Violence to Animals in Film: July 2020

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 Fall: Season 1

The Fall: Season 1. Jacob Verbruggen, 2013.

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Edition screened: BBC DVD set, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 300 minutes.

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

The Far Country

The Far Country. Anthony Mann, 1954.

😿

Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: Dead bear.

Details: A bear’s body lies on a horse-drawn skid the in the background and is the subject of conversation 56:05-56:27.

Female Trouble

Female Trouble. John Waters, 1974.

😿

Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #929, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: Disrespectful handling of dead fish.

Details: Part of Divine’s stage show involves a playpen-like container partially filled with fish. She stomps around on the fish, rubs them on her body sexually, etc., 1:16:37-1:17:22.

Fight, Zatoichi, Fight

Fight, Zatoichi, Fight (Zatōichi kesshō-tabi). Kenji Misumi, 1964.

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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 87 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence toward animals.

The eighth film in the Zatoichi series. I enjoyed this one almost as much as the first two (here and here).

The Fireman’s Ball

The Fireman’s Ball (Horí, má panenko). Miloš Forman, 1967.

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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2015. Czech language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 73 minutes.

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

The First Time/Oriental Baby Sitter

The First Time/Oriental Baby Sitter. Anthony Spinelli, 1976-1978.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome DVD #022 Peekarama: The First Time/Oriental Baby Sitter, released 2013. English language. Cumulative runtime approximately 142 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals in either feature.

• The First Time. Anthony Spinelli as Leonard Burke, 1978, approximately 70 minutes. 3.5/5❤

• Oriental Baby Sitter. Anthony Spinelli as Leonard Burke, 1976, approximately 73 minutes. 4.5/5❤

Fit To Kill

Fit To Kill. Andy Sidaris, 1993.

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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 97 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Fitzcarraldo

Fitzcarraldo. Werner Herzog, 1982.

😿 😿

Edition screened: Included in BFI The Werner Herzog Collection Blu-ray box set, released 2014. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 157 minutes.

Summary: Killing of a snake.

Details:

1) A snake is killed on the jungle floor of the Amazon, 1:40:48-1:40:55.

2) A few scattered scenes of native South American life include such things as a dead bird in a kitchen, but nothing gory or intentionally violent.

Fleabag: Series One & Two

Fleabag: Series One & Two. Harry Bradbeer and Tim Kirkby, 2016-2019.

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Edition screened: Dazzler DVD, released 2019. English language. Cumulative runtime approximately 302 minutes.

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

A truly superb show, cleverly written and carried by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Each season has only six episodes for a total of just over five hours for the entire series. All twelve episodes are very good, but the first episode of Series Two is one of the best things I’ve seen made for English-speaking TV.

Flesh-Eating Mothers

Flesh-Eating Mothers. James Aviles Martin, 1988.

😿😿

Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #306, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.

Summary: Depiction of a cat ripped in two.

Details: Two zombie ghouls fight over a live cat, pulling in opposite directions until it splits in the middle. They then eat the gory halves. All this 1:11:07-1:12:04. There are no close-ups of the carnage and the strangely-proportioned cat is a silly prop.

Flowers in the Attic

Flowers in the Attic. Jeffrey Bloom, 1987.

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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 92 minutes.

Summary: A pet mouse is found dead, but no gratuitous close-ups or details.

The Flowers of St. Francis

The Flowers of St. Francis (Francesco, giullare di Dio). Roberto Rossellini, 1950.

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Edition screened: Criterion DVD #293, released 2005. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.

Summary: Much discussion of cutting off a pig’s foot, and the subsequent dumping of the pig’s body by a campfire.

Details:

The film consists of chapters that are individual stories of St. Francis and the other friars in his camp. The chapter entitled “A Pig’s Foot” (33:22 - 40:26) tells how Brother Ginepro misunderstands a friar's request for a pig's foot to eat and cuts the foot off a live pig. The herdsman finds his mutilated pig and brings the dead animal to the friars in disgusted charity.

While we do not see any dismembering, discussion of cutting off the animal's foot runs throughout. When Brother Ginepro finds the Donor Pig he follows it behind bushes, and we see the bushes shake a bit while a pig screams in distress. Ginepro emerges with a clean pig's foot obviously from a butcher's shop rather than the bloody mess that would have been hacked from a living animal with an inadequate knife. The chapter ends with the herdsman dumping a carcass with one amputated leg at the friar's campfire.

The Fog (Carpenter)

The Fog. John Carpenter, 1980.

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Edition screened: Scream Factory Blu-ray, released 2017. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.

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

Footlight Parade

Footlight Parade. Lloyd Bacon, 1933.

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Edition screened: Warner DVD, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.

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

Forgotten Gialli Volume 1

Forgotten Gialli Volume 1. Various directors, 1973-1978.

😿

Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome dual format box set #314, released 2020. Spanish and Italian languages with English subtitles. Cumulative runtime approximately 310 minutes.

Summary: Trauma includes one brief scene of gratuitous kitchen porn. Click on individual titles for details.

The VS 3-volume set includes

Trauma (1978 León Kilmovsky)

The Killer Is One of 13 (1973 Javier Aguirre)

The Police are Blundering in the Dark (1975 Helia Colombo)

Four Christmases

Four Christmases. Seth Gordon, 2008.

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Edition screened: New Line DVD, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

FreeDogme

FreeDogme. Lars von Trier and Wim Wenders, 1987.

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Edition screened: Included on Home Vision DVD Epidemic, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 53 minutes.

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

Von Trier, Wenders, and several other directors discuss filmmaking according to the Dogma ’95 Manifesto.

Greaser’s Palace

Greaser’s Palace. Robert Downey, Sr., 1972

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Edition screened: Scorpion Blu-ray, released 2018. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.

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

The Green, Green Grass of Home

The Green, Green Grass of Home (Zai na he pan qing cao qing). Huo Hsiao-Hsien, 1982.

😿😿

Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #189 in the set Early Huo Hsiao-Hsien: Three films 1980-1983, released 2018. Mandarin language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 91 minutes.

Summary: Animal abuse as comedy and science.

Details:

1) A group of boys attempt to electrocute fish using a car battery, a minute or so around 23:00. No real death or violence portrayed.

2) Science class dissection of a live crab that is writhing in pain or trying to right itself, 1:07:04-1:07:10.

Grizzly Man

Grizzly Man. Werner Herzog, 2005.

😿

Edition screened: Lionsgate DVD, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.

Summary: Evidence of dead animals, mostly tortured by people.

Details:

1) Mutilated bear carcass, 18:15-18:21.

2) A severed cub’s leg, a dead young fox, and a bear skull, sequentially 1:10:14-1:12:14,

3) Asshole “nature lovers” throwing rocks at a cub, 1:19:25-1:19:45.

Guns (Sidaris)

Guns. Andy Sidaris, 1990.

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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 96 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Hagazussa: A Heathen's Curse

Hagazussa: A Heathen's Curse (Hagazussa - Der Hexenfluch). Lukas Feigelfeld, 2017.

😿 😿

Edition screened: Doppelgänger Blu-ray, released 2019. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 102 minutes.

Summary: Remains of mutilated goats.

Details:

1) Albrun enters her stable and sees a weird bundle hanging from the ceiling, 1:00:17. Closer inspection, it is bloody and must be part of one of her beloved goats because of the visible horns. Upon touching it, the hide unfolds and spills entrails on the floor. Albrun collapses beside the entrails and sobs. All this, 1:00:17 through 1:01:54.

2) Albrun carries a dead rat by the tail, drops it in the spring, and pees on it, 1:02:53-1:03:30.

The Doppelgänger release of this very good film also includes Feifelfeld’s short film Interferenz (2014).

Hard Hunted

Hard Hunted. Andy Sidaris, 1992.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Mill Creek 3-DVD set Girls, Guns and G-Strings: The Andy Sidaris Collection, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Hard Soap, Hard Soap

Hard Soap, Hard Soap. Bob Chinn, 1977

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Edition screened: Included on Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #304, Hard Soap, Hard Soap/Disco Lady, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 76 minutes.

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

Hard Ticket to Hawaii

Hard Ticket to Hawaii. Andy Sidaris, 1987.

😿

Edition screened: Included on Mill Creek 3-DVD set Girls, Guns and G-Strings: The Andy Sidaris Collection, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

Summary: A very phony snake is killed.

A “contaminated snake” gets a lot of attention and screen time in Hard Ticket, despite its arbitrary significance in the plot. Identified at one point as a boa, this large fake snake allegedly was contaminated (the script leans heavily upon this word) by proximity to cancerous rats. That apparently is something that can happen. This causes the contaminated snake to turn a mottled grey and black pattern and become gross and bloated looking, resembling a Scottish sausage with a constantly gaping mouth full of fangs. The contamination also brings a psychological change in the snake, causing it to violently lunge at the face of anyone it sees. A person thus attacked then shrivels into a hacked-up mess within a few hours. There is so much I don’t know about biology and natural history.

1) Flushing a toilet causes the contaminated snake to explode up from the toilet bowl, and of course it pursues the alarmed woman. But she has a pistol and shoots the snake twice - in the mouth - which does not even phase the contaminated snake, 1:27:04.

2) Fortunately, someone enters with an enormous quadruple-barreled bazooka and shoots the contaminated snake’s head off, 1:27:33.

3) The contaminated snake’s headless body quivers on the floor through 1:27:41.

Hell Riders

Hell Riders. James Bryan, 1984.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #VSA05, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.

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

The Hills Have Eyes Part II

The Hills Have Eyes Part II. Wes Craven, 1984.

😿

Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.

Summary: Brief images of dead animals.

Details:

1) Unclear depiction of a dog-like animal hanging by its feet, 57:25-57:35.

2) An even more unclear depiction of a deer-like animal hanging, 1:17:46-1:17:56.

Hitch Hike to Hell

Hitch Hike to Hell. Irvin Berwick, 1977.

😸

Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.

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

Hitch-Hike (Campanile)

Hitch-Hike (Autostop rosso sangue). Pasquale Festa Campanile, 1977.

😿

Edition screened: Raro Blu-ray, released 2016. Italian language with English subtitles or dub. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.

Summary: Deer shot.

Details: Stock footage of a deer being shot followed by brief image of a dead deer in the back of a vehicle, 2:45-2:50.

Gottlieb Astro in the truck stop during the biker encounter, around the 90-minute mark.

Hollywood Horror House

Hollywood Horror House (Savage Intruder). Donald Wolfe, 1973.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #309, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 91 minutes.

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

The Holy Girl

The Holy Girl (La niña santa). Lucretia Martel, 2005.

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Edition screened: HBO DVD, released 2005. Spanish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.

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

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Francis Lawrence, 2013.

😿 😿

Edition screened: Included in Lionsgate Blu-ray set The Hunger Games: Complete 4-Film Collection, released 2016. English language. Runtime approximately 146 minutes.

Summary: Survival violence.

Details:

1) A dead rabbit is removed from a snare, 1:47-1:52.

2) A pack of enraged baboons attacks at 1:42:10, with numerous of the attackers slain through 1:44:40.

The Hunger Games: Complete 4-Film Collection

The Hunger Games: Complete 4-Film Collection. Gary Ross and Francis Lawrence, 2012-2015.

😿😿

Edition screened: Lionsgate Blu-ray set, released 2016. English language. Cumulative runtime of feature films approximately 548 minutes.

Summary: Quick but predictable depictions of animals killed in a survivalist setting.

The Lionsgate package includes each film on a separate Blu-ray disc plus two disks of bonus material. Click on individual titles for details.

The Hunger Games (2012 Gary Ross)

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013 Francis Lawrence)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2014 Francis Lawrence)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015 Francis Lawrence)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. Francis Lawrence, 2014.

😸

Edition screened: Included in Lionsgate Blu-ray set The Hunger Games: Complete 4-Film Collection, released 2016. English language. Runtime approximately 126 minutes.

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

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. Francis Lawrence, 2015.

😸

Edition screened: Included in Lionsgate Blu-ray set The Hunger Games: Complete 4-Film Collection, released 2016. English language. Runtime approximately 137 minutes.

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

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games. Gary Ross, 2012.

😿😿

Edition screened: Included in Lionsgate Blu-ray set The Hunger Games: Complete 4-Film Collection, released 2016. English language. Runtime approximately 142 minutes.

Summary: Killing of woodland animals

Details:

1) Quick depiction of a grouse-like bird shot in flight, 5:34-5:36.

2) Very quick image of a salamander impaled by two knives thrown recreationally, 1:22:58.

The Hunger: Wetwork

The Hunger: Wetwork . Various directors, 1998-2000.

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Edition screened: York DVD , released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 107 minutes.

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

Four made-for-cable “erotic thrillers,” each about 27 minutes long and completely uninteresting.

The Face of Helen Bournouw, directed by Richard Ciupka

The Other Woman, directed by George Mikalka

Triangle in Steel, directed by Adrian Moat

The Falling Man, directed by Daniel Grou

I Saw the Devil

I Saw the Devil (Ang-ma-reul bo-at-da). Kim Jee-woon, 2010.

😸

Edition screened: Magnet Blu-ray, released 2011. Korean language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 142 minutes.

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

Imitation of Life (Sirk)

Imitation of Life. Douglas Sirk, 1959.

😸

Edition screened: Included in Universal Imitation of Life 2-Movie Collection, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 125 minutes.

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

Imitation of Life (Stahl)

Imitation of Life. John M. Stahl, 1934.

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Edition screened: Included in Universal Imitation of Life 2-Movie Collection, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 111 minutes.

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