Rent Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)
3.4 of 5 from 139 ratings
1h 29min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- When the sleepy rural village of Accendura is rocked by a series of murders of young boys, the superstitious locals are quick to apportion blame, with the suspects including the local "witch", Maciara (Florinda Bolkan). With the bodies piling up and the community gripped by panic and a thirst for bloody vengeance, two outsiders - city journalist Andrea (Tomas Milian) and spoilt rich girl Patrizia (Barbara Bouchet) - team up to crack the case. But before the mystery is solved, more blood will have been spilled, and not all of it belonging to innocents...
- Actors:
- 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, Fausta Avelli, Gianfranco Barra, John Bartha, Duilio Cruciani, Don Semeraro, Empedocle Buzzanca
- Directors:
- Lucio Fulci
- Producers:
- Edmondo Amati
- Writers:
- Lucio Fulci, Roberto Gianviti, Gianfranco Clerici
- Aka:
- Non si sevizia un paperino
- Studio:
- Shameless
- Genres:
- Classics, Horror, Thrillers
- Collections:
- All the Twos: 1972-2012, A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Films of 1972, Top Films
- Countries:
- Italy
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 11/09/2017
- Run Time:
- 105 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby Digital 1.0, Italian Dolby Digital 1.0
- Subtitles:
- English, English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- New audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films
- Giallo a la Campagna, a new video discussion with Mikel J. Koven, author of La Dolce Morte: Vernacular Cinema and the Italian Giallo Film
- Hell is Already in Us, a new video essay by critic Kat Ellinger
- Lucio Fulci Remembers, a 1988 audio interview with the film's co-writer/director Interviews with actor Florinda Bolkan, cinematographer Sergio D'Offizi, assistant editor Bruno Micheli and assistant makeup artist Maurizio Trani
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 24/03/2025
- Run Time:
- 105 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono, Italian Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono
- Subtitles:
- English, English Hard of Hearing
- DVD Regions:
- Region 0 (All)
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films
- Giallo a la Campagna, a video discussion with Mikel J. Koven, author of La Dolce Morte: Vernacular Cinema and the Italian Giallo Film
- Hell is Already in Us, a video essay by critic Kat Ellinger
- Lucio Fulci Remembers, a rare 1988 audio interview with the filmmaker
- Who Killed Donald Duck, an interview with actress Barbara Bouchet
- Those Days with Lucio, an interview with actress Florinda Bolkan
- The DP's Eye, an interview with cinematographer Sergio D'Offizi
- From the Cutting Table, an interview with editor Bruno Micheli
- Endless Torture, an interview with makeup artist Maurizio Trani
- Theatrical trailer
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Reviews (2) of Don't Torture a Duckling
Spoilers follow ... - Don't Torture a Duckling review by NP
Child killings are the grisly subject of this Lucio Fulci Directed giallo. And he takes delight in some genuinely horrifying scenes.
A handful of vengeful men corner Maciara (Florinda Bolkan) in a graveyard and beat her with chains in probably the most disturbing set-piece I’ve seen in a giallo – and there have been a few. With unhurried deliberation, the blows are dealt slowly and viciously, followed by unflinching moments of blood emerging from new wounds. All this to the sound of triumphant ballads. After such prolonged suffering, you would expect Maciara to survive the ordeal – but no, after dragging her bloodied, broken body across the unforgiving heat of wasteland, she dies by the side of the road, for the most part unnoticed by passing vehicles. Horrifying indeed.
There is a carefully maintained sense of unease that permeates throughout the isolated Italian village where these horrors occur, and yet there’s a dark vein of … can I call it humour? … running through the more graphic moments in this film. Similarly, as the revealed miscreant is tipped loudly over a ravine, it’s probably a brave choice to continually cut to a close-up of his battered face being slowly smashed following every connection with the rock face he is tumbling down. Equally, the injection of more of the deeply inappropriately soulful soundtrack lends a perversion to his slow, violent death.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Entertaining Rural giallo... - Don't Torture a Duckling review by sw
Lucio Fulci's 'Don't Torture a Duckling' is a giallo with a couple of characteristics that make it quite unique in this genre, in my experience. Firstly it's rural setting is both refreshing and unsettling and secondly the fact that the killer's victims are young boys rather women give this giallo a fresh and distinctive canvas.
The plot is intriguing and rewarding, the score vibrant and the cast includes a standout turn by Florinda Bolkan and the gorgeous and never more alluring Barbara Bouchet.
'Duckling' is definitely a film I'd recommend to any other giallo enthusiast. 8/10
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.