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.

Tabu (Gomes)

Tabu. Miguel Gomes, 2012.
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Edition screened: New Wave Blu-ray, released 2013. Portuguese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 158 minutes.

Summary: Depiction of a recently-shot water buffalo.

Details: A long stagnant shot of a woman contemplating shooting a water buffalo at close range cuts to a tracking shot of an open truck driving away with the dead animal in the bed (1:03:44-1:04:02). We do not see the actual shooting.

The New Wave Blu-ray also contains two shorts by Gomes, A Christmas Inventory (2000, 22 minutes) and 31 Means Trouble (2003, 28 minutes), neither of which depicts any violence to animals.

Taken

Taken. Pierre Morel, 2008.
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Edition screened: 20th Century Fox Blu-ray, released 2009. English language. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Taken 2

Taken 2. Olivier Megaton, 2012.
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Edition screened: 20th Century Fox Blu-ray, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 92 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

The Taking of Pelham 123 (Scott)

The Taking of Pelham 123. Tony Scott, 2009.
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Edition screened: Sony Blu-ray, released 2009. English language. Runtime approximately 121 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Tale of Zatoichi Continues

The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (Zoku Zatōichi monogatari). Kazuo Mori, 1962.
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Edition screened: In Criterion Blu-ray box set #679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman, released 2013. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 72 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

The second film in the Zatoichi series.

The Tale of Zatoichi

The Tale of Zatoichi (Zatōichi monogatari). Kenji Misumi, 1962.
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Edition screened: In Criterion Blu-ray box set #679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman, released 2013. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

The first film in the Zatoichi series.








Talladega Nights

Talladega Nights. Adam McKay, 2006.
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Edition screened: Sony DVD, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 105 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.


2005 Stern NASCAR pinball machine in the bar.

Tam Lin

Tam Lin (The Devil’s Widow/The Ballad of Tam Lin). Roddy McDowall, 1970.
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Edition screened: Olive Blu-ray, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 106 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Tapeheads

Tapeheads. Bill Fishman, 1988.
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Edition screened: Anchor Bay DVD, released 2002. English language. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Tarnished Angels

The Tarnished Angels. Douglas Sirk, 1957.
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Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #64, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 131 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

The Masters of Cinema release also contains two very good exposé featurettes about The Tarnished Angels, both made in 2008 by Robert Fischer. Talk About the Business (19 minutes), interviews likable character actor William Schallert. Infernal Circle (30 minutes), interviews film historian and scholar Bill Krohn.

Tasty

Tasty. Bud Lee, 1985.
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Edition screened: Included on Vinegar Syndrome DVD #063 The Ribald Tales of Canterbury, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 78 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals. 4/5

The Telephone Book

The Telephone Book. Nelson Lyon, 1971.
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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #007, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.

Summary: Discussion of kicking a dog harshly, but no actual depiction of violence to animals. 3/5

Tenderness of the Wolves

Tenderness of the Wolves. (Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe). Ulli Lommel, 1973.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2015. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 82 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Terminator 2: Judgment Day. James Cameron, 1991
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Edition screened:Studio Canal/Artisan Ultimate Edition DVD, released 2001. English language. Runtime approximately 137 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

1991 Bally Harley Davidson in the arcade, about 26 minutes in.

The Terminator

The Terminator. James Cameron, 1984.
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Edition screened: MGM Special Edition DVD, released 2001. English language. Runtime approximately 108 minutes.

Summary: Guard dogs shot.


Details: Chained dogs bark at shooters for about 20 seconds of automatic weapon fire, ending in the dogs also being shot at 1:12:30. This happens off-screen and is signaled only by a short whimper.

Tess

Tess. Roman Polanski, 1979.
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Edition screened: BFI Blu-ray, released 2013. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 172 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

A Test of Violence: The Paintings of Juan Genovés

A Test of Violence: The Paintings of Juan Genovés. Stuart Cooper, 1969.
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Edition screened: Included on Criterion DVD #382 Overlord, released 2007. English language. Runtime approximately 14 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence toward animals.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Tobe Hooper, 1986.
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Edition screened: Arrow Limited Edition Blu-ray box set, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 101 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Many phrases lose meaning as their usage broadens from a core of people who were keenly interested in a topic to a mass of people who are keenly interested in repeating phrases they have heard. One such phrase is black humor. I think this phrase originally meant humorous material about death, misfortune, and other content not usually associated with comedy, ranging from the suicidal dry wit of Woody Allen to the gory hijinks of Graham Chapman. 

As usage has expanded, the phrase black humor has changed meaning and now refers to something that a 7th-grade boy would say or describe on the school bus. Variations such as pitch black humor, jet black humor, and dark-as-night humor are meant to convey levels of awesome awesomeness.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 has about eight minutes of content expanded to a grueling hour-and-forty-minutes of tiresome sight gags and childish one-liners. Admittedly, I am unsure if a character repeating the same line over and over (Incoming Mail!) counts as a one-liner. It’s sort of a no-liner x 5.

I had not seen Hooper’s original Texas Chainsaw Massacre prior to this viewing of TCM 2, and was almost deterred from even giving the original a chance. I am pleased to report that the earlier film is not nearly as terrible as the sequel. The original is a completely different sort of movie, pretty much what we’ve all come to assume, but far more watchable than the incessant juvenile comedy and Just Go To The Principal's Office hyperactivity of TCM 2

The Arrow box set includes two other films by Hooper, The Heisters (1965) and Eggshells (1969).

A 1965 Gottlieb Buckaroo is in the hideout, 1:07:08.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Tobe Hooper, 1974.
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Edition screened: Dark Sky ‘40th Anniversary’ Blu-ray, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 83 minutes.

Summary: Disrespectful use of animal bodies.

Details:
1) A dead armadillo lies on her back on a highway, 4:52-5:08.
2) Gratuitous discussion of cow slaughtering techniques, 9:03-12:53.
3) A small sculpture made from parts of a slaughtered chicken decorates the dining room table, 1:11:50-1:18:55. Offensive in concept but not particularly gory.

If you want to watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the dead animals really are no more prolific or disturbing than in most “family” films that include a hunting trip or a European kitchen.

That Most Important Thing: Love

That Most Important Thing: Love (The Most Important Thing Is to Love / L'important c'est d'aimer). Andrej Żuławski, 1975.
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Edition screened: Mondo Vision DVD, released 2009. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 113 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.


That Obscure Object of Desire

That Obscure Object of Desire (Et obscur objet du désir). Luis Buñuel, 1977.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #143, in box set Three Films by Luis Buñuel, released 2021. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.


That Touch of Mink

That Touch of Mink. Delbert Mann, 1962.
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Edition screened: Olive Blu-ray, released 2013. English languages. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Theatre of Blood

Theatre of Blood. Douglas Hickox, 1973.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.

Summary: Depicted murder of dogs for comedic effect.

Details: We see the decapitated heads of two poodles decorating a pot pie, 1:26:56-1:27:05, and again at 1:28:30-1:28:35. The effect is heavily telegraphed but still adequately unpleasant. It was the owner who was offensive rather than the dogs.

Them

Them (Ils). David Moreau and Xavier Palud, 2006.
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Edition screened: Dark Sky DVD, released 2008. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 77 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

A good, tense, horror film. Nicely paced and well acted.

Theorem

Theorem (Teorema). Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1968.
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Edition screened: BFI Blu-ray, released 2013. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 98 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

There Is No Rose Without Fire

There Is No Rose Without Fire (Nie ma róży bez ognia/A Jungle Book of Regulations/There’s No Place Like Home). Stanisław Bareja, 1973.
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Edition screened: Zebra/DMMS DVD, released 2014. Polish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

There Was a Door

There Was a Door. Derek Williams, 1957.
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Edition screened: Included in the BFI 4-DVD set Shadows of Progress: Documentary Film in Post-War Britain 1951-1977, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 27 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.


An educational documentary about training and job opportunities for mentally handicapped individuals.

There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood. Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007.
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Edition screened: Paramount DVD, released 2008. English language. Runtime approximately 158 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.


There’s Something About Mary

There’s Something About Mary. Bobby and Peter Farrelly, 1998.
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Edition screened: 20th Century Fox DVD, released 2003. English language. Runtime approximately 119 minutes.

Summary: Recurring abuse of a dog for comedic effect.

Details:
1) Beginning at 45:50 and concluding at 48:30, a border terrier is drugged with a pill, presumed to be dead, and subjected to resuscitation attempts including electrocution with electrical wires. The wires set his hair on fire and the dog is partially burned, then doused with water which wakes him from his drug-induced sleep.
2) The same small dog is in a major fight with Ben Stiller beginning at 1:32:19, culminating in the dog flying out an apartment window at 1:33:12.
3) The dog is in a full body cast, left on the roof of a car, and other comedic treatment, 1:33:32.

They Drive by Night

They Drive by Night. Raoul Walsh, 1940.
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Edition screened: Warner DVD, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 95 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

1939 Keeney Big Six pinball machine, plus another indistinct machine earlier in the film.

Thief (Mann)

Thief. Michael Mann, 1981.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #691, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 124 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Thief of Bagdad (Walsh)

The Thief of Bagdad. Raoul Walsh, 1924.
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Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #98, released 2014. English intertitles, music track, no dialogue track. Runtime approximately 149 minutes.

Summary: Killing of fantasy beasts.

Details:
1) Douglas Fairbanks kills a dinosaur monster, 1:40:00-1:40:20.
2) Douglas Fairbanks kills a giant flying mouse, 1:42:26-1:42:30.
3) Douglas Fairbanks kills a giant underwater spider, 1:48:05-1:48:32.

The Thin Blue Line

The Thin Blue Line. Errol Morris, 1988.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #753, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 102 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Thing (Carpenter)

The Thing. John Carpenter, 1982.
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Edition screened: Universal DVD, released 2001. English language. Runtime approximately 119 minutes.

Summary: Horrific alien takeover of dogs’ bodies.

Details:
1) Beginning at 3:55 is a 5-minute sequence of a German Shepherd being pursued and shot at by men in a helicopter, then on foot. The seemingly harmless dog escapes – for now – and this scene is over at 8:50.
2) The creature, the Thing itself, erupts from the body of the German Shepherd in the previous scene with a graphic and horrible ripping of the dog’s head and body. The creature/dog sprays the other dogs and attacks them with its tentacles, 28:15-29:00.
3) Another sequence of the creature and its horrible attack on the other dogs, 30:50-32:20.

1964 Williams Heat Wave in the game room.

The Thing (van Heijningen)

The Thing. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., 2011.
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Edition screened: Universal Blu-ray, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 103 minutes.

Summary: At 27:50 we see a bloody mess and are informed that a dog has been Thing-ed. The carnage is not particularly legible, and we do not see any harm or threat to the dog. 


The film ends with an infected dog being pursued by helicopter, as in the opening scenes of John Carpenter’s 1982 film by the same title.

Things to Come

Things to Come. William Cameron Menzies, 1936.
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Edition screened: Network Blu-ray, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Thirdworld

Thirdworld. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 1997.
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Edition screened: Included on Second Run DVD #34 Tropical Malady, released 2008. Thai language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 17 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Thirst for Love

Thirst for Love (Ai no kawaki). Koreyoshi Kurahara, 1967.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Eclipse Series 28 The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara 5-DVD set, released 2011. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.

Summary: Chicken slaughter. Two chickens have their throats slit and are partially plucked, 21:14-22.25.

This scene can be skipped. The dialogue and action surrounding the chicken plucking consists of Etsuko questioning Sabkuro about the new socks she gave him, his evasive answer, and her fainting at the spectacle of a spray of chicken blood.















This Man Must Die

This Man Must Die (Que la bête meure). Claude Chabrol, 1969.
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Edition screened: Pathfinder DVD, released 2003. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 110 minutes.

Summary: Mean killing of a crab.

Details: A man walks angrily dockside. He intentionally steps on a crab and grinds it against the pavement, 1:22:38.