Lucio Fulci’s Don’t Torture a Duckling is a haunting depiction of a series of child murders. It’s also something of a rare bird within the giallo genre, as it doesn’t take place in an urban setting (think the second half of Sergio Martino’s Torso), and the shocking subject matter could be considered fairly radical for early-’70s Italy, given the repressive climate of the era fostered by religious institutions and political regimes. It also displays a thematically resonant twist when it finally reveals the identity of the murderer.

The main characters in Don’t Torture a Duckling are all outsiders in one way or another. The requisite amateur detective is Andrea Martelli (Tomas Milian), a bit-city reporter who swoops down on rural Accendura looking for his next big break, sort of like Kirk Douglas in Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole. Nudist and resident temptress Patrizia...