April Fulcis: Don't Torture a Duckling

Chronologically the first of the five Fulci films we’re presenting, Don’t Torture a Duckling has gained esteem when looking at Fulci’s career in total, and is often cited as his masterpiece. The film starts with an M-like jumping off point of a town plagued and made paranoid by a killer of children, this time specifically young boys. Chief among the suspects are a local witch and a rich city girl interloping on the close-knit community in which the murders are taking place, but of course the town’s problems run deeper than what can be pinned to just one person.
This discussion features Troy Howarth, author of Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films (Midnight Marquee Press, 2015).