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.

Director Index E - K

Animal Violence Key:  Clean   Minimal   Substantial   Heavy   Extreme 

Ell, Ralph: Shadows on the Mountain (1931)   
Ellinger, Mark: Boggy Depot (1973 w/McDowell)
Ellis, Leonard: Boobs a Lot (1968)  
Ellis, Sean: Cashback (2006)  
Ezaki, Mio: Heartless (1968)
Fanaka, Jamaa: Welcome Home Brother Charles (1975), Emma Mae (1976), Penitentiary (1979), Penitentiary II (1982)
Fanck, Arnold: Cloud Phenomena of Maloja (1924), The Holy Mountain (1926), Storm over Mont Blanc (1930)
Fargeat, Coralie: Revenge (2018)    
Farina, Corrado: Baba Yaga (1973)
Farrelly, Bobby & Peter: There's Something About Mary (1998), Me, Myself, & Irene (2000), Shallow Hal (2001), The Heartbreak Kid (2007)
Farris, John: Dear Dead Delilah (1972)
Farrow, John: The Big Clock (1948)
Fassbinder, Rainer Werner: The Little Chaos (1966), The City Tramp (1966), Katzelmacher (1969), Gods of the Plague (1969), Love Is Colder Than Death (1969), The Niklashausen Journey (1970), Beware of a Holy Whore (1970), The American Soldier (1970), Rio das Mortes (1970), The Merchant of Four Seasons (1971), The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), World on a Wire (1973), Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Effi Briest (1974), Fox and His Friends (1974), Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven (1975), Fear of Fear (1975), Satan's Brew (1976), Chinese Roulette (1976), Despair (1978), In a Year with 13 Moons (1978), The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) 
Favreau, Jon: Elf (2003) 
Faxon, Nate: Downhill (2020 w/Rach) 
Fehér, György: Twilight (1990)  
Figgis, Mike: Stormy Monday (1988), Internal Affairs (1990), Hotel (2001), Cold Creek Manor (2003),
Finch, Nigel: Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood (1978)
Fincher, David: Alien 3 (1992), Seven (1995), The Game (1997), Fight Club (1999), Zodiac (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2012), Gone Girl (2014)
Fischer, Robert: Talk About the Business (2008), Infernal Circle (2008)
Fisher, Terence: The Curse of the Werewolf (1960), Brides of Dracula (1960), The Phantom of the Opera (1962)
Fishman, Bill: Tapeheads (1988)
FitzPatrick, James & Ruth: FitzPatrick Traveltalks Volume 1 (1934-1946)   
Flaherty, Robert: The Twenty-Four Dollar Island (1925), Moana: With Sound (1926)   
Flanagan, Kendal: Houseboat Horror (1989 w/Martin)   
Flanders, John: Sessions of Love Therapy (1970)   
Fleder, Gary: Don't Say a Word (2001)
Fleischer, Richard: Violent Saturday (1955)    
Fleming, Victor: The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939)    
Fletcher, Mandie: The Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016)    
Foy, Bryan: Hazel Green & Company (1927), The Night Court (1927), The Foy Family in 'Chips off the Old Block" (1928), Baby Rose Marie: "The Child Wonder" (1929), Joe Frisco in "The Happy Hottentots" (1930)
Foy, Jon: Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles (2011)  
Frampton, Hollis: Manual of Arms (1966), Process Red (1966), Maxwell's Demon (1968), Surface Tension (1968), Lemon (1969), Carrots & Peas (1969), Zorns Lemma (1970), (nostalgia) (1971), Critical Mass (1971), Poetic Justice (1972), Winter Solstice (1974), Straights of Magellan (1969-1974), INGENIVM NOBIS IPSA PVELLA FECIT, Part I (1975), Magellan: At the Gates of Death, Part I: The Red Gate (1976), Gloria! (1979), The Birth of Magellan: Cadenza I (1977-80)
Francis, Freddie: Paranoic! (1963), Nightmare (1963), The Evil of Frankenstein (1964), The Psychopath (1966), Torture Garden (1967), The Creeping Flesh (1972), The Doctor and the Devils (1985)    
Franklin, Sidney: The Hoodlum (1919)    
Fraser, Harry L.: The White Gorilla (1945)  
Frawley, James: Fraternity Vacation (1985)  
Friedman, David F.: The Brick Dollhouse (1967)
Fuller, Samuel: Park Row (1952)
Fulton, Keith: Lost in La Mancha (1973 w/Pepe)
Furie, Sidney J.: The Entity (1981)
Gagliardi, Giuseppe: 1992 (2015)
Galindo, Rubén Jr.: Cemetery of Terror (1985), Don't Panic (1987), Grave Robbers (1989)  
Gallo, Vincent: The Brown Bunny (2003)
 Gance, Abel: Napoléon (1927)  
Garcia, Nicole: Place Vendôme (1998)
Gardner, Richard: Deadly Daphne's Revenge (1981)      
Gariazzo, Mario: Play Motel (1979)     
Gernon, Christine: Gavin & Stacey: Christmas Special (2009)
Gershuny, Theodore: Sugar Cookies (1973) 
Gervais, Ricky: The Office (2003 w/Merchant) 
Gevargizian, Jill: The Stylist (2020) 
Gilliam, Terry: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975 w/Jones), Jabberwocky (1977), Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989), The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Tideland (2005), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2010)
Gilliat, Sidney: Green for Danger (1946)
Gilroy, Tony: Michael Clayton (2007)
Gintry, Robert: Woman of Desire (1993)
Girard, François: Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993), The Red Violin (1998)
Girdler, William: Sheba, Baby (1975)
Giuliano, Geoffrey: The Beatles Celebration (1999)
Gladwell, David: A Summer Discord (1955), Miss Thompson Goes Shopping (1958), The Great Steam Fair (1964 w/Knight), An Untitled Film (1964), Requiem for a Village (1975)  
Glazer, Jonathan: Birth (2004), Under the Skin (2014)
Glen, John: For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), The Living Daylights (1987), License to Kill (1989)     
Glenn, Pierre-William: Cléo's Real Path Through Paris (2005) 
Glickenhaus, James: The Exterminator (1980)   
Glodell, Evan: Bellflower (2011) 
Godard, Jean-Luc: All the Boys Are Called Patrick (1959), Charlotte and Her Boyfriend (1959), Breathless (1960),  A Woman Is a Woman (1961), RoGoPaG: Il Nuovo Mondo (1963), Le Petit Soldat (1963), Contempt (1963), A Married Woman (1964), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le fou (1965), Weekend (1967), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Sympathy for the Devil (1968), A Film Like Any Other (1968 w/Gorin), British Sounds: See You at Mao (1969 w/Roger), Wind from the East (1970 w/Gorin), Vladimir et Rosa (1970 w/Gorin), Struggle in Italy (1971 w/Gorin)
Godfrey, Bob: Kama Sutra Rides Again
Goinard, Olivier: Inventory (2008)
Golan, Menahem: Enter the Ninja (1981)
Goldman, Martin: Dark August (1976)    
Goldner, Elliot: The Borderlands (2014)
Goldovskaya, Marina: Three Songs About Motherland (2008)
Gomes, Miguel: A Christmas Inventory (2000), 31 Means Trouble (2003), Tabu (2012), Redemption (2013), Arabian Nights (2015)
Goncharoff, Sergei: The Blue Hour (1971 w/Nichols)
Gondry, Michel: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), The Science of Sleep (2006), Jean Vigo (2011)
Goodman, Jeffry: The Last Lullaby (2008)
Gordon, Bert I.: Tormented (1960) 
Gordon, Keith: Mother Night (1996) 
Gordon, Seth: Four Christmases (2008) 
Gordon, Stuart: Re-Animator (1985)  
Gorin, Jean-Pierre: Poto and Cabengo (1980), Routine Pleasures (1986)
Gornick, Michael: Creepshow 2 (1987) 
Gottheim, Larry: Fog Line (1970)
Goulding, Alfred J.: Take a Chance (1918)  
Goulding, Edmund: Nightmare Alley (1947)  
Goyer, David S.: Blade: Trinity (2004)  
Grabham, Tim: The Creeping Garden (2014 w/Sharp)
Graham, Peter: Gunpoint (1972)
Graham, Scott: Shell (2012)   
Grasshoff, Alexander: Wacky Taxi (1972)  
Gréville, Edmond T.: Princesse Tam-Tam (1935)
Griffith, D.W.: The Adventures of Dollie (1908), Those Awful Hats (1909), The Sealed Room (1909), The Lesser Evil (1909), Corner in Wheat (1909), A Trap for Santa (1909), The Unchanging Sea (1910), The Usurer (1910), The House with Closed Shutters (1910), In the Border States (1910), His Trust (1910), His Trust Fulfilled (1910), The Fugitive (1910), The Ramona (1910), Enoch Arden (1911), The Miser's Heart (1911), The Battle (1911), Swords and Hearts (1911), The Last Drop of Water (1911), The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), The Burglar's Dilemma (1912), One Is Business, the Other Crime (1912), The Painted Lady (1912), Friends (1912), The New York Hat (1912), An Unseen Enemy (1912), The Massacre (1912), Death's Marathon (1913), The Battle of Elderbush Gulch (1913), The Mothering Heart (1913), The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916)
Grimblat, Pierre: Slogan (1969)
Grimonprez, Johan: Grateful Dawg (2000)
Grisman, Gillian: Double Take (2009)
Grissmer, John: Blood Rage (1987)
Gross, Marty: Seven Samurai: Origins and Influences (2006)
Grossman, Douglas: Hell High (1989)  
Guadagnino, Luca: I Am Love (2009)
Guermantes, Roger: Dark Dreams (1971) 
Haanstra, Bert: Glass (1958)
Haas, Philip: Angels and Insects (1995)   
Habicht, Florian: Liebesträum (1997), Woodenhead (2003)
Hackl, David: Saw V (2008)
Hackford, Taylor: Devi's Advocate (1997)
Hadzihalilovic, Lucile: Innocence (2004)
Haefeli, Mark: Paul McCartney: Back in the U.S. (2002)
Håfström, Mikael: 1408 (2007)
Haggard, Mark: The Love Garden (1971) 
Haggard, Piers: The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) 
Haggis, Paul: Crash (2004)
Haims, Eric Jeffrey: 101 Acts of Love (1970)
Hains, Richard: Splatter University (1984)
Hall, Peter: The Homecoming (1973)
Hallström, Lasse: The Shipping News (2001)
Hamburg, John: Along Came Polly (2003), I Love You, Man (2009) 
Hamer, Bent: Kitchen Stories (2003), Factotum (2005), O'Horten (2007)
Hamilton, David: Premiers Désirs (1983)
Hamilton, Guy: The Party's Over (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)  
Hammer, Robert: Don't Answer the Phone (1980)  
Hammid, Alexander: Private Life of a Cat (1945)
Hanák, Dušan: Old Shatterhand Came to See Us (1966), The Mass (1967), Pictures of the Old World (1972) 
Haneke, Michael: The Seventh Continent (1989), Benny’s Video (1992),  71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994), Code Unknown (2000), The Piano Teacher (2001), Hidden (2005), Funny Games (2007), The White Ribbon (2009), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017)    
Hedges, Peter: Dan in Real Life (2007)
Heerman, Victor: Animal Crackers (1930)
Heffron, Richard: The California Kid (1974) 
Herz, Juraj: The Junk Shop (1965), The Cremator (1968) 
Herzfeld, John: 15 Minutes (2001)
Herzog, Werner: The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz (1967), Signs of Life (1968), Last Words (1968), Precautions Against Fanatics (1969), Handicapped Future (1970), Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970), Land of Silence and Darkness (1971), Fata Morgana (1971), Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974), The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974), Heart of Glass (1976), How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (1976), La Soufrière (1977), Stroszek (1977), Woyzeck (1979), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), God's Angry Man (1980), Huie's Sermon (1980), Fitzcarraldo (1982), Where the Green Ants Dream (1984), Ballad of the Little Soldier (1984), Cobra Verde (1988), Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices (1995), Lessons of Darkness (1992), Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997), My Best Fiend (1999), Invincible (2001), Wheel of Time (2003), The White Diamond (2004), Grizzly Man (2005), The Wild Blue Yonder (2006), Rescue Dawn (2006), Encounters at the End of the World (2007), Over the Ice (2007 w/Zeitlinger), My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2010), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011), Ode to the Dawn of Man (2011)  
Hess, Jared: Napoleon Dynamite (2004)  
Hillman, William Byron: Double Exposure (1982)   
Hirschelbiegel, Oliver: Downfall (2004), The Invasion (2007) 
Hirschenson, Bernard: Pick-up (1975) 
Hirschfeld, Barbara: Transformations (1972)  
Ho, Godfrey: Commando Fury (1986) 
Hochhäusler, Christoph: I Am Guilty (2005) 
Hoblit, Gregory: Primal Fear (1996) 
Hoffman, Michael: Game 6 (2005)  
Hogan, David: Barb Wire (1996)  
Hogg, Joanna: Unrelated (2007)
Holden, Anton: Aroused (1966)  
Holofcener, Nicole: Friends with Money (2006)
Honoré, Christophe: Ma mère (2004)
Hooper, Tobe: The Heisters (1965), Eggshells (1969), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Eaten Alive (1976), Poltergeist (1982), Lifeforce (1985), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), The Funhouse (2004)
Hooper, Tom: Les Misérables (2012)      
Hopkinson, Peter: Today in Britain (1964)
Hopper, Dennis: Easy Rider (1969)
Hough, John: The Incubus (1981)   
Horton, Peter: Gun: Ricochet (1997) 
Horulu, Kemal: Never Sleep Alone (1983)
Hossein, Robert: Cemetery Without Crosses (1969)
Houck, Joy N., Jr.: The Night of the Strangler (1972)   
Hough, John: Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974)
Houston, Robert: Shogun Assassin (1980)
Howard, Cy: Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
Howard, Gil: Box Lunch (1966)
Hughes, Robert C.: Memorial Valley Massacre (1980)  
Huszárik, Zoltán: Játék (1959), Szinbád (1971)  
Hynter, Nicholas: The Madness of King George (1994)  
Iannucci, Armando: In the Loop (2009) 
Imperoli, Mario: Like Rabid Dogs (1976)  
Ingvordsen, J. Christian: Blue Vengeance (1989 w/Kuchuck)  
Inoue, Akira: Zatoichi's Revenge (1965)
Itami, Jûzô: Rubber Band Pistol (1962), Tampopo (1985)        
Itô, Shunya: Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972), Beast Stable (1973), Jailhouse 41 (1972)   
Ito, Teiji and Cherel: Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti (1954 after Deren)       
Ivory, James: Slaves of New York (1989), Howard's End (1992), Jefferson in Paris (1995), Le Divorce (2003)
Jenkins, Patty: Monster (2003) 
Jones, Terry: Life of Brian (1979)
 Jonze, Spike: Her (2014)
Joost, Henry: Paranormal Activity 3 (2011 w/Landon)
Jordan, Lawrence: Hamfat Asar (1965)
Jordan, Neil: Mona Lisa (1986)
Joyce, Paul: Hell on Earth (2002)
Jude, Radu: Aferim! (2015) 
Judge, Mike: Idiocracy (2006)  
Julien, Isaac: Young Soul Rebels (1991)  
Källén, Ludwig: Erik, the Extra (2022)  
Kargl, Gerald: Angst (1983)  
Karmanzinski, Nikolai: How Are You, Comrade Miner? (1932)
Kashyap, Anurag: Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)
Kassovitz, Mathieu: La Haine (1995)
Kasten, Jeremy: The Wizard of Gore (2007)    
Kastle, Leonard: The Honeymoon Killers (1969) 
Katsoupis, Vasilis: Inside (2023)   
Katz, Aaron: Dance Party, USA (2006), Quiet City (2007)
Kaufmann, Jerome S.: Winter Heat (1976)  
Kaurismäki, Aki: Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989), Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses (1994), Total Balalaika Show (1994)
Kawajiri, Yoshiaki: The Animatrix: Program (2003)
Kawalerowicz, Jerzy: Night Train (1959), Mother Joan of the Angels (1960)
Kawase, Naomi: The Mourning Forest (2007)
Kawashima, Yûzô: Bakumatsu Taiyô-den (1957)
Keen, Jeff: Wail (1960), Like the Time Is Now (1961), Breakout (1962), The Pink Auto (1964), Missing Close-Ups (1965), Instant Cinema (1965), Flik Flak (1965), Marvo Movie (1967), Cineblatz (1967), Meatdaze (1968), White Lite (1968), Rayday Film (1968-70), Family Star (1960), Days of the Arcane Light (1969), White Dust (1972), 24 Films (1975), Diary Films (1976), Mad Love (1978), The Cartoon Theatre of Dr Gaz (1976-79), Return of Silver Head (early 1980s), Spontaneous Combustion (1980s), Victory Through Film Power (1980s), The Dreams and Past Crimes of the Archduke (1979-84), Plazmatic Blatz (1991), Plasticator (1990s), Kino Pulveriso (1993), Irresistible Attack (1995), Pulverised Cinema (1990s), Artwar series (1990s), B-B-B-B0m/Life Storm (1990s), Blatzom film series (1986 through 1990s), Omozap 1 & 2 (1991), Omozap in Artwar (1991), Kino Staccato (1999), Joy Thru Film (2000), Omozap Terribelis/Afterblatz 2 (2002)
Keen, Ralph: Under Night Streets (1958)
Kelljan, Bob: Count Yorga, Vampire (1970), The Return of Count Yorga (1971), Scream, Blacula, Scream (1973)      
Kitamura, Ryûhei: Versus: Ultimate Edition (2003)  
 Klimovsky, León: Trauma (1978)  
Knautz, Jon: The Shrine (2010), Girl House (2014 w/Matthews)  
Knight, Derrick: A Time to Heal (1963), Faces of Harlow (1964), Education for the Future (1967)
Knight, Steven: Locke (2013)
Knipe, Humphrey: Too Naughty to Say No (1984), Unveiled (1986)
Knowles, Bernard: Magical Mystery Tour (1967 w/The Beatles)
Kobayashi, Masaki: The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959), The Human Condition II: The Road to Eternity (1959),  The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961), The Black Hair (1965), The Woman of the Snow (1965), Hoichi the Earless (1965), In a Cup of Tea (1965), Kwaidan (1965)
Koenig, Wolf: Lonely Boy (1962 w/Kroitor)
Koepp, David: Ghost Town (2008)
Kogonada: On Solace (2014)
Koike, Takeshi: The Animatrix: World Record (2003)
Kolski, Jan Jakub: Pornografia (2002)
Kopel, Hal: Don’t Be Afraid (1952) 
Kornbluth, Jacob & Josh: Haiku Tunnel (2001)
Kraning, Susan Pitt: Crocus (1971)
Krasinski, John: A Quiet Place (2018), A Quiet Place Part II (2020)  
Krige, Daniel: Redd Inc. (2012)  
Krogstad, Karl: Jack in the Fox (1972)
Kroot, Jenifer M.: It Came from Kuchar (2009)
Krueger, Lisa: Committed (2000)
Kuchar, George: The Craven Sluck (1967), I, An Actress (1977)  
Kuchuck, Danny: The First Man (1996)   
Kudláček, Martina: In the Mirror of Maya Deren (2001)
Kuei Chih-hung: The Boxer’s Omen (1983)    
Kurosawa, Kiyoshi: Pulse (2001), Tokyo Sonata (2008)  
Kusama, Karyn: Jennifer's Body (2009)
Kusama-Hinte, Jeffrey: Soul Power (1974) 
Kwitny, Jeff: Beyond the Door III (1989)      
Kyriazi, Paul: Death Machines (1976)

Animal Violence Key:  Clean   Minimal   Substantial   Heavy   Extreme 

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