With a long list of suspects, Lucio Fulci’s Italian giallo Don’t Torture a Duckling revels in its mystery, a small town southern Italian caper that does not, in fact, contain any fowl play – though it does have almost every other aspect of foul play imaginable.
Giuseppe in prime peeping position
Introduced to three tween boys, they are the type of scamps that get into all sorts of shenanigans. Spotting the arrival of some out of town prostitutes, they follow the trail to an abandoned house, keeping informed of all of the sordid action. They see Giuseppe Barra (Vito Passeri), a simple-minded peeping Tom enjoying the view, and he takes offense when they tease him.
The triumvirate return home, one of which helps his parents take care of the spoiled rich daughter of a former villager who has made it big in Milan. Living in the only modern house around (much to the chagrin of the local townspeople), Patrizia (Barbara Bouchet), a fashionable tease (that is, when she is wearing clothing), has come to the quiet countryside to escape an increasingly dangerous lifestyle, her drug-fuelled escapades drawing her family name into the Milano press.
Soon, these children, who spend much of their time playing soccer at the local parish under the watchful eye of priest Don Alberto Avallone (Marc Porel) and his barely tolerated mother (Irene Papas) – a bizarre lady, she is only given the semblance of respect due to her son, start turning up dead (by strangulation).
La Maciara utilizing her voodoo magic
Still transitioning from a more traditional outlook into modernity, the superstitious people, in a panicked dismay, immediately suspect a reclusive witch, La Maciara (Florinda Bolkan), for the murders. She is the concubine of Francesco (Georges Wilson), a well respected soothsayer and magician who cloisters himself away in the rocky passes above the community (though suspiciously, he is spotted on the evening of one of the murders, hacking his way through the forest with some sort of blade).
With the police baffled, and the panic in the community at an all time high, another outsider, reporter Andrea Martelli (Tomas Milian), covering the case for a daily newspaper, begins to investigate the growing body count. Will he be able to discover the clever culprit, bringing the grizzly murders to an end, or will he fail in his dangerous endeavour?
Filled with twisty writing and a plethora of untrustworthy characters, Don’t Torture a Duckling makes us question each and every person we see, as it seems like almost everyone has some sort of sketchy, sordid past. The town can also be perceived as its own persona, a decaying ancient locale filled with close-minded villagers – their outlook symbolic of the age of the town itself. A brutal murder that occurs (while a beautiful song plays in the background, no less) a little over halfway through, speaks to their ancient fears – the mass-paranoia that comes along with murder, grief and a lack of vision. It is rather ironic that, despite its cloistered, tight-knit feel – murderers, peeping Toms, druggies, and other criminals seem to litter the quaint locality. All of this, combined with Fulci’s dynamic style for visuals and violence, helps build that special atmospheric tone that is so giallo.
Ending not with a cliffhanger, Don’t Torture a Duckling is definitely worth checking out, an edgy Italian giallo that is wrought with visual panache and dynamic cinematography (by Sergio D’Offizi), stunning locales filled with suspicious characters and gory flair, a disturbing tale with an interesting outlook on superstition and other flawed mindsets; it is a gripping feature that will ensnare your most macabre senses, aptly able to rock your world, transcending its ultra dark themes.
This film is in Italian with English subtitles