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.

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath (I tre volei della paura / The Three Faces of Fear). Mario Bava, 1963.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2013. English language with optional original Italian dub. Runtime approximately 92 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

In addition to many supplemental features, this impressive 3-disc package from Arrow includes the original Italian cut of Black Sabbath in addition to the American (AIP) version running about three minutes longer. These two versions merit a little discussion:

The film was recorded with English-speaking actors. The original Italian release was dubbed with Italian, which makes for an interesting experience if you turn on the subtitles to read English that corresponds to the actors’ mouths while you listen to Italian language. The American version simply retains the (original) English soundtrack.

Black Sabbath is a portmanteau of three short stories introduced and segued by Boris Karloff. The Telephone is a slightly sexy horror/revenge thriller. The Drop of Water is a truly frightening tale of curses and psychological terror. The final and longest story is The Wurdalak, a Russian tale of the undead starring Karloff himself. 

The three dramas are edited to varying degrees in the American version, with only minor and inconsequential cuts to The Drop of Water and The Wurdalak. The Telephone is altered more substantially to remove violent images and suggestions of lesbianism, leaving the story less interesting, less suspenseful, and less sensible. The American version runs a few minutes longer due to different and slightly longer versions of the Karloff introductions, which add little if any enjoyment to Black Sabbath in either version.

My recommendation is to watch the American versions of The Drop of Water and The Wurdalak, especially to enjoy the classically fine writing and spooks of The Drop without distracting lip synch issues. The Telephone, comparatively short, is best enjoyed in the original Italian overdub.
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