Non si sevizia un paperino (1972)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

Gianfranco Clerici (screenplay)
Lucio Fulci (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 September 1972 (Italy)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A reporter and a promiscuous young woman try to solve a series of child killings in a remote southern Italian town that's rife with superstition and distrust of outsiders.

Plot Keywords:

Psycho | Priest | Killing | Reporter | Psycho Killer

Cast

Florinda Bolkan	...	Maciara
Barbara Bouchet	...	Patrizia
Tomas Milian	...	Andrea Martelli
Irene Papas	...	Dona Aurelia Avallone
Marc Porel	...	Don Alberto Avallone
Georges Wilson	...	Francesco
Antonello Campodifiori	...	Police Lieutenant
Ugo D'Alessio	...	Captain Modesti
Virgilio Gazzolo	...	Police Commissioner
Vito Passeri	...	Giuseppe Barra
Rosalia Maggio	...	Mrs. Spriano - Michele's mother
Andrea Aureli	...	Mr. Lo Cascio, Bruno's father
Linda Sini	...	Mrs. Lo Cascio, Bruno's mother
Franco Balducci	...	Mr. Spriano, Michele's father

Also Known As:

Don't Torture Donald Duck (UK)
Don't Torture a Duckling
Fanatismo (Italy)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Denmark:15 | France:-16 | Italy:VM18 | Norway:18 (cut) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Matera, Basilicata, Italy

Company:

Medusa Produzione

Trivia:

Lucio Fulci has said in numerous interviews that he ranks this movie as his most personal favorite of all the movies he directed in his career.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fulci Talks: The Movies (2007)

An astonishing and daring giallo, a classic in its type.

Lucio Fulci, later known for his graphic horror films like The Beyond and Zombie, was years earlier a master of the Italian giallo (in the company of Argento and Bava) with films like A Lizard In A Woman's Skin and his masterpiece, Don't Torture A Duckling. This film has all the elements of the Italian mystery/thriller genre known as the giallo, but really pulls the viewers in by having each key character with a skeleton in his/her own closet. This keeps you doing as much detective work as the detectives in the film itself. Who is killing the young boys in town? The young rich woman who is so bored that she sexually taunts the eventual victims, the reporter who likes to tamper with a crime scene to get a better photo shot, the townswoman with a mentally retarded daughter, the local witch, the town idiot....the list goes on, and you have to keep mental notes like a true game to play and solve. The themes in this film are very daring and done with that perfect Italian style in the early 1970s. It is certain that no American studio would have even considered making a film of such strong content, and that is precisely why this is such a satisfying film (despite some unusual accent choices for the dubbing) and will definitely have people discussing its meanings long after viewing it. As the saying goes, they don't make them like this anymore, so get a copy and cherish an important film like this one!