Heads Up, Ears Down

This blog accurately identifies depictions of violence and cruelty toward animals in films. The purpose is to provide viewers with a reliable guide so that such depictions do not come as unwelcome surprises. Films will be accurately notated, providing a time cue for each incident along with a concise description of the scene and perhaps relevant context surrounding the incident. In order to serve as a useful reference tool, films having no depictions of violence to animals will be included, with an indication that there are no such scenes. This is confirmation that the films have been watched with the stated purpose in mind.


Note that the word depictions figures prominently in the objective. It is a travesty that discussions about cruelty in film usually are derailed by the largely unrelated assertion that no animals really were hurt (true only in some films, dependent upon many factors), and that all this concern is just over a simulation. Not the point, whether true or false. We do not smugly dismiss depictions of five-year-olds being raped because those scenes are only simulations. No, we are appalled that such images are even staged, and we are appropriately horrified that the notion now has been planted into the minds of the weak and cruel.


Depictions of violence or harm to animals are assessed in keeping with our dominant culture, with physical abuse, harmful neglect, and similar mistreatment serving as a base line. This blog does not address extended issues of animal welfare, and as such does not identify scenes of people eating meat or mules pulling plows. The goal is to itemize images that might cause a disturbance in a compassionate household.


These notes provide a heads-up but do not necessarily discourage watching a film because of depicted cruelty. Consuming a piece of art does not make you a supporter of the ideas presented. Your ethical self is created by your public rhetoric and your private actions, not by your willingness to sit through a filmed act of violence.

The Living Skeleton

The Living Skeleton (Kyûketsu dokuro-sen). Hiroshi Matsuno, 1968.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Eclipse Series 37: When Horror Came to Shochiku 4-DVD set, released 2012. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 84 minutes.

Summary: Murder of a dog.

Details: A collie is bludgeoned with a candelabra, she tries to stand, falls back down, and the murder weapon is tossed down on her head. This all happens 58:35-58:43.

I usually am not distracted to distinguish between simulated and genuine acts of animal abuse in film, as the low-brow pandering, unflattering decision by the director, and other sociological factors remain unchanged in either case. But this surprising moment in an otherwise enjoyably campy film begs deliberation of the act as real or staged. On the side of real, we actually see the blow and the dog falling. The collie’s inability to stand back up is notable and is not the kind of trick one thinks of teaching a dog, nor is this moment’s perfect timing the likely effect of a sedative. And while Japan has played catch-up to the U.S. in many ways since World War II, America still has not matched the Asian model for cruelty to animals despite our focused determination.

On the side of staged, the actual blow by the killer and the impact of the candelabra on the dog look intentionally soft like a stage punch. And when the candelabra is tossed down on the dog’s head the prop doesn’t seem to react on impact like a heavy piece of cast brass.

The choice of a rough collie among dog breeds never is a coincidence. The Living Skeleton was made 15 years or so after the beginning of the Lassie craze, and it is impossible for any director, actor, or audience not to think of Lassie being murdered, just as all baby deer will forever be Bambi. But this only restates the question: Since Japanese directors in the 1960s kill absolutely any animals they want in any quantities, did Matsuno think, “If our evil villain is going to kill a dog, have him kill Lassie!” or would the cross-cultural heartstring tug that made him choose Lassie, also prohibit him from actually hurting the loyal TV companion loved by millions?

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