Zatoichi’s Cane Sword (Zatōichi tekka-tabi). Kimiyoshi Yasuda, 1967.
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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 97 minutes.
Summary: Ichi is attacked by several crows and kills one of the birds with his sword, 1:50-1:55. Not particularly gruesome or bloody.
The fifteenth film in the Zatoichi series.
Werckmeister Harmonies (Werckmeister harmóniák). Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2000.
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Edition screened: Criterion 4K UHD #1215, released 2004. Hungarian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 145 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals. A taxidermy whale figures prominently but there is nothing visually alarming.
The BD in this dual format Criterion release also includes Tarr’s Family Nest (1979).
Under Capricorn. Alfred Hitchcock, 1949.
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Edition screened: Kino Lorber Blu-ray, released 2018. English language. Runtime approximately 117 minutes.
Summary: Several brief discussions of shooting horses that have broken legs, and we hear a gun as a horse is shot. There are no depictions or graphic descriptions of harm to horses.
TNT Jackson. Cirio H. Santiago, 1974.
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Edition screened: Included in Shout! Factory Lethal Ladies Collection DVD set, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 68 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Roger Corman’s Cult Classics Triple Feature ‘Lethal Ladies’ Collection also includes:
Firecracker (1981 Cirio H. Santiago)
Too Hot to Handle (1977 Don Schain)
A Taste of Flesh. Doris Wishman, 1967.
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Edition screened: Included in AGFA Blu-ray set The Films of Doris Wishman: The Moonlight Years. English language. Runtime approximately 73 minutes.
Summary: No animals in the film.
Merry-Go-Round. Jacques Rivette, 1981.
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Edition screened: Included in Arrow Blu-ray box set The Jacques Rivette Collection, released 2016. English language and French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 160 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Lower Depths (Les Bas-fonds). Jean Renoir, 1936.
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Edition screened: Criterion DVD #239, released 2004. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 89 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Criterion release also includes Akira Kurosawa’s 1957 adaptation of The Lower Depths.
Kadaicha (Stones of Death). James Bogle, 1988.
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Edition screened: Included in Severin Blu-ray box set All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror, released 2021. English language. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Kadaicha BD in the box set also includes Andreacchio’s 1988 The Dreaming.
The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly (Tomei ningen to hae otoko). Mitsuo Murayama, 1957.
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Edition screened: Included on Arrow Blu-ray with The Invisible Man Appears, released 2021. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.
Summary: Abuse, possible real killing, of lab rabbits.
Details:
1) We see a white rabbit die in her cage, including convulsions 50:55 - 51:26.
2) A second caged white rabbit with surgical tubes dies with convulsions, 57:51 - 58:41
The Invisible Man Appears (Tômei ningen arawaru). Shinsei Adachi and Shigehiro Fukushima, 1949.
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Edition screened: Included on Arrow Blu-ray with The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly, released 2021. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.
Summary: Rough handling of animals.
Details:
1) Around the 8:00 mark a guinea pig is fed liquid from a syringe, after which everyone pretends the animal has disappeared. The guinea pig is not happy about the syringe but is not harmed.
2) A cat is hoisted by a wire attached to her absurd clown collar and is flung around a room to make it appear that an invisible man is lifting and throwing her, 50:55-51:26.
Heroic Trio 2: Executioners (Yin doi hou hap zyun). Johnny To and Ching Siu-Tung, 1993.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #1207, released 2024. Cantonese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.
Summary: Poisoning and cruel killing of mice.
Details:
1) Mice are seen lying dead after eating the bread provided to prisoners, 48:48-49:00.
2) A prisoner crushes a live mouse and drinks its blood for nourishment, 57:13-57:26.
The Criterion release also includes The Heroic Trio.
The Heroic Trio (Dung fong sam hap). Johnny To, 1993.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #1207, released 2024. Cantonese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.
Summary: A villain grabs small birds out of the air and eats them alive, 42:38-42:45.
The Criterion release also includes Heroic Trio 2: Executioners.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. Joseph Zito, 1984.
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Edition screened: Included in Paramount Friday the 13th: 8-Movie Collection DVD set, released 2017. English language. Runtime approximately 91 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals. The family dog we meet at the beginning of the film never is harmed despite a stunt where the he jumps through a glass window.
Firecracker. Cirio H. Santiago, 1981.
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Edition screened: Included in Shout! Factory Lethal Ladies Collection 2-DVD set, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 77 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Roger Corman’s Cult Classics Triple Feature ‘Lethal Ladies’ Collection also includes:
TNT Jackson (1974 Cirio H. Santiago)
Too Hot to Handle (1977 Don Schain)
Family Nest (Családi tüzfészek). Béla Tarr, 1979.
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Edition screened: Included on Criterion Blu-ray # 1215 Werckmeister Harmonies, released 2024. Hungarian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 108 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Another Day, Another Man. Doris Wishman, 1966.
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Edition screened: Included in AGFA Blu-ray set The Films of Doris Wishman: The Moonlight Years. English language. Runtime approximately 71 minutes.
Summary: No animals in the film.
