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Don’t Torture a Duckling

Blu-ray

Arrow Films

1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / Street Date October 2, 2017

Starring Barbara Bouchet, Florinda Bolkan, Tomas Milian, Irene Papas

Cinematography by Sergio D’Offizi

Written by Lucio Fulci, Roberto Gianviti, Gianfranco Clerici

Film Edited by Ornella Micheli

Produced by Renato Jaboni

Music by Riz Ortolani

Directed by Lucio Fulci

Lucio Fulci’s most consistent trait might have been his instability. In fact it may have been the Italian director’s defining quality; lingering throughout his films is the inescapable notion that, no matter how stylish or finely-tuned his mise en scene, he will surely find a way to fly off the rails and take everyone with him. He’s the crazy ex-girlfriend of filmmakers.

Fulci made his rep in the late 70’s and early 80’s with a series of crassly exploitative horror films, high on gore and low on logic. Nevertheless he began his career on...

Today let's dig into a more obscure entry in the giallo genre, a sleazy and totally weird thriller starring the legendary Klaus Kinski. While many fans of classic horror know Kinski for his career-defining performance in the title role of Werner Herzog's amazing 1979 version of Nosferatu, he's appeared in tons of other horror films including Crawlspace, Creature and Jack the Ripper; he's played Renfield, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Marquis de Sade, and often appeared in the films of Jess Franco. He was also totally insane, and his reputation as a wild man and notorious womanizer often overshadowed his prolific film career, a genre-spanning body of work which ran the spectrum from classics to crap. His resume also includes a few giallo titles, like this oddball 1971 production (originally titled The Cold-Blooded Beast, also Asylum Erotica) from director Fernando Di Leo, best known for the 1972 crime thriller The Italian Connection.

Giallo: An Italian adjective describing the thriller genre, primarily in Italian books and films. Translated as simply “yellow,” giallo takes its name from the distinctive yellow covers commonly seen on Italian pulp thriller novels dating back to the late '20s. Giallo Fever: A condition afflicting fans of European horror cinema after prolonged exposure to giallo films. Symptoms include an increased fondness for '60s and '70s music and fashion, an enhanced sense of color, and occasionally intense sex appeal. So that's the short version... and here's where we're going with it: on a regular basis we'll be picking a film from the giallo genre, be it an esteemed classic, a weird obscurity or a modern spin on the formula, and bringing it to your attention. No heavy analysis, no film school mumbo-jumbo; just an overview, some highlights, and why you should see it... or in some cases, avoid it.

Los Angeles’ American Cinematheque has announced the lineup for its 9th Annual Festival of Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction. The event runs August 13-16 at the Aero Theatre (1328 Montana Avenue in Santa Monica) and Aug. 20-30 at the Egyptian Theatre (6712 Hollywood Boulevard).

The Aero program is more fantasy-oriented, with double bills of Matthew Robbins’ Dragonslayer and Ridley Scott’s Legend (U.S. version), John Milius’ Conan The Barbarian and Richard Fleischer’s Red Sonja, etc. (see full details here). The scary stuff plays the Egyptian, and includes a 10th-anniversary showing of The Blair Witch Project on Thursday the 20th, with directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick, producers and cast members in attendance; a Euro Thrillers Triple Feature (Terror Creatures From The Grave, Return Of Dr. Mabuse and Werewolf In A Girls’ Dormitory) Friday the 21st; a Medieval Tortures Double Feature (Ken Russell’s The Devils and Lucio Fulci’s Beatrice Cenci...

Curious to know what frightful films and devilish discs will be available to view in the privacy of your own digital dungeon this week? Fango's got you covered.

Below the jump you'll find the full list of titles arriving in-stores this Tuesday, July 14, 2009 in our weekly version of the famous Fangoria Chopping List - updated with all the last-minute additions and deletions.

Presented with "branching" coverage with trailers, interviews, and reviews for select titles!

Note: Clickable links lead to Amazon.com

Asalto Violento (Traumatized, 1993) - Distrimax

Robert Smith is an outstanding doctor, devoted to teaching at a local university in Mexico City. During a trip to Vietnam he suffers a violent assault at the hands of a group of terrorists while he was being intimated with a local girl. After his arrival he discovers that he has contracted an incurable disease; traumatized by the attack and his illness, he will...

• Horror/rockabilly personality Johnny Legend has three new DVDs coming out on his new Raunchy Tonk label. A 50th Anniversary Edition of House On Haunted Hill, a new disc of The Sadist and an update of his Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street all arrive next Tuesday, February 24.

House, the William Castle classic starring Vincent Price, has been newly restored in an anamorphic 1.66:1 transfer, accompanied by the following extras:

• Return to the House: featurette with Legend visiting Haunted Hill and exploring the film’s history • Profile of actress Carol Ohmart, with comments by Jack Hill (who directed Ohmart in Spider Baby) • Golden Age Price: The actor’s TV appearances on classic TV shows • Original theatrical trailers and TV spot • 25 minutes of further Castle and Price previews • Surprise William Castle TV spot

In the ahead-of-its-time 1963 shocker The Sadist, written and directed by James Landis, Arch Hall Jr. plays...