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.

Y-Z titles



click Title for details Animal Violence Immaculate Corpse
Yakuza Law Clean The expansive middle
Yankee Doodle Dandy Clean The elusive top
Year of the Dragon Clean The smeary bottom
Years of Lead: Five Classic Italian Crime Thrillers 1973-1977 Clean The expansive middle
Yellow Clean The expansive middle
Yellow Submarine  Clean The expansive middle
Yesterday, Today, and  Tomorrow Clean The expansive middle
Yi Yi Clean The expansive middle
Yggdrasill: Whose Roots Are Stars in the Human Mind Clean The expansive middle
Yokai Monsters Collection  Substantial The expansive middle
You Are On Indian Land  Clean The expansive middle
You Can't Do That! The Making of 'A Hard Day's Night'  Clean The expansive middle
You Only Live Twice  Clean The expansive middle
You, the Living Clean The expansive middle
You Were Never Really Here Clean The expansive middle
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger Clean The expansive middle
You're Gonna Miss Me: A Film About Roky Erickson Clean The expansive middle
You're Next Clean The expansive middle
Young Frankenstein  Clean The expansive middle
Young Girls Do Clean The expansive middle
The Young Girls of Rochefort Clean The expansive middle
The Young Like It Hot Clean The expansive middle
Young Mr. Jazz  Clean The expansive middle
The Young Savages  Clean The expansive middle
Young Soul Rebels  Minimal The expansive middle
Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key Substantial The expansive middle
Youth of the Beast Clean The expansive middle
Youth Without Youth Clean The expansive middle
You’ve Got Beautiful Stairs, You Know Clean The expansive middle
Yoyo  Clean The expansive middle
Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking Substantial The expansive middle
Yumeji Minimal The expansive middle
Yumurta Substantial The expansive middle
The Yusuf Trilogy Substantial The expansive middle
Z Clean The expansive middle
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession Minimal The expansive middle
Zabriskie Point  Clean The elusive top
Zama Minimal The expansive middle
Zardoz Clean The expansive middle
Zatoichi (Beat Takeshi) Clean The expansive middle
Zatoichi and the Chess Expert (#12) Clean The expansive middle
Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold (#6) Clean The expansive middle
Zatoichi and the Doomed Man (#11) Minimal The expansive middle
Zatoichi on the Road (#5) Clean The expansive middle
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman (box set)  Minimal The expansive middle
Zatoichi the Fugitive (#4) Clean The expansive middle
Zatoichi’s Cane Sword (#15) Minimal The expansive middle
Zatoichi’s Flashing Sword (#7) Minimal The expansive middle
Zatoichi’s Pilgrimage (#14) Clean The expansive middle
Zatoichi’s Revenge (#10) Clean The expansive middle
Zatoichi’s Vengeance (#13) Clean The expansive middle
A Zed & Two Noughts Heavy The expansive middle
Zelig Clean The expansive middle
The Zero Boys Heavy The expansive middle
Zéro de conduite Clean The expansive middle
Zigeunerweisen Clean The elusive top
Zodiac Clean The expansive middle
Zombie Flesh Eaters Clean The expansive middle shark vs zombie
Zombie For Sale Minimal The expansive middle shark vs zombie
Zombie Island Massacre Clean The smeary bottom
Zombie Strippers Clean The expansive middle
Zoo Piece  Clean The expansive middle
Zoology Clean The elusive top
Zorgon: The H-Bomb Beast from Hell  Clean The expansive middle
Zorns Lemma  Clean The elusive top
Zou-Zou  Clean The expansive middle
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