Watch Don't Torture a Duckling For Free

Such a frustrating disappointment

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Like several other reviewers here, I knew Lucio Fulci only from viewings of a couple of "House by the Cemetery" and "The Beyond", which did nothing for me. So I was also startled by this, an assured and fully realized piece of work that pulls the viewer deep into the psychological miasma of a small Sicilian village terrorized by the brutal serial murders of several young boys. The setting is vivid and unsettling- the ancient and cloistered existing on the edge of a modern highway overpass, indifferent drivers buzzing past while a bloody and primal drama plays out in the world they've left behind. The story manages to balance elements ranging from a kinky giallo seductress given to inappropriate teasing of fevered pre-pubescent boys, a fraudulent shaman and his traumatized companion, the local "witch", a critique of mob hysteria and an anti-clericalism that somehow echoes Pete Walker's contemporaneous and extremely bitter take on the subject. A tiny and repeatedly exhumed skeleton is an apt recurring image for this meditation on violated innocence. The very mobilized camerawork seems to revel in the memorable extremes of the landscape in which this all unfolds - in a way that actually recalled the best and most ambitious spaghetti westerns - and despite resolutely grim subject matter, this viewer was compelled to see things through to a disturbing climax that feels just right and doesn't trivialize what came before. I can believe that Fulci felt particularly proud of this film - it has the feel of personal commitment and engagement - not in any way just an entertainment, it still grips the viewer in a high style nightmare like the best gialli do, but with something more lurking

This really is a most impressive giallo from Lucio Fulci. The distinctive but odd title seems to distract somewhat from what is one of the director's finest. There is a Donald Duck toy in the film and while we have no reason to believe it was tortured it does lose its head. Even so, the more vicious 1982 outing, New York Ripper is only hampered by a Donald Duck voice in the taunting killer phone calls, so maybe that could have had this title instead. In any event here, Florida Bolkan, Barbara Bouchet and Tomas Milian turn in top notch performances and indeed even all the lesser parts are well accounted for and what with all the, presumably, local extras involved Fulci does a brilliant job in ensuring very believable performances from everyone. There is a strong sense of nastiness and hypocrisy running throughout and the film is racing non-stop from the very off with some worrying concerns for the many children involved.

Masterpiece. This movie cannot have been made before or after.Excellent story, acting, plot, cinematography. The cemetery beating scene is excellent. The ending fight scene. Many great location shots.See this movie. Masterpiece. This movie cannot have been made before or after.Excellent story, acting, plot, cinematography. The cemetery beating scene is excellent. The ending fight scene. Many great location shots.See this movie. Masterpiece. This movie cannot have been made before or after.Excellent story, acting, plot, cinematography. The cemetery beating scene is excellent. The ending fight scene. Many great location shots.See this movie.

Eccenlente. Fantastico. Magnifico. Grande. Molto grande. This is probably the finest Fulci movie. The first Fulci movie I saw was 'City of the Living Dead' and I was blown away. Then naturally I saw 'Zombi 2', 'The Beyond', 'House by the Cemetery' and 'The Black Cat. 'The Black Cat' being the weakest among them. I think they're all good atmosphere and gore horror movies - 'House by the Cemetery' being the most disturbing one - but I often thought that I should see something more coherent. Something more bound in reality. Don't get me wrong, Fulci makes excellent super-natural/abstract horror movies, I just felt he must be also good at making movies with coherent plots and stories. That's when I turned to 'Don't Torture a Duckling'. A sinister Giallo with a murderer strangling young boys. Already from the beginning we go into something very disturbing, something controversial. As the movie progress it just gets worse. Themes: repression, sin, guilt, sexual aberrant behavior, bigotry and violence. Genre: thriller/horror. Subgenre: Giallo/murder mystery. Writers: Lucio Fulci, Roberto Gianviti and Gianfranco Clerici. Director: Lucio Fulci.This movie is strongly critical of society and religion. For example, people were blaming the outsider for all the killings. The outsider being a disturbed woman who is a supposed witch. This is where the bigotry comes in. A person who doesn't believe in God is labeled a bad person by the majority of people in the movie. In fact, she ended up being beaten to death with chains by men. All because she was different and because people had the opinion of it might be her, because she was the odd outsider. To make it worse, she tried to get help by crawling to a road where a lot of cars were driving by. But they ignored her. They were too occupied with what they were doing they did not care about a dying woman. I cried because of that scene. That scene evoke such strong emotions in me. It was the first time I cried watching a Giallo and the last time so far. It was a strong criticism of society's bigotry. Religion was strongly criticized too. It showed that repressing sexual tendencies made things worse. As shown by a priest repressing his homosexual tendencies by strangling young boys. Strangling is the most intense form of intimacy there is.Christianity sees sexuality as a sin, although it is completely natural. To make matters worse the priest was justifying his crimes as a service to God. Denying his sexual urge which disgusted him and made him aggressive. It was very brave to come up with such criticism by Fulci. Especially with sexuality and religion being taboo at the time of release. It is no wonder this movie was blacklisted and Fulci became a notorious figure. The movie is also relevant to this day, with scandals of pedophile priests who are being bailed by the Vatican. Anyway, the movie has an iron grip atmosphere, thought provoking story, engaging plot, horrifying murders and a direction by Fulci which has never been better. Should be watched by all Giallo aficionados. This is my favorite Fulci movie and think that it is definitely his finest. I put the movie in such high regard I think it is on par with Dario Argento's 'Deep Red'. 10/10. Molto grande Giallo.