DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING

(Lucio Fulci, 1972)



Fulci's second entry into the Giallosphere is both one of his best efforts and one of the best examples the genre has to offer. One can tell it was made early in Lucio's career, as an extraordinary amount of effort and panache went into its making. The scenes are well laid out and stylish, the acting above-par, and the story highly intriguing.



Reporter Andrea Martelli (Tomas Milian) is in a remote Italian village covering the recent murder of a preteen boy. The obvious suspects include the village idiot, Giuseppe, village witch, Maciara (Florinda Bolkan), and the predatory Patrizia, a woman sent to the village as punishment by her father after a drug scandal. More child murders ensue, and the villagers become more fanatical and violent as the police fail to produce serious suspects. This is easily one of Fulci's most offensive and critical films, and is powerful and engaging in that respect.



The monster at large in this feature is not necessarily the killer; it's the village itself. This is by far and large Fulci's greatest social commentary, a scathing portrayal of rural ignorance, fear of outsiders and outside religion, and religious fear of sex. We are first introduced to the mob when Giuseppe, having been arrested by the police for extortion in relation to the first boy's murder, is almost assaulted on the way to the police car. Later, after two more boys have died and Maciara has taken credit for their demise by means of magic, the villagers become furious and sadistic. In the saddest part of the whole ordeal, Maciara is first shunned by the villagers, then beaten savagely in the graveyard. She crawls, half dead, to the grave of her stillborn son, where she expires. Cars pass by on the highway, oblivious of the backwater town and its denizens.



Don't Torture a Duckling is as beautiful as film as it is savage. Excellent use was made of the rural setting with its golden, rocky hills and whitewashed buildings. Also easy on the eyes is lead actress Barbara Bouchet, whose sordid character is both alluring and appalling. The music by Riz Ortolani is startling and dark, and the early effects by Gianetto De Rossi are fairly gruesome, though the overuse of the mannequin at the end was slightly unconvincing. I wouldn't recommend this for fans of Demons and other "pizza schlock"; this is a solid film that demands one's attention and doesn't disappoint. Buy it here.

MASSACRE

(Andrea Bianchi, 1989)



Alas, only two more Bianchi reviews and it's DONE! Can you tell I'm getting tired of scraping the bottom of this particular barrel? Massacre is another classy, quality production from the director of such cinematic greats as "Malabimba The Malicious Whore" and "Strip Nude For Your Killer". Okay, so it's a bit of a stretch to call this classy, quality, OR cinema.



The film starts, promisingly enough, with a hooker being decapitated on the side of the road. We then cut to a girl with monstrous eyebrows meandering through a graveyard at night. We learn, thanks to some cheap latex masks, that this is the old "movie-within-a-movie" gag, and the girl is our leading lady, Jennifer. We also learn that her eyebrows are actually real. The production, "Dirty Blood" appears to be a curious hodgepodge of horror elements with no real story. A commentary by Bianchi on the industry? Let's not go that far.



We are then introduced to the rest of the cast and crew. There's Robert, the abusive director, and the producer, Frank. There's also actors John (the pretty boy), Mira (the predatory lesbian), Adrian (the flaming-gay guy), Lisa (who is dating Robert and screwing John), and Gordon (owner of the worst 80s apparel imaginable). Oh yes, and Jennifer's policeman boyfriend, Walter. The cast are invited to a seance, a move that Frank feels will help move his film in a horrific new direction. In a seemingly pointless scene, an evil entity breaks away from the table and runs rampant. The cast and crew, predictably, start to disappear one by one (or two by two, as the ending dictates!)



If you've seen any of Andrea Bianchi's other work and weren't impressed, then steer clear of Massacre! All of the things that make his films so terrible (and so very wonderful!) are present, including his trademark use of the unsteady-cam. Viewers' senses will also be assaulted by a barrage of ugly actors (with the exception of Walter- woof!), naked women, and misogynistic violence. This time 'round we also get two homophobic stereotypes!



Frustrating to some will be the complete lack of logic within the film, from the characters' continuation with the production despite their dwindling numbers to the logic behind having a seance as a means of sparking creativity, an idea that leads to the filming of Adrian in drag as Liza Minelli. Horrific new direction, indeed!
Also amusing are the hastily-written subtitles, which provide a lot of unintentional laughs. For the duration of a scene, the actors refer to a "Jack", who comes up as "Rack" in the subs. I also laughed aloud when, whilst a hooker and a fat old man are making out in a car, the words "I know what you mean. I hope it doesnt take too long." come up on the screen even though no one is talking!



The music in this ranges from ear-splittingly bad 80s High NRG to some surprisingly creepy horror synth. The gore and special effects seem to have about the same range, varying between fake-looking rubber hands and properly-colored blood. I don't recommend you rush out and download this (there's no dvd yet), as it's really just another example of why and how the genre died out. MTR3K fans, however, will rejoice.

MURDER OBSESSION aka The Wailing

(Riccardo Freda, 1981)

This was Freda's final film, which is a shame as it's one of his best and, despite its many flaws, is an unsung giallo classic with elements of the supernatural and a Gothic sheen.

After having spent a number of years under psychiatric care for the murder of his father, Michael (Stefano Patrizi) has become a successful actor. One day, seemingly out of the blue (or on a gust of wind, as it happens) Michael calls up his girlfriend Deborah (Silvia Dionisio) and invites her to come visit his ailing mother (Anita Strindberg), whom he has not seen for some time. There he finds his mother bedridden and unwell, tended to only by the family butler, Oliver. Once settled in , he invites Dr Hanz Schwartz, his gal Shirley, and actress Beryl (Laura Gemser) for a weekend of relaxation and location scouting.

It isn't long before Michael is blacking-out and growing distant from his girlfriend, all the while feeding the oedipal relationship with his mother. When Beryl is nearly drowned in the tub, all signs point to Michael as her assailant, an assumption that is only strengthened after he regains consciousness beside her mutilated corpse shortly after. Dr Schwartz, however, manages to take a picture of the real murderer, and hastens back to the house to contact the police. Does he make it? Do they ever? Watch and find out!

As I've said before, one either loves Freda's films or despises them; there's not much middle ground. On the down side, this film may confuse most viewers with its hodgepodge of a story that touches on elements of murder, religion, superstition, and the esoteric. The story meanders a fair bit, and we are never properly introduced to any of the characters, which makes this a rather impersonal affair. And then there are the effects. Papier-mache zombie masks, rubber heads, plastic skulls, giant fuzzy spiders and bats on strings all put in an appearance in Murder Obsession. In spite of all this, I still find the pros outweigh the cons.

For starters, I adore the soundtrack. It's the same spooky synth score you find in most horror films from the early 80s, but in a giallo! Also nicely integrated are orchestral cues, which add a touch of decayed class to a tale of familial decay.
This theme is further expounded by the dark, rich sets and barely-there lighting which flickers at the hint of thunder. The villa itself is a dark, moldering maze with unexplored crypts and shadowy corners; a perfect setting for murder. The deaths, I mentioned, are quite unconvincing, but are still worth their short screen-time. We get two stabbings, an axe to the head, and a chainsaw to the neck... and a real chicken gets its head cut off in a dream sequence, a scene that might not sit well with some viewers.

Finally, I should probably expand upon the dream sequence, as it IS the highlight of the film. It was even featured in the old VHS compilation, "Zombiethon", though there's really only two zombies in it. Through a watery, rippling lens we follow Deborah as she runs through the crypts, first pursued by crusty-faced ghouls in robes, then assaulted by wind, leaves, and bats. She gets stuck in a giant spider web, but breaks free and runs through a briar patch, where she is spattered with blood by skulls leaking it from above. She ends up back in the crypt, tied to a large cross (with breasts exposed), and forced to drink blood from a freshly slaughtered chicken. If you're a fan of those old satanic cult-themed movies, you should be all over this! I recommend it, but only for intermediate viewers.