Was anyone else taken out of the movie by... - Non si sevizia un paperino (1972) Discussion

His head hit a rock on its way down and it made a spark! That was funny as hell!

Do The Mussolini! Headkick!

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I was so disappointed by this flick, and that falling dummy was the icing on the cake.

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Not even Barbara Bouchet could save this movie for you? I thought it was a decent giallo, but not Fulci's best. For that you have to see Una Lucertola Con La Pelle Di Donna.

Do The Mussolini! Headkick!

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[–] The-Living-Dead-Guy 17 years ago

i LOVED that scene, pretty trippy.

Zombirds will walk the earth.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] rlh02e 17 years ago

For me, in some vague way, the overt 'fakeness' of the dummy's face at the end just creeps me out and adds to the sense of surreality in that scene. The way in which it's obviously just a weak likeness of the actor's face is just very creepy for some reason. That, coupled with the horrified gaping mouth expression on the face, and the contradicting serene music just weirds me out--mainly because those good ol' bizarre 'realistic' dummies made up to imitate a real face as close as possible, but with the obvious shiny 'plastic' qualities, have always had that effect on me.

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[–] egon_ira 17 years ago

First of all, sorry for the late reply.
Concerning the dummy at the end of the movie, I've come to think that its "ugliness" could have been an intentional choice by Lucio Fulci.
Throughout the whole movie we see this young priest as a very handsome and desirable man (even Barbara Bouchet's character says something about marrying him), good and sensitive to the kids of the little town; in the end, we finally see he's a sick and twisted guy, and Fulci could have wanted to graphically depict the true, rotten face of this character.
Anyway, that's just my opinion, and probably I'm wrong; as for the movie, I think it's too predictable (I've suspected the priest from the very beginning: what kind of person could bring some kids on a crime scene, to show them a little boy killed and buried?) and some characters (as Milian's) could have been developed a little more, but it has its moments (i.e. the slaying of the "sorceress") and above all some of the hottest chicks from the 70's (Barbara Bouchet of course, but also Florinda Bolkan - see her in "Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto") ;-)
In my opinion, it deserves a 6/10.

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[–] divisionbell-2 12 years ago

Agreed. Plus the interactions of the killer and the little girl as they walk to the edge of the cliff were excellent. Overall I think I have to put this as my favorite Fulci film. His other films are more fun, but for me this is his best made.

"You and me are goin' on a car-ride to hell... and you're riding shotgun! "

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] ash-61 17 years ago

I'd say I was. His voice-over explanation, plus the flesh being ripped apart of its face... ouchers!

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[–] liverboyjoe179 17 years ago

That scene was awesome!

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[–] PostmortemG 17 years ago

* There are some spoilers ahead *

I didn't mind the dummy action at all. My best friend, who i first watched the movie with, busted out laughing as soon as he saw the dummy's face... but that's because he thinks dummies are funny in movies. I thought the effect was totally awesome, personally. I agree with a previous poster, it was the early '70s - how the heck else could they have done it? I also love the post about the priest's true 'ugliness' being revealed by using a weird looking dummy, which is truly a contrast from the priest's previously angelic face.

This was a better movie than Lizard In A Woman's Skin, and the friend i watched it with had no idea the priest would be the killer, so the ending was a real kick for him; i only knew who the killer would be in the end because i read it by accident in a damn review somewhere.

"Cain and Abel will go to Heaven... if they can make it through Hell!"
-Los Hijos Del Topo

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[–] Fedorevsky 17 years ago

I've never had any trouble with this scene, I think the effect is very good for a low budget Italian film made in 1972. It's the only way Fulci could try to acchieve his much wanted realism and I for one applaud him for it.

This is my favorite Fulci film, perfect 10/10 and also my favorite Giallo and perhaps the best Italian film ever made. This is all obviously just my opinion.

One should judge a man mainly from his depravities.Virtues can be faked.Depravities are real.Kinski

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[–] ezkaban 16 years ago

Has anyone seen another of Fulci's later films called "The Psychic"? It features the same scene except it's a woman. This time I busted out laughing wondering if he used the same dummy, just switched their wigs.

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[–] RashaTheGreat 15 years ago

okay, there is no defense for that scene, it looked horrible, dont get me wrong, i liked the movie quite a bit, but that scene was so fake, it was just sad really, he should have just not shown the fall, show the priest falling off the cliff, cut to the other character's expression, and then cut to the priest on the ground, i guess i give him credit for trying to show the fall, but seriously if the footage is that bad, just forget about it, and that whole "showing the priest's true ugliness" idea is completely wrong, because as the previous poster commented, the EXACT same technique is used to show a woman committing suicide in fulci's film The Psychic, so there's no symbolism going on, it's simply how fulci shows people falling off cliffs, hahaha, hard to not love that man

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[–] cherootvendors 15 years ago

A great, atmospheric giallo...until that really bad dummy turns the proceedings into a comedy! What I want to know is: a) after commissioning really realistic dog puppets for Lizard in a Woman's Skin, why did Fulci settle for what looks like a ludicrous penny-for-the-guy mannequin? and b) What creates the spark on the side of his face as he hits the rock? Does he have a metal plate in his skull? That said, the contrapuntal music (which the Italians seem to love in horror movies) does give the sequence a surreal feel.

You shaid you wanted to know how to get Capone? Well here'sh how you get him...

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[–] chrisasiama 15 years ago

I enjoyed this film a lot but the dummy at the end spoiled the climax a little bit.

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[–] Durang0 15 years ago

I thought that was a tasteles joke so good that it made the movie even more of a classic :]

Besides this is a genre film. Giallo needs gore & voluptous breasts... The joke kinda was, that there wasn't that much gore earlier in the film, nor did it need to have it, because there where plenty of other brilliant stuff to keep the audience fascinated. Then when the dummy fell, it was so over the top and obviously fake that it immediately broke the tension and let the audience have their laughs.

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