slow and some scenes lack the tension they should have had, but overall Lucio Fulci delivers an excellent film and one of my favorite Giallos.

Co-star Barbara Bouchet has to rate as one of the most beautiful women to ever grace cinema.

Argento he's NOT!.......2005-08-26

Don't get me wrong I love Fulci movies, but I love them for the same reason most other people love them (the gore quotient). Fulci can always be depended upon to splatter tons of blood, guts and gore all over the screen and perhaps this is his way of covering up the fact that he's not the best director. I'd never go into a Fulci movie expecting a deep plot or oscar worthy acting.

With that said I did go into this movie expecting more. Maybe I expected too much and therefore I was very disappointed. Fulci's effort here falls short of suspense, character and atmosphere. Argento's "Bird With The Crystal Plumage" blows this film out of the water. Argento's "Bird" is intelligent, suspenseful and moves at a good pace. "Don't Torture a Duckling" fails to deliver any of the above. The reveiwer above states the movie is up there with Argento's "Deep Red" and that statement is as laughable as the way he spelled Fulci(Fulce).

I'm not taking anything away from Fulci. Like I said I love the movies he'd make 7 to 12 years later like "Zombie" "New York Ripper" "The Beyond" and "City of The Living Dead". All movies made between 1979 and 1983 as opposed to this one made in 1972. Fulci is known as The Godfather of Gore not the Godfather of Giallo. For good Giallo films check out any Argento film from the 1970's or Mario Bava's "Bay of Blood" (1972).

Watch "The Bird with the Crystal Plummage" GIALLO instead........2005-03-29

I waited ages to get this Fulci classic and now I wished I did not. It is probably Fulci's most confusing work to date and lacks all known production standards considering this is film #33 from him. I can buy GIALLO being a bit spaced out and highly far-fetched, but this one is just plain bad from start to finish, it is only really remembered for the infamous woman chain whipping sequence (chain whipping also appeared in "The Beyond"; Fulci loved cashing in on all this stuff), "Don't Torture a Duckling" is completely void of substance, mystery or crime and instead is replaced by everything that is camp about film making, from the obvious papermashy heads to the "shall I stand here and act now" type blemish on everyone's face, considering this is Fulci's 33rd film or thereabouts, it really looks like his first and it would be another 8 years before he made horror, I was expecting a somewhat smart GIALLO and got drawn out rubbish instead. Like I said - Watch "The Bird with the Crystal Plummage" GIALLO instead. It was made by Argento two years before this and is where you should be at instead. I would recommend that Argento 'primative slasher' over Fulci's cash crop schlock "Don't Torture a Duckling" any day of the week.

The Lucio Fulci Collection Volume 3 (City of the Living Dead/Don't Torture a Duckling)

Average customer rating:

Anchorbay has done it again!!!!!
Good,Good And Good
One Masterpiece, One Disappointment
Lucio fulci has open the vault of uncut terror

The Lucio Fulci Collection Volume 3 (City of the Living Dead/Don't Torture a Duckling)
Starring: Andrea Aureli , Franco Balducci , John Bartha , Florinda Bolkan , and Barbara Bouchet
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

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Similar Items:

The Lucio Fulci Collection Volume 1 (The House By the Cemetery/The Beyond)
Zombi 2 (25th Anniversary Special Edition 2-Disc Set)
Deep Red
Tenebre
Inferno

ASIN: B0000640SQ
Release Date: 2002-06-11

Customer Reviews:

Anchorbay has done it again!!!!!.......2003-04-05

Being a fan of Lucio Fulci and needing a copy of City of Living Dead, I decided to buy the 2 disc set even though I hadn't seen Duckling before, I am lucky I made that decesion.

First of all City is basicly the same plot as Beyond and even stars Catriona MacColl from Beyond. A priest hangs himself opening the gateway to hell and MacColl sees this in a phsycic vision and is scared into a coma. A report saves her from the grave as she is buried alive and they set out to close the gateway. While there are zombies in this film they are noit traditional ones, they have supernatural powers and rip the back of their victims skulls off. The priest zombie makes victims bleed from their eyes and vomit up their guts, this happens in a really great scene. There is also a brilliant head drilling scene, which is in my opinion one of Fulci's best effects. While not as good as Beyond, City is still a great Fulci film, with plenty of atmosphere and Catriona MacColl looking very cute, I haven't seen her in anything but Fulci films, it's a shame though as she is such a cute actress.

Duckling, which I though would be the weak movie, was surprisingly a brilliant. While I have heard of it refered to as a giallo, it really is more of a great mystery involving a series of child murders. While there are a few stalking scenes, Duckling lacks the gloved killer vibe of the standard giallo. What stands out in this film is the lack of Fulci gore, except one scene involving a witch being beaten by vigilantes and also Fulci proves with this film that he is capable of directing a coherrant plot driven film and makes a truely gripping film experience.

While slim on special features compared to the Beyond DVD, Anchorbay has as usual done an exceptional job of transfering these films to DVD. The pictures are generally as crisp as the day they were shot and really any Fulci fan should snap these up as there will never be better versions available.

Good,Good And Good.......2003-02-13

Bon Du Début a la fin

One Masterpiece, One Disappointment.......2002-07-09

Hi! As always, my review is based on QUALITY of the DVD's and not on the movie, acting, or direction.

DUCKLING: Picture-3.5, Sound-3.5
CITY OF DEAD: Picture-2.0, Sound-3.0

Thus, my overall rating is 3 stars. If I was rating "Duckling" alone, I would round it up to 4 stars by itself.

This is an excellent two-pack to buy if you enjoy Lucio Fulci. The price of the two-pack is about the same as if you buy one separately, so get 'em both at once. The case has kind of a hard-to-get-to insert card because the 2nd DVD flops around on a stiff plastic round. The insert card has Chapter Lists, one movie on each side -- that's it.

I watched "City of the Living Dead" first and I'm glad. There's not much to enjoy. The picture is lousy and grainy -- this, from a 1980 film. It is not true 16x9; in fact, it is more like a box on the screen. Sound is empty with no depth. Dolby 5.1? I don't know; it's barely stereo. The best part of the movie is seeing Catriona MacColl.

"Don't Torture a Duckling" is a superb film. There is a bit of gore, but this movie would earn plenty if released today in theatres. The sound is listed as mono (true) and is sharp and clear, becoming a bit distorted during loud parts. It is a true 16x9 picture and superior to "City of the Living Dead".

Whew. Both films feature good-looking female actors, as you'd expect in any Argento, Bava, or Fulci film. The prize here is Florinda Bolkan -- who gets top billing. Now I know why. She is very, very beautiful although in somewhat of a dirty and disheveled role. She is taller and larger than some of the policemen -- I like that -- and her performance is dramatic and superb. She did not receive an easy part to perform. It's always good to find a new female hero although the film is from 1972. She continues to work in film. I'm glad I found her, and I will be looking for more of her work. She literally spells the word GLAMOUR despite the grubby part here.

There is one very disturbing violent scene that many will not enjoy. I didn't like it one bit, and most women will not either. Whether it adds to the narrative or belongs in the film is up to you to decide. This is an "uncut" version so I guess Fulci wanted it in there.

There seems to be a transportation challenge in this movie as people on their feet can travel faster than automobiles. All the scenes are very interesting!

I will view "Duckling" again and again. "City..Dead" is probably worth a view once every five years or so.

Lucio fulci has open the vault of uncut terror.......2002-06-19

june 18,02 tuesday I taught t have seen the original city of the dead dvd .but no this is the uncut version the was film when lucio was alive this one contains gut seens the were cut of from the movie it has more blood guts and seens of the movie
the you havent seen .dont torture a duckling is uncut it has seen the i havent seen at all guts blood when a gril is rip little from her skin by the towns people and is uncut from the vault of lucio bouth dvds are original uncencerd and complete. im the fist to own it you must see by henry

Average customer rating:

Fulci's Masterpiece
Great giallo...
So you think Fulci is just a gore director?
Argento he's NOT!
Watch "The Bird with the Crystal Plummage" GIALLO instead.

Don't Torture a Duckling
Starring: Florinda Bolkan , Barbara Bouchet , Tomas Milian , Irene Papas , and Marc Porel
Director: Lucio Fulci
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305840032
Release Date: 2000-05-23

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Customer Reviews:

Fulci's Masterpiece.......2007-06-14

Great giallo..........2007-04-18

So you think Fulci is just a gore director?.......2007-04-02

Argento he's NOT!.......2005-08-26

Watch "The Bird with the Crystal Plummage" GIALLO instead........2005-03-29

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