Don't Torture a Duckling

Lucio Fulci was one of the most notorious directors of Italian horror, earning a cult following for making some of the goriest and strangest horror films of the 1970s and ‘80s. Don't Torture a Duckling, his second horror feature, is one of his best and least exploitative, despite the premise centering on a series of child murders in a remote Italian village. The locals are superstitious and are quick to blame a woman they call The Witch (Florinda Bolkan), who is brutally murdered in a gory scene—but the killings continue. Tomas Milian stars as a newspaper reporter from the city and Barbara Bouchet is the daughter of a rich landowner, both outsiders who team up to solve the murders. The mystery is wrapped up in tensions between the villagers and the urban outsiders, as well as the excessive power of religious beliefs and superstitions over the locals. Where so many Italian horror films are set in sleek urban settings at night, this one plays out in the dusty countryside in daylight. A tale about a culture of fear and hysteria that drives characters to terrible actions, Don't Torture a Duckling features scenes of violence that are brutal but not particularly realistic, thanks to some unconvincing dummies and less-than-convincing makeup effects (and there are no scenes of violence against children). Presented in a newly restored edition, extras include audio commentary by film scholar Troy Howarth, a video essay by critic Kat Ellinger, and new and archival interviews. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)