Violence to Animals in Film

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 Exorcist

The Exorcist. William Friedkin, 1973.

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Edition screened: Warner Blu-ray, released 2010. English language. Original Theatrical Cut runtime approximately 122 minutes; Extended Director’s Cut runtime approximately 132 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals in either version of the film.

Eaten Alive

Eaten Alive. Tobe Hooper, 1976.

😿😿

Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 91 minutes.

Summary: Animal deaths by neglect.

Details:

1) A lethargic monkey dies in his rickety cage, possibly of starvation, 16:18-16:23.

2) A small pet dog is eaten by a crocodile, 20:45-20:52.

1971 Williams Swinger and 1972 Williams Fan-Tas-Tic machines in the bar.

Dogville

Dogville. Lars von Trier, 2003.

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Edition screened: Lions Gate DVD, released 2003. English language. Runtime approximately 177 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Divorce Italian Style

Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio all’Italiana). Pietro Germi, 1961.

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Edition screened: Criterion DVD #286, released 2005. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.

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

Bonus material on the Criterion release includes a documentary about Petro Germi, The Man with the Cigar in His Mouth (1997).

Demons

Demons (Dèmoni). Lamberto Bava, 1985.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2012. Italian language with English subtitles or dub. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Dégustation maison

Dégustation maison. Sophie Tatischeff, 1978.

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Edition screened: Included on Tati Shorts disc in Criterion’s 7-Blu-ray set The Complete Jacques Tati, released 2014. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 12 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Dark Fury

Dark Fury (The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury). Peter Chung, 2004.

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Edition screened: Included in Universal Riddick Trilogy 2-DVD set, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 35 minutes.

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

Cours du soir

Cours du soir (Evening Classes). Nicolas Ribowski, 1967.

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Edition screened: Included on Tati Shorts disc in Criterion’s 7-Blu-ray set The Complete Jacques Tati, released 2014. Runtime approximately 28minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Yet another tiresome re-write of 1940’s-50’s Disney Goofy’s How To … cartoons. This time starring Jacques Tati rather than Pierre Étaix and filmed during the production of Play Time.

Code Name Melville

Code Name Melville (Sous le nom de Melville). Olivier Bohler, 2008.

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Edition screened: Included on Criterion Blu-ray #755 Le Silence de la mer, released 2015. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 76 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Leading filmmakers and European culturemakers explain Melville’s early career and how it was shaped by the time spent in the French Resistance.

The Chronicles of Riddick

The Chronicles of Riddick. David Twohy, 2004.

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Edition screened: ‘Director’s Cut’ included in Universal Riddick Trilogy 2-DVD set, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 135 minutes.

Summary: A fantastic beast that appears to be a huge wolf made of stainless steel barbs is briefly hit with a club at 1:09.16, which only makes him snarl. I really don’t think that counts as violence toward animals.

The Changes

The Changes (UK TV program). John Prowse, 1975.

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Edition screened: BFI 2-DVD set, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 246 minutes.

Summary: Display of dead rabbits.

Details: In chapter 8 of 10, “Lightning!”, Nicky and Jonathon are assisted by a gentleman who has been hunting in the woods and carries two large hares by the legs, 15:10-16:45.

The rabbits and the handsome woodsman’s romantic clothing seem a bit out-of-place in 1970s England. In fact, Nicky and Jonathon have just escaped a village that has regressed to witch-hunting mentality, and now are aided by this kind agrarian man and his wife whose pagan beliefs are manifest in generosity and courtesy, rabbit hunting aside.

California Suite

California Suite. Herbert Ross, 1978.

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Edition screened: Image All-Star Classic Comedies Double Feature California Suite / Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice DVD, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 103 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence toward animals.

Bug

Bug. William Friedkin, 2006.
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Edition screened: Lions Gate DVD, released 2007. English language. Runtime approximately 102 minutes.

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

Borgman

Borgman. Alex van Warmerdam, 2013.
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Edition screened: Drafthouse Blu-ray, released 2014. Dutch language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 113 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Black Sunday (Bava)

Black Sunday (The Mask of Satan, La maschera del demonio). Mario Bava, 1960.

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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2013. Original Italian dub or original English dub. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.

Summary: Killing of a rubber bat.

Details: The worst prop in a good film attacks at 13:00 and is shot and beaten through 13:15. We mostly see a lot of human flailing around rather than the actual rubber bat.

Arrow’s excellent Blu-ray package includes both the original Italian version and the 3-minutes shorter American edit of Black Sunday, as well as Riccardo Freda’s I Vampiri (1956).

The Beatles Celebration

The Beatles Celebration. Geoffrey Giuliano, 1999.

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Edition screened: Delta Entertainment DVD, released 1999. English language. Runtime approximately 56 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Around the World with Orson Welles

Around the World with Orson Welles. Orson Welles, 1955.

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Edition screened: BFI Blu-ray, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 164 minutes.

Summary: Sport killing of animals.

Details:

1) The first episode of this short-lived travel series is a visit to Basque. An opening segment explains a traditional pigeon hunting technique that uses nets stretched across a valley. The pigeons are brought down in the net 2:55-3:05, recapped 3:40-3:42.

2) The second episode is another trip to Basque, recycling the exact same footage including the pigeon netting at the same clock time.

3) The 6^th and final episode is a trip to Spain, focusing exclusively on the Bullfighting tradition. The actual arena contest begins at 18:45 and the bull receives the death stabbing by sword at 25:28.

What a disappointment, but a disappointment that helps me understand one reason that The Boy Genius’s projects fell from favor. Welles takes us interesting places in pre-McDonald’s Europe but is a camera hog who deprives us of seeing the sites. He tells us about the glorious architecture across the street or the stunning countryside surrounding us but the camera rarely strays from his face, smilingly bemusedly at the spectacles.

When we do get Orson-view instead of view-Orson, too often is it an excruciatingly long interview with a local person who has nothing to say, sounding like an egotistical Great Uncle pointlessly quizzing a stupefied 8-year-old: What were you doing just before we started talking? Oh, and do you sit at the table at about this time everyday? A-ha, sometimes a little earlier. Do you like dogs? What kind of dog might you like to have, if you did like dogs? Ah yes, a friendly one, I thought as much. Can you tell me why you grasp your drinking glass like that? It’s the same way we hold a glass in America, at least in some parts of America, perhaps parts you may have heard of, but possibly not. I’ve heard of them and have been to some of them as well, and am reminded of a short story about a man traveling through Boise with his wife and small child …

The Spanish Bullfight episode is a bit different, more like standard travel documentaries from the 1950s. We see matadors in training and visit a bullfighting museum, hear the local lore and justifications, and conclude in the arena where that poor, poor, heroic gladiator was nearly injured. The episode begins with a lengthy introduction to bullfighting culture by Mr. and Mrs. Twit o’ the Year-on-Trent, who seem a hilarious and appropriately unflattering commentary on the whole affair, and perhaps suggest that the precocious Welles was more erudite in his control of content than the episodes routinely disclosed.

The BFI release also includes Christopher Cognet’s 2000 documentary about a legendary abandoned episode from the series, The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles.

Apocalypto

Apocalypto. Mel Gibson, 2006.

😿😿😿

Edition screened: Buena Vista/Touchstone DVD, released 2007. Whatever language and/or with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 139 minutes.

Summary: Typical goofball revelry in animal butchering.

Details:

1) The film opens with a tapir being pursued by Injuns. The tapir is gruesomely impaled at 2:48, convulses and dies for another minute, then his organs are removed and passed out like Little League trophies through 5:30. Follow-up butchering, 7:58-8:25.

2) A black panther is stabbed and beaten to death 1:37:30-1:38:03.

The easiest way to launder our brains of this stupid movie is simply to say what Mel Gibson wants to hear, and be done with it. There’s no arguing with him anyway. So: Dear Mel, I sure learned some important life-shaping truths watching Apocalypto. Turns out, ancient civilizations were extremely brutal, kept slaves, and killed graphically for practically no reason. That being the case, what right do liberals have criticizing modern first world Christian Capitalists for acting the same way?

Or we can emulate Mel’s 7^th-grade English teacher who picked up the DVD in BestBuy, read the cut line on the cover “No One Can Outrun Their Destiny”, put it down and kept walkin’.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. W.D. Richter, 1984.

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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 102 minutes.

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

Le Silence de la mer

Le Silence de la mer. Jean-Pierre Melville, 1949.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #755, released 2015. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Criterion Blu-ray of this extraordinary film treats us to many bonus features, including Code Name Melville, an interesting documentary about the director’s time in the French Resistance and the influence that experience had on his films, as well as Melville’s first film 24 Hours in the Life of a Clown (1946).

24 Hours in the Life of a Clown

24 Hours in the Life of a Clown (24 heures de la vie d’un clown). Jean-Pierre Melville, 1946.

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Edition screened: Included on Criterion Blu-ray #755 Le Silence de la mer, released 2015. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 18 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Rushmore

Rushmore. Wes Anderson, 1998.

😸

Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #65, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

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

The Royal Tenenbaums

The Royal Tenenbaums. Wes Anderson, 2001.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #157, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 110 minutes.

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

Rounders

Rounders. John Dahl, 1998.

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Edition screened: Miramax DVD, released 1999. English language. Runtime approximately 121 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Roswell: The U.F.O. Cover-Up

Roswell: The U.F.O. Cover-Up. Jeremy Kagan, 1994.

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Edition screened: Republic DVD, released 2002. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.

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

This X-files type film is much more enjoyable than one might presume.

Rosetta

Rosetta. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 1999.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #621, released 2012. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

Summary: Mild fishing violence.

Details: Two scenes show a worm being hooked on a homemade fishing wire, and then a fish having the wire removed from its mouth. The images are quick and not gratuitous, focusing on the distress of the impoverished girl fishing rather than on “sport,” and occur 12:08-13:06 and 56:40-57:12.

Rosemary’s Baby

Rosemary’s Baby. Roman Polanski, 1968.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #630, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 136 minutes.

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

Rope

Rope. Alfred Hitchcock, 1948.

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Edition screened: Included in Universal Blu-ray box set Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 121 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence toward animals.

Room at the Top

Room at the Top. Jack Clayton, 1959.

😸

Edition screened: Kino/Lorber Blu-ray, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 117 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Ronin

Ronin. John Frankenheimer, 1998.

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Edition screened: MGM DVD, released 2001. English language. Runtime approximately 121 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Another enjoyable and exciting film from the great Frankenheimer, despite seeming at times to be a 2-hour advertisement for Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

Romance

Romance. Catherine Breillat, 1999.

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Edition screened: Trimark DVD released 2000. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals. 3/5❤

Roma

Roma. Federico Fellini, 1972.

😿

Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #86, released 2014. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 120 minutes.

Summary: Mild meat processing.

Details: Two men carry several skinned calf carcasses suspended between poles, 1:20:35-1:20:40.

The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus

The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. Michael Lindsay-Hogg, 1968.

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Edition screened: Abkco DVD, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 63 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence toward animals.

Rollerball

Rollerball. Norman Jewison, 1975.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 125 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Rock ’n’ Roll High School

Rock ’n’ Roll High School. Allan Arkush, 1979.

😿😿

Edition screened: New Concorde DVD, released 2001. English language with Gabba Gabba Hey. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

Summary: Inappropriate handling of a mouse.

Details:

1) Mary Woronov handles a white mouse very roughly, 19:11-20:00, swinging it by the tail while she talks with her hands. There is a brief return to this, 23:03-23:14.

2) The mouse’s cage begins to shake violently at 24:05, simulating the vibrations of loud music, until the smoke-bang suggestion that the mouse has exploded at 24:20. Despite the popularity of referencing “exploding white mice,” there is no actual depiction of a mouse exploding, nor would such a visual effect fit in the intentionally silly and innocent Rock ’n’ Roll High School.

Rock ’n’ Roll High School is popularly quoted and noted for five reasons:

• the spurious exploding white mice.

• the entertaining presence of P.J. Soles, Mary Woronov, and Paul Bartel.

• the disconcerting presence of Clint Howard.

• performances by The Ramones.

• the only filmed performance of Marla Rosenfield, who steals every scene in which her minor character ‘Cheryl’ appears. Vidcap of Herself thanks to Aveleyman!

Bally Op-Pop-Pop backstage with The Ramones.

Robin and the 7 Hoods

Robin and the 7 Hoods. Gordon Douglas, 1964.
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Edition screened: Warner DVD, released 2005. English language. Runtime approximately 123 minutes.

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

Riot in Cell Block 11

Riot in Cell Block 11. Don Siegel, 1954.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #704, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 80 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animal animals …

Ringers: Lord of the Fans

Ringers: Lord of the Fans. Carlene Cordova, 2005.

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Edition screened: Sony ‘Special Edition’ DVD, released 2005. English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Rigoletto (Verdi/Deflo)

Rigoletto (Verdi). Gilbert Deflo, 2006.

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Edition screened: Arthaus Musik Blu-ray, released 2012. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 128 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Ride with the Devil

Ride with the Devil. Ang Lee, 1999.

😸

Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #514, released 2010. English language. Runtime approximately 148 minutes.

Summary: A few incidents of horses falling during battle scenes, but no depicted injury to the animals.

Ride in the Whirlwind

Ride in the Whirlwind. Monte Hellman, 1966.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #734, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 82 minutes.

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

The Criterion Blu-ray also includes the companion film The Shooting.

The Return of the Living Dead

The Return of the Living Dead. Dan O’Bannon, 1984.

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Edition screened: Second Sight Blu-ray, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 91 minutes.

Summary: Beating of a reanimated lab specimen.

Details: A taxidermy split dog is found on the floor at 17:15, reanimated at 17:20, beat with a crutch at 17:35, and the scene is over at 17:42. By Balthazar’s standard of ‘depictions that could be upsetting,’ the dog is fur-side-up during the beating, thus looking like a real fuzzy puppy, and it yelps in pain due to its reanimated state.

Return of Daimajin

Return of Daimajin (Daimajin 2/The Wrath of Daimajin/Majin Grows Angry). Kenji Misumi, 1966.

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Edition screened: Included in Mill Creek Daimajin Triple Feature 2-Blu-ray set, released 2012. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 78 minutes.

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

Requiem for a Dream

Requiem for a Dream. Darren Aronofsky, 2000.

😸

Edition screened: Lions Gate ‘Director’s Cut’ Blu-ray, released 2009. English language. Runtime approximately 102 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

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