Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl returned to The Last Drive-In with a loosely themed night of “Don’t” movies, pairing Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972) with Don’t Go Into the Woods (1981). On paper, it is a fun hook. In practice, it made for an uneven episode that leaned heavily on one strong film while the rest of the night coasted on fumes.

There were no guests this time, which put all the weight on Joe Bob and Darcy to carry the momentum. The conversations were solid, especially if you are already deep into Giallo history, but there was a definite sense of déjà vu. After recent episodes featuring The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Blood and Black Lace, a lot of the same ground was covered again. If you love Italian horror lore, that is comforting. If you wanted something new, it started to feel repetitive fast.

Don’t Torture a Duckling Does the Heavy Lifting

Don't Torture A Duckling

Don’t Torture a Duckling is the clear high point of the night. Lucio Fulci’s film is ugly in the right ways, bleak, cynical, and soaked in small town rot. It is a Giallo that actually has something to say about religion, corruption, and hypocrisy, instead of just dressing up murder in stylish camera moves. The kills are nasty, the atmosphere is cruel, and the mystery holds together better than most films in the genre.

Joe Bob’s breakdown of Fulci’s career and the cultural backlash to the film was genuinely interesting, even if it felt like familiar territory after recent episodes. This is comfort food for Giallo fans, and that is not an insult. The problem is timing. When you have already spent weeks talking about Argento and Bava, another long deep dive starts to blur together.

Still, the movie itself earns its spot. It is meaningful, effective, and memorable. If the episode had been built around this tone completely, it could have been a standout.

Don’t Go Into the Woods Is Mostly Filler

Don’t Go Into the Woods is… fine. Joe Bob even prefaced at the beginning that this movie would not be good. That is about as generous as it gets. It is cheap, clumsy, and never scary, even by early eighties slasher standards. There is some regional charm and a few unintentionally funny moments, but nothing here justifies its runtime.

In a hosted format, these kinds of movies can work as goofy counterprogramming. Here, it just felt like dead weight after a genuinely strong first feature. The tonal whiplash is real, and not in a fun way. One film is grim and thoughtful; the other is barely competent campground nonsense.

Joe Bob and Darcy tried to juice it with trivia and banter, but there is only so much you can squeeze out of a movie this thin. By the halfway point, it was clear many viewers were just waiting for the night and episode to be over.

Conclusion

This episode lives and dies on Don’t Torture a Duckling. It is a strong Giallo and easily worth watching. Everything around it is serviceable at best. The “Don’t” theme is cute but shallow, and the lack of guests made the structure feel flatter than usual.

Not a disaster, not a classic episode of The Last Drive-In either. Just a middle-of-the-road episode anchored by one genuinely good movie and padded out by one that should have stayed in the woods.

The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs streams live on Shudder on the first Friday of every month at 6 PM PST and 9 PM EST with episodes available on Sunday.

For more Reviews, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.

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