Don’t Torture a Duckling

A great example of the ways in which a popular form, here the giallo style of violent thriller, can be used to critique society’s institutions. Set in rural Italy, Lucio Fulci’s film focuses on a series of brutal murders where the killer seems to target young boys on the verge of adulthood. As the media flocks to the village where the victims lived, suspicion falls on those residents who due to their lifestyles are considered outsiders. Rumour has it that Fulci was subsequently blacklisted due to his critical representation of Italy’s powerful social institutions.