The Police Are Blundering in the Dark

The Police Are Blundering in the Dark (La polizia brancola nel buio). Helia Colombo, 1975.

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Edition screened: Included in Vinegar Syndrome box set #314 Forgotten Gialli Volume 1, released 2020. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Story of Temple Drake

The Story of Temple Drake. Stephen R. Roberts, 1933.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #1005, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 71 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Criterion transfer looks great and the release includes several very good video essays primarily about the transition from pre-code films to the decades of self-censorship.

The Suckers

The Suckers. Stu Segall (as Arthur Byrd), 1972.

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Edition screened: Included on Vinegar Syndrome DVD #006 Drive-In Collection: The Suckers/The Love Garden, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 80 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals. 1.5/5❤

Trauma

Trauma (Violación fatal). León Klimovsky, 1978.

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Edition screened: Included in Vinegar Syndrome box set #314 Forgotten Gialli Volume 1, released 2020. Spanish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.

Summary: Gratuitous kitchen prep.

Details: This project typically discounts scenes of routine kitchen prep that involve cutting meat and similar. Trauma includes a brief scene of decapitating a chicken carcass that is particularly graphic, 54:06-53:12.

The Magnificent Ambersons (Welles)

The Magnificent Ambersons. Orson Welles, 1942.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #952, released 2018. English language. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.

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

Malabimba

Malabimba. Andrea Bianchi (as Andrew White), 1979.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #313, released 2020. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 100 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals. 3.5/5❤

Malibu Express

Malibu Express. Andy Sidaris, 1985.

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Edition screened: Included on Mill Creek 3-DVD set Girls, Guns and G-Strings: The Andy Sidaris Collection, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 105 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Man of a Thousand Faces

Man of a Thousand Faces. Joseph Pevney, 1957.

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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 122 minutes.

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

This excellent biography of Lon Chaney includes a few bucolic fishing scenes, with no graphic imagery.

Manon of the Spring

Manon of the Spring (Manon des sources). Claude Berri, 1986.

😿😿

Edition screened: Included in Shout! Factory Blu-ray set Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring, released 2015. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 114 minutes.

Summary: Birds and rabbits dead in snares.

Details:

1) Dead thrushes in snare, 19:03-19:42

2) A dead rabbit in a snare, 33:53-34:02.

3) More background action with a dead thrush, 43:20-44:02.

The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection

The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection. Various directors, 1929-1933.

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Edition screened: Universal Blu-ray box set, released 2016. English language. Compiled runtime approximately 408 minutes.

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

The set includes:

Animal Crackers (1930)

The Cocoanuts (1929)

Duck Soup (1933)

Horse Feathers (1932)

Monkey Business (1931)

Mary Pickford: Rags & Riches Collection

Mary Pickford: Rags & Riches Collection. Various directors, 1910-1926.

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Edition screened: Milestone 3-DVD set, released 2012. Scored and with English intertitles, no dialogue track. Cumulative runtime approximately 274 minutes.

Summary: The Hoodlum includes a few brief scenes of endangerment and humiliation of animals for comedic effect.

This very good set includes:

Ramona (1910 D.W. Griffith)

The Poor Little Rich Girl (1917 Maurice Tourneur)

The Hoodlum (1919 Sidney Franklin)

Sparrows (1926 William Beaudine)

Mascara

Mascara. Henri Pachard and Roberta Findlay, 1983.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #285, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 77 minutes.

Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film. 3/5❤

Michael (Schleinzer)

Michael. Markus Schleinzer, 2011.

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Edition screened: Artificial Eye Blu-ray, released 2012. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

Summary: Discovery of a dead cat.

Details: Earlier in the film, neighbors are looking for a house cat that accidentally got outside. At 1:18:40-1:18:56, Michael finds the dead cat under some bushes, bags it, and puts it in a trash can. There is nothing especially callous or gross, and you know this is coming as soon the cat is discussed.

A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy

A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy. Woody Allen, 1982.

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Edition screened: MGM DVD, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.

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

Mister Lonely

Mister Lonely. Harmony Korine, 2007

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Edition screened: IFC DVD, released 2008. English language. Runtime approximately 113 minutes.

Summary: Depiction of euthanized sheep.

Details:

Earlier in the film we see characters standing around an ill sheep, speculating on its status and problem. Later, it is decided that the herd must be euthanized. We see the herd, followed by scenes of several characters shooting with long guns, 1:01:50-1:02:40. This mass execution is implied visually only, with no real or created depictions of injured or dead animals.

Mountaintop Motel Massacre

Mountaintop Motel Massacre. Jim McCullough Sr., 1983.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #276, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

Summary: Numerous off-screen animal killings implied, with spatter effects.

Details:

1) A white guinea pig is stabbed to death, 4:05-4:13. The implied murder is completely off-screen, and we see only blood splattering on Crazy Woman’s apron.

2) We see a real goat in the room before Crazy Woman starts swinging her scythe around and knocks over the stand-in dummy goat at 6:49.

3) A snake is beaten to death, 36:24-36:32. The implied murder is completely off-screen, and we see only the shoe used as a weapon.

4) One man flails around at rats (no harm) around 44:10, and another man wipes at some roaches a little later. 

Multiple Maniacs

Multiple Maniacs. John Waters, 1970.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray, released 2017. English language. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

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

Necktie (Lanthimos)

Necktie. Yorgos Lanthimos, 2013.

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Edition screened: On line. English language. Runtime approximately 2 minutes.

Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film.

A short lift from Barry Lyndon with a final line by Baudelaire.

Next Door (Sletaune)

Next Door (Naboer). Pål Sletaune, 2005.

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Edition screened: TLA DVD, released 2006. Norwegian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 75 minutes.

Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film

The Night of the Shooting Stars

The Night of the Shooting Stars (La notte di San Lorenzo). Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, 1982.

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Edition screened: Included in the Cohen Blu-ray set The Taviani Brothers Collection, released 2016. Sardinian and Italian languages with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 178 minutes.

Summary: Dead animal in the street.

Details: A dead monkey lies in the street, 10:56-10:58. No close-ups or killing depicted.

Night Owl

Night Owl. Jeffrey Arsenault, 1993.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #281, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 79 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Night Owl was much better and more interesting than expected. Recommended, if you might like a grainy black-and-white vampire drama set in pre-Disney take-over Manhattan.

A black cat does an excellent job with his substantial part, and there is a Scared Stiff pinball machine in the background in the first club performance.

Nightbeast

Nightbeast. Don Dohler, 1982.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #277, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 81 minutes.

Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film.

November

November. Rainer Sarnet, 2017.

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Edition screened: Oscilloscope DVD, released 2018. Estonian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 115 minutes.

Summary: Rough treatment of a calf and rural poultry scenes.

Details:

1) The opening scene involves a chain being wrapped around the neck and body of a calf, and the terrified animal hauled into the air. There is ample evidence that the calf returns to ground unharmed, but the scene still is harsh and disturbing.

2) Scattered images of dead animals, such as a very brief chicken plucking scene and a dead song bird killed by the kiss of death from the plague.

DO NOT be put off from watching this exceptional movie because of the mild animal violence. This one of the most visually mesmerizing and wonderful movies in years.

The Oscilloscope DVD also includes Pääsuke’s 7-minute 1913 documentary about Estonian culture that educated Sarnet’s depiction of folk life.

The Nun (Hardy)

The Nun. Corin Hardy, 2018.

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Edition screened: Warner Blu-ray, released 2018. English language. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

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

Olivia

Olivia (A Taste of Sin/Prozzie/Double Jeopardy). Ulli Lommel, 1981.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #312, released 2929. English language. Runtime approximately 85 minutes.

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

One Missed Call

One Missed Call (Chakushin ari). Takashi Miike, 2003.

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Edition screened: Included in Arrow Blu-ray set One Missed Call Trilogy, released 2020. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 112 minutes.

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

I found this film to be scary, romantic, shocking, entertaining, and an all-around good viewing experience. One Missed Call is indebted to The Ring, but is not a rehash.

One Missed Call 2

One Missed Call 2 (Chakushin ari 2). Renpei Tsukamoto, 2005.

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Edition screened: Included in Arrow Blu-ray set One Missed Call Trilogy, released 2020. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 105 minutes.

Summary: Kitchen prep and a dead canary.

Details:

1) Scattered throughout the movie are approximately three scenes of predictable kitchen prep, including a restaurant kitchen with plucked chickens hanging from a rack and a pig’s head sitting around pointlessly, and a few 1-second scenes of fish cleaning. 

2) Exploration in an abandoned coal mine discovers a dead canary in a cage, 1:14:23-1:14:26.

The Arrow set also includes Tsukamoto’s 4-minute tie-in film Gomu.

One Missed Call 3: Final

One Missed Call 3: Final (Chakushin ari final). Manabu Asô, 2006.

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Edition screened: Included in Arrow Blu-ray set One Missed Call Trilogy, released 2020. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.

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

The Arrow set also includes Asô’s 12-minute tie-in film The Love Story, which seems to be a sequence of deleted scenes that expand one character.

One Missed Call Trilogy

One Missed Call Trilogy. Takashi Miike, Renpei Tsukamoto, and Manabu Asô, 2003-2006.

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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray set, released 2020. Japanese language with English subtitles. Cumulative runtime of three feature films approximately 321 minutes.

Summary: One Missed Call 2 includes a dead bird and modest typical kitchen gore. Click on individual titles for details.

The set includes two short tie-in films by Tsukamoto and Asô, and the feature films :

One Missed Call (2003 Takashi Miike)

One Missed Call 2 (2005 Renpei Tsukamoto)

One Missed Call 3: Final (2006 Manabu Asô)

Pale Blood

Pale Blood. V.V. Dachin Hsu and Michael W. Leighton, 1990.

😸

Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #316, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film.

Poltergeist

Poltergeist. Tobe Hooper, 1982.

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Edition screened: MGM/UA DVD, released 1997. English language. Runtime approximately 114 minutes.

Summary: Typical cheap Spielberg garbage involving a dead pet bird.

Details:

1) Pet canary found dead in its cage, 7:48-7:52.

2) JoBeth Williams carries it disdainfully to the bathroom and is interrupted by the little girl just before dropping the bird into the toilet, 9:03-9:15.  A cigar b0x burial complete with mockery and eye-rolling follows.

I just saw this movie for the first time and hated it. I had been led to believe that it was something interesting, not a Goonies/Gremlins/E.T. thing.  Not for me.

Raising Cain

Raising Cain. Brian De Palma, 1992.

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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray Director’s Cut, released 2017. English language. Runtime approximately 91 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Ramona

Ramona. D.W. Griffith, 1910.

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Edition screened: Included in Milestone 3-DVD set Mary Pickford: Rags & Riches Collection, released 2012. Scored and with English intertitles, no dialogue track. Runtime approximately 17 minutes.

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

Sparrows

Sparrows. William Beaudine, 1926.

😸

Edition screened: Included in Milestone 3-DVD set Mary Pickford: Rags & Riches Collection, released 2012. Scored and with English intertitles, no dialogue track. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

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

The Taviani Brothers Collection

The Taviani Brothers Collection. Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, 1977-1984.

😿😿😿

Edition screened: Cohen Blu-ray set, released 2016. Italian language with English subtitles. Cumulative runtime of feature titles approximately 545 minutes.

Summary: Some films include some violence to animals, Padre Padrone is especially graphic. Click on individual titles for details.

The Cohen 3-BD set includes:

Padre Padrone (1977)

The Night of the Shooting Stars (1982)

Kaos (1984)

These films really are not for me at all. They are based in the smug, nostalgic pandering common in European films of the 1980s, especially Italian examples. Animal abuse of course is key in the smarmy appeal.

A Thousand and One Erotic Nights Part II: The Forbidden Tales

A Thousand and One Erotic Nights Part II: The Forbidden Tales. Edwin Brown (as Edwin Durell), 1986.

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Edition screened: Included on Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #307 along with Part I, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 79 minutes.

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

A Thousand and One Erotic Nights

A Thousand and One Erotic Nights. Edwin Brown (as Stephen Lucas), 1982.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #307, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.

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

The VS release also includes the 1986 sequel A Thousand and One Erotic Nights II: The Forbidden Tales.

Toy Story 4

Toy Story 4. Josh Cooley, 2019.

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Edition screened: Disney Blu-ray, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 100 minutes.

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

Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings

Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings. Declan O’Brien, 2011.

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Edition screened: Included in 20th Century Fox Blu-ray set Wrong Turn 1-5, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Xtro 3: Watch the Skies

Xtro 3: Watch the Skies. Harry Bromley Davenport, 1995.

😿

Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #308, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: Repeated staging of a dying or dead rabbit.

Details:

1) A slightly bloody white rabbit is found 22:16-11:18, assessed as dying and euthanized offscreen by a gunshot.

2) A slightly bloody white rabbit is found in an alien web, 58:27-58:50.

3) A slightly bloody white rabbit can be seen in the background after an explosion, 1:19:18-1:19:25.

A seemingly deserted island has many friendly white rabbits hopping around. This is “explained” by telling of an experimentation lab that operated there forty years earlier. The production crew seems to have had one white rabbit body (real, fake, who knows) that was recycled for these three scenes. In the first two encounters, the rabbit’s slight movement is accomplished by tugging on a leg with monofilament. These are not graphic or gruesome scenes.

Xtro 3 is not a quality film, but for one second it did provide the giggly sensation of having just been hit on the back of the head with a 2x4.

The female in our rag-tag squad of military misfits is intended to be somewhat sexy, but her slightly weird facial features are her most  distinctive feature. The first time Corporal Banta was on camera I thought "Huh. She looks like Tonya Harding." 

Maybe five minutes later, standing on the deck of a military boat in full uniform and on their way to Mission Deadly, the commanding officer asks, "So, Banta, how did you end up in the military?"

"Well I used to be an ice skater. And there was this other bitch who was an ice skater, and I hated her. So I hired someone to break her fucking legs. The judge said I could have a year behind bars or three years in the military." Then they resume discussing the mission.