 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 1972 film. Don't torture a duckling This is another giallo film that I'm doing a review on if you want to check it out on my channel If you're into giallo specifically, I have a whole playlist on there That is all the giallo films that I've reviewed now This will also be a part of my lucio fulci playlist that I have on there, which this will be my fifth movie adding to that so I've actually gone on a quick stint of watching all fulci actually I hadn't seen fulci and over the last two months now. I've watched five fulci films So it's interesting plus this is this one's interesting that I'm doing this one last because I did City of the living dead the beyond the cemetery by the house Zombie and now I'm doing don't torture duckling last which is very interesting because The first four films I did came later in his career and this one was much earlier he was more known for giallo and being less gory and You know more geared towards like zombie and stuff like that So it was interesting for me to see all those those four first and then now see this one Which is what he was more known for earlier in his career. So it's interesting It's written and directed by lucio fulci like I said He did zombie cat in the brain City of the living dead the beyond house by the cemetery just to name a few He's done a lot Also written by Roberto Gianviti who has a hundred and twenty nine credits on imdb writing credits also Gianfranco Clarissi who has sixty six writing credits on imdb both of those guys Mainly just have credits for like Italian language films. So That's why I didn't you know list specific films This was the first film fulci made with gore effects So this is why this is an interesting one because this kind of like marks where he Starts his interest in doing gore and there really isn't a whole lot of gore to this I mean There's a little bit especially in comparison to the other four films I've watched of his where he really steps it up and those things really become a focal point of what he's going for But the interesting thing is between this film and the other ones you can see the same type of Fulci structure in that the way he directs the way he likes the cinematography to go really good Shot framing really good panning and camera movements really interesting shots that he sets up The way he constructs them and also another Commonality is his pacing of scenes like he has a tendency to let scenes go a little bit too long But that's you know just a thing that he does The film had a hard time actually getting released outside of Italy because it's got criticism of the Roman Catholic Church in it I Mean the biggest thing with this and I could see this being a big problem in the early 70s is that the priest well hold on Before I go any further just know at much like all my old movie reviews Spoilers all sorts of spoilers so turn this off if you don't want to know spoilers for this film Go watch it then come back. So anyway, so the biggest thing is the priest in this is the killer in the end. So Roman Catholic Church obviously would not really like it and people who love the Roman Catholic Church To just be like, oh you made the priest the killer, you know back in the early 70s stuff like that Didn't play as well as it would nowadays people would just be like, oh, it's a film whatever It's this person's take on it. So so yeah, it had a hard time getting distribution outside of Italy because of how Against the church it is and it didn't actually end up making a debut in the United States until 1999 and that was thanks to distributor anchor Bay. So took a long time to get this film over in the States The opening sequence in this film with the child skeleton is actually a really attention-grabbing Scene this is something I feel like full she does a lot in his films He'll have like an opening sequence that has something. That's just like oh You want to know what's gonna happen now. He doesn't like start it like super super slow He'll he'll give you like an awesome grabbing scene and then he'll back it down and kind of slow it down And then build it back up again. So he obviously does that in this film with the with the child skeleton I do think that the music that went along with that opening scene was way too In your face. It was like beating you over the head trying to tell you what to do In general the music in this was a little problematic at certain times. It was great It worked really well for for the scene and what was going on at other times It was over the top or with totally mismatch. There were some real instances where it felt too Fun loving and whimsical for what was actually going on So some overall musical issues in my opinion They established pretty quick that these kids are awful despite being active with the church That's important because obviously in the end the reason these kids are getting killed off by the priest is because they're you know I guess sinning in a way that they're becoming un-pure They're going down the path that the priest doesn't want to see them go down So he kind of takes them out to like save their souls in a way While they're still young and haven't done too much terrible stuff But they do a good job of setting that up because they show immediately that these kids You know they're very very involved with the church at first and then as soon as they leave the church They go and they do terrible things like they're you know shooting animals with rocks. They're trying to be peeping toms They're trying to watch these women and men have sex in this place that they go to and they're smoking And it's just like all these things and and they do a good job of just kind of laying that that ground work for What you're gonna find out at the end of why the kids are being killed and the other thing is like Kid killing in film is controversial anyway, I mean The film trick-or-treat one of my favorite films in it was done It was finished up in 2007 that was ready to be released But because it had a child death in it a very prominent child death in it actually a few child deaths But one very prominent one they were worried about it sat on the shelf for two years because they didn't know what to do with it They were fearful that people would have that there would be a lot of backlash because of the child death in it So it's just sat on the shelf for two years and that was eventually released straight to DVD at that point. So I Mean even now there there's an issue with people, you know going into the realm of child deaths So for a film like this in the early 70s I mean to have so many child deaths in it on top of the killer being a priest I could see where this film was Getting probably a lot of heat at that point and it's you know Once again easy to see how it didn't get had a hard time getting distribution outside it Italy so The close-up shots of the dirty voodoo dolls in this is actually kind of disturbing the way It's shot because with the lighting and how like grimy and dirty they are and you're not seeing who's doing it They're focusing very very tightly on on the dolls themselves in the pins and like sticking the pins through like the throats and stuff Additionally the noises that they have going on during that are really Disturbing because it's like sounds of kids like in distress like suffering So I thought they did a really good job of kind of having you know a rough Rough disturbing uncomfortable scene there, which was good. I mean it adds to the film what it's supposed to be The woman being sexual with the kid is not even close to believable the rich woman who Excuse me who's kind of thrown out there as a bit of a red herring in this who you know Says she doesn't like feel connected to anyone When the kid goes up to like bring her her orange aid, I think is what he calls it or He just sees her laying there naked and she's just all like she's like it's almost like she's trying to seduce him And then later on when she comes across the kid when she's got a flat tire and she's like Oh, will you help me with my flat tire? What would you want? Do you want money or would you like a kiss like? That stuff's not believable so to make that character like sexual with these kids I understand it was done to to create more of a red herring for to make people think oh well She obviously is the one doing it especially when they leave her lighter at this crime at the scene of the crime I understand that's for misdirection, but it's not believable. It's very odd. I Just don't I don't like that aspect of it because it just doesn't play well for me personally Some people may be like oh, yeah, I quite liked it like I understand why it's there It's just very unbelievable and kind of dumb in my opinion. I Like how the police police in this tell Bruno's parents that they're not even sure they can save the child When they haven't found the body yet, and he's just a missing person the police are just like, you know I'm not even sure we'll be able to save him and it was it was just like oh wow That's that's it's those types of police that they're just like I mean we'll do our job But like we're not gonna make you feel good about where this is going We're just gonna tell you right now plan on your child being dead, and then if they're not Awesome surprise. You'll be happy then. It's just kind of ridiculous The lady from the very beginning that actually has the crazy eyes has the crazy eyes down very very well. What's her name? It's I Have it Machara. That's right. I had it in my notes Machara The woman who was practicing voodoo who said she did kill the kids through voodoo, which obviously she didn't Well, I mean some people could question that you know Some people could say that the voodoo did work and it overtook the priest and he was doing these terrible things for that reason but to me it didn't play that way but She did an amazing job looking crazy her acting was very good I thought she was one of my favorite parts of this film acting in general was pretty good except the kids Pretty iffy, but that's you know, that's part for the course kid actors are very iffy usually They do a good job of portraying mass hysteria in this when the the initial red herring is Arrested the guy who they just the one guy calls a dimwit the guy was the special needs in the in the neighborhood When they think that he's the killer because he had grabbed the money for the ransom That I did the hysteria that ensues after that when everyone knows that he's been been arrested And it's just like this crazy mob mentality that just explodes And I felt like they did a really good job of capturing that not just that at that point but the same type of thing when Machara is Arrested and then she's eventually let go and she gets you know, brutally murdered, but I'll talk about that a little bit more later It feels like a veiled confession to me when the priest was saying that the kids care more about Soccer than they do about the Lord. He made a comment that was something like The kids are close with the Lord, but they're more Interested in soccer. It was something to that effect And then he goes on in this conversation to say that he's good at soccer and he played He really likes to play soccer So I felt like the construction of that dialogue Really was a hint at the priest Being close with the Lord, but not as close, you know, because he was drawing this parallel with the kids saying Oh, you know these kids are like they're close with the Lord But they're not actually like that interested in being good kids and then he's Kind of puts himself in that same category and I just thought that was a really interesting way that the dialogue Excuse me was put in there. Sorry. I'm still getting over Getting over the sickness just hanging on in my chest, but I really honestly that was my favorite like Secretly foreshadowing moments in this film The voice acting of the kid being strangled in the rain Terrible not convincing at all sounded so bad and so over the top and like comedic. I laughed at it. It was bad Some of those moments in this when the mother freaks out in the church saying the killer is here You need to to notice that as soon as like they're focusing on her and she's like that killer is here The killer is here. I know it and then they pan back They they like pull out and they pan over to the right and as that's happening You see the priest and he turns around and looks right at the camera but then they keep going and that's yet another one of those, you know visual cues of He's the killer because she's immediately saying he's in the church and then they show the priest turn around and yes He's the killer. So yes, he's in the church So a lot of people probably wouldn't catch that until a second viewing of the film knowing what the end is But that was interesting when I was taking notes what I did is just take notes on Any time one of the characters like there was that type of interesting foreshadowing that it seemed like for one of the Characters potentially being the killer and then just you know erase the notes that I don't need. So just letting you know I Love how the old guy who lives with the with Machara tells the police Excuse me. I got to go take a crap First of all, he wasn't even that interested in talking to the police is very like whatever about things But probably part of that being because he knows Machara wasn't guilty of anything really But he was obviously making these voodoo dolls for her. I don't know if he believes in it or not that wasn't a hundred percent I Get well, I guess I guess he did believe in it because the the rich lady I forget what her name is in this she had been saying that she would go and talk to him I think his name was Francisco and Because she was into the occult and stuff and and it was interesting to talk to him And she didn't really connect with anyone else in the neighbor or in the village So but I just thought was hilarious when at the end he was just like, yeah, excuse me. I gotta go take a crap I'm like, okay Machara's death. Okay, when she finally gets released from jail First of all, there's a there's a strong foreshadowing that she's going to be killed because that one police officer says I would rather hold her because I don't want to get I don't want other bad things to happen Basically, he eludes the fact that he believes vigilante justice would happen to her and that's exactly what happens Now her death scene is actually overly drawn out in my opinion It is pretty brutal and that's fine because of the type of film it is But I felt like it just took way too long it took so so so long to do but The one of the interesting things too during her death scene when she's getting beaten like when the guy hits her with the chain You can tell if you pay attention that like what they did for the shot is they like do a close-up of the one guy like Like using the chain and then it's a second it's a separate shot of they put they like laid laid it on her chest on her stomach and like had done all the Practical effects under it and then they just laid it on top of that and then for that shot They started with just pulling it off. So like it looks like he's whipping it and pulling it off with the way that they cut it But it's just it's just kind of interesting to see that stuff The vacationing family's driving by and seeing matured dying on the roadside But doing nothing is a clear condemnation of society itself just seeing something terrible happening seeing this person dying on the roadside literally and Doing nothing about it. Just seeing it and then eyes forward. Let's focus on what we're doing Not our business. We don't care You hear about stuff like that happening in real life from time to time where you know Someone gets assaulted in a subway in New York or something and nobody does anything about it because that's not my business That type of thing and these types of things especially in film are usually thrown in there to be a condemnation of Where we're going with society and how disconnected we are from one another and how we're not focusing enough on actual Humanity so I kind of feel like this was it that this was particularly in it for Fulci to show Hey, you know society is kind of going to hell in a situation in a certain way Oh poor rich lady I put down complaining that people in the town don't understand her Oh, yeah, they probably don't understand you because you live in an amazing house Which it does look amazing in this and you have so much money and it's obvious you do nothing like she literally talks About how she just likes to just go out and just drive around Just drive for no reason obviously. She's not working. She's not really doing much of anything because she's got so much cash except trying to like Quasi seduce young boys. It's I don't know. It's just weird. That's why no one understands you because you're pedophile The repeated zooming in and heavy piano banging on the picture of the Donald Duck head when they're when they're kind of focusing on it in the newspaper Kind of ridiculous like it's excessive It's another one of those moments of just going too far like with the music I was talking about early where they're like beating you over the head with it Same thing they keep going back to her like didn't it like doing it once I get it doing it twice Okay, after that, you're just stop just come on you're you're overdoing it Restraint it's a good thing sometimes well a lot of times The hint of the dolls head Isn't that strong which is good because it keeps you kind of guessing, you know the whole idea that Malvina I guess is her name the the girl who's like deaf And doesn't talk they say deaf and dumb The fact that she has like the the dolls with the missing heads and they find a head at the scene of the crime at two scenes of crime So that's supposed to indicate someone from her family which indicates the mom first and then indicates the priest second I thought that was good because it is a clue But it's not a super strong clue where you'd be like, oh, yeah, I get it So it does kind of keep things interesting until the very very end. So I like that The sequence of trying to get Malvina away from the priest is way way way way too long and drawn out when he's gonna go to Killer and then the journalist shows up and then the rich lady shows up like that just this how they stretch that out It's too much and that's that's a thing that fulcrum does a lot is he'll just let scenes go on way too long They start to lose their impact because of that and that's a clear Instance of that where it just loses the impact because you're just like, okay, we've been doing this for quite a while Let's be done with it The slow motion of the priest falling off the cliff and his face just like gradually getting ripped off by the crags And the rocks sticking out is pretty over the top, but I enjoyed it. I thought it was a fun gore effect It was a little excessive like how long they did it didn't really look great. It looked okay I guess for that time, but it was pretty funny because it was over the top and it's a pretty good payoff at the end The cinematography is quite good for this film Really like that lots of interesting angles and the framings for the scenes. I talked about that earlier like in the beginning of this video That's the strongest thing about it is the way it looks in my opinion Talked about the music being pretty mismatched at times. So that was a downfall of the film They do a good job with the red herrings makes me think actually a lot about how current crime shows on TV Actually, probably owe a lot to giallo films because giallo films were big in the misdirection area They would they would put in so many red herring people It just feels like if you watch crime shows now like they have just taken a lot from giallo I mean, it's the same type of formula and it's the same formula they use like every time now It seems like the kids getting it because they've strayed too far from an innocent path is what I put down I talked about this earlier, but yeah They set it up very well in the beginning so that you understand in the end is that these kids are going down the wrong path So the priest believes he's gonna he's gonna grab them up off that path and their lives and save their souls so pretty messed up pretty misguided obviously and It's interesting You can see where this caused issues in Europe because a priest is literally killing kids That's the last thing I put and I talked about that already, but it bears repeating for this particular film So anyway interesting film. It's not my favorite giallo film It's actually toward the bottom of giallo films. I've seen I'm actually working on a list of my Ranking of all the giallo films. I've seen I think I put it at the bottom currently I think what do I have at the top at the moment? Let me see as deep red by Dario Argento That's my favorite at the moment, but All right. Well, let me let me real quick give my rating for this film So with out of five stars with half stars in play. I'm gonna give it three and a half I like it. There are problems with it like I talked about but there's some really good things about it, too Mainly the way it looks the story is interesting enough Yeah, three and a half stars. I'm down with it So, yeah, if there are any other giallo films out there that people really think I should see or any luchio Fulci films or luchio Fulci giallo put some comments down there. Let's talk about it Also, what were your thoughts on don't torture a duckling it's available on shutter when I'm doing this review So you can check it out there Put some comments down there do me a quick favor hit that subscribe That is the best way for you to repay me for this video or any video that I do Subscribe if you've already subscribed give me a thumbs up so you know, you're so I know you're still watching and want to encourage me here But thank you for checking this video out and until next time keep it brutal