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.

Avenged

Avenged (Savaged). Michael S. Ojeda, 2013.

😿

Edition screened: Uncork’d Blu-ray, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 95 minutes.

Summary: A dead coyote or wild dog is found in the desert in a state of decomposition, 5:08-5:30.

Babel

Babel. Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006.

😿😿😿

Edition screened: Paramount DVD, released 2007. English language. Runtime approximately 143 minutes.

Summary: Cruel murder of a chicken

Details: A chicken is brutally killed by twisting her head off, 35:23- 35:34

Blue Movie (Verstappen)

Blue Movie. Wim Verstappen, 1971.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Cult Epics The Dutch Sex Wave Collection, released 2017. Dutch language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 89 minutes.

Summary: No animals in the film. 2.5/5❤

The Blue Movie BD in the Cult Epics set also includes three short films:

• Heart Beat Fresco. 1966, Pim de la Parra

• Joop. 1969, Pim de la Parra

• Joop Strikes Again. 19670, Wim Verstappen

Broken Flowers

Broken Flowers. Jim Jarmusch, 2005.

😸

Edition screened: Universal DVD, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 106 minutes.

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

The Burmese Harp

The Burmese Harp (Biruma No Tategoto). Kon Ichikawa, 1956.

😸

Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema # BD 013, released 2012. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 117 minutes.

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

City of Lost Children

City of Lost Children. Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, 1995.

😸

Edition screened: Columbia/TriStar DVD, released 1999. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 112 minutes.

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

Coffee and Cigarettes

Coffee and Cigarettes. Jim Jarmusch, 2003.

😸

Edition screened: MGM/UA DVD, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

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

Commando Fury

Commando Fury. Godfrey Ho, 1986.

😸

Edition screened: Watched on Amazon. English dub. Runtime approximately 81 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Nothing to see here. Nothing entertaining, exciting, sexy, or inadvertently funny. Do not be misled by Amazon’s image of the girl in the black boots, criminally opposite of anything in the film.

Dead Man

Dead Man. Jim Jarmusch, 1996.

😿😿

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

Summary: Murdered fawn.

Details: A young deer is found dead, shot through the neck 1:23:44 - 1:25:44. Johnny Depp reacts with sympathy.

Embodiment of Evil

Embodiment of Evil (Encarnação do Demônio). José Mojica Marins, 2008.

😿 😿

Edition screened: Synapse Blu-ray, released 2011. Portuguese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 94 minutes.

Summary: Desecration of a pig’s body; animals used as instruments of torture.

Details:

1) 1:03:56 through 1:04:27, we see the body of a large dead pig, clean on the exterior and stitched up the belly. The stitches are snipped, releasing a nude woman.

2) Soon thereafter are two torture scenes involving animals. The first shows a woman’s face forced into a crock full of live roaches. The second involves a large rat turned loose on a restrained woman after a honey-like substance has been poured on her body. We do not see the roaches or the rat injured.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Everything Everywhere All at Once. Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, 2022.

😿😿

Edition screened: Lionsgate Blu-ray, released 2022. English and Mandarin with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 139 minutes.

Summary: “Comedic” depiction of extreme physical abuse of a dog.

Details: From 1:15:30 through 1:16:33, a leashed Pomeranian is used as a martial arts weapon. The dog repeatedly is twirled on his leash and used as a rope dart, then kicked hard enough to send him soaring across a large room.

Frank & Eva

Frank & Eva: Living Apart Together (Frank en Eva). Pim de la Parra, 1973.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Cult Epics The Dutch Sex Wave Collection, released 2017. Dutch language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

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

Heart Beat Fresco

Heart Beat Fresco. Pim de la Parra, 1966.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Cult Epics The Dutch Sex Wave Collection, released 2017. Dutch language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 10 minutes.

Summary: No animals in the film.

Joop

Joop. Pim de la Parra, 1969.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Cult Epics The Dutch Sex Wave Collection, released 2017. Dutch language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 10 minutes.

Summary: No animals in the film.

Joop Strikes Again

Joop Strikes Again (Joop slaat weer toe). Wim Verstappen, 1970.

😸

Edition screened: Included in Cult Epics The Dutch Sex Wave Collection, released 2017. Dutch language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 10 minutes.

Summary: No animals in the film.

Jubilee

Jubilee. Derek Jarman, 1977.

😸

Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #191, released 2003. English language. Runtime approximately 100 minutes.

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

The Madness of King George

The Madness of King George. Nicholas Hynter, 1994.

😸

Edition screened: MGM/UA DVD, released 1994. English language. Runtime approximately 110 minutes.

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

Monster (Jenkins)

Monster. Patty Jenkins, 2003.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Columbia/TriStar DVD, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 119 minutes.

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

The Purge

The Purge. James DeMonaco, 2013.

😸

Edition screened: Universal Blu-ray, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 85 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The game room in the house has a 1980 Stern Galaxy, and a 1992 Williams The Getaway: High Speed II. Partial views of both starting at 1:04:10.

Redd Inc.

Redd Inc. (Inhuman Resources/Headhunt). Daniel Krige, 2012.

😸

Edition screened: Green Light Blu-ray, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

Summary: There is a closeup of a cockroach lying on its back, apparently near death. No other animals or references to animals in the film.

Szinbád

Szinbád. Zoltán Huszárik, 1971.

😸

Edition screened: Second Run DVD #058, released 2011. Hungarian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.

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

The Second Run DVD also includes Peter Strickland’s Szinbád: An Appreciation (2010, 12 minutes).

Under the Volcano

Under the Volcano. John Huston, 1984.

😸

Edition screened: Criterion DVD #410, released 2007. English language. Runtime approximately 112 minutes.

Summary: Día de los Muertos festivities include amateur Capeas, a bullfighting style in which the bulls are provoked with pink capes but not injured.

The Criterion DVD also includes Donald Brittain’s 1976 documentary Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry.

A Very Long Engagement

A Very Long Engagement. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2004.

😸

Edition screened: Warner DVD, released 2005. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 133 minutes.

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

Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry

Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry. Donald Brittain, 1976.

😿😿

Edition screened: Included on Criterion Blu-ray #410 Under the Volcano, released 2007. English language. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.

Summary: Physical abuse of bulls

Details:

1) A man hacks at a skinned bull skull with a hatchet, 47:07-47:45. The intact eyeballs and general violence make this unpleasant.

2) Bulls are downed, tied, hit, dragged, etc. as part of rodeo “fun”, 58:02 - 59:37.

Conduct Phase

Conduct Phase. Peter Strickland, 1996.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Artificial Eye Blu-ray The Duke of Burgundy, released 2015. Scored, no dialogue track. Runtime approximately 6 minutes.

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

A short film shot on Super 8 in Greece in 1996 among the stray dog community in a village south of Athens.

Barb Wire

Barb Wire. David Hogan, 1996.

😸

Edition screened: Mill Creek Blu-ray, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 98 minutes.

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

Blue Collar

Blue Collar. Paul Schrader, 1978.

😸

Edition screened: Information provided by our Senior Correspondent. English language. Runtime approximately 114 minutes.

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

A bar scene featuring Harvey Keitel shows a 1976 Bally Night Rider, a 1977 Gottlieb Big Hit, and a 1977 Stern Raw Hide.

The Duke of Burgundy

The Duke of Burgundy. Peter Strickland, 2014.

😿

Edition screened: Artificial Eye Blu-ray, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.

Summary: Many scenes of butterflies pinned to specimen boards. These shots often are pans of a large quantity of seemingly identical butterflies pinned closely together in neat grids. There are no scenes of hunting, killing, or mounting the butterflies.

The Artificial Eye BD also includes Strickland’s 1996 short film Conduct Phase.

Game 6

Game 6. Michael Hoffman, 2005.

😸

Edition screened: Hart Sharp DVD, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.

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

The Initiation of Sarah

The Initiation of Sarah. Robert Day, 1978.

😸

Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2022. English language. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

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

Memories of Murder

Memories of Murder (Salinui chueok). Bong Joon-ho, 2003.

😸

Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #1073, released 2021. Korean language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 131 minutes.

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

The Criterion BD also includes Bong’s student film Incoherence, recommended.

Obsessions: A Hole in the Wall

Obsessions: A Hole in the Wall (Bezeten - Het gat in de muur). Pim de la Parra, 1969.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Cult Epics The Dutch Sex Wave Collection, released 2017. English dub. Runtime approximately 91 minutes.

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

2046

2046. Wong Kar Wai, 2004.

😸

Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set World of Wong Kar Wai, released 2021. Cantonese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 128 minutes.

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

The Ash Tree (Clark)

The Ash Tree. Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1975.

😿

Edition screened: Included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 37 minutes.

Summary: Dead or distressed animals.

Details:

1) A cow lies panting in a field, seemingly close to death, 3:51-4:03.

2) A dead pheasant lies in a field, 6:06-6:09.

The Ash-Tree (Bell)

The Ash-Tree. David Bell, 1986.

😸

Edition screened: From the series Classic Ghost Stories of M.R. James and included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 15 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Couples Retreat

Couples Retreat. Peter Billingsley, 2009.

😸

Edition screened: Watched online, to the imperilment of an otherwise lovely vacation. English language. Runtime approximately 113 minutes.

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

Unspeakably juvenile and horrible. Not just couples, but everyone should retreat.

Cowards Bend the Knee

Cowards Bend the Knee. Guy Maddin, 2004.

😸

Edition screened: Zeitgeist DVD, released 2005. Scored and with English intertitles, no dialogue track. Runtime approximately 65 minutes.

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

The Diary of Mr. Poynter

The Diary of Mr. Poynter. Marilyn Fox, 1980.

😸

Edition screened: From the series Spine Chillers and included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 11 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Ghost Stories for Christmas

Ghost Stories for Christmas. Various directors, 1968-2006.

😸 . . .

Edition screened: BFI DVD box set, released 2013. English language. Runtime of feature titles approximately 830 minutes.

Summary: The 1975 version of The Ash Tree includes a few images of dead animals. The box set otherwise is free of depictions of dead or mistreated animals.

This 6-DVD set from BFI is grounded in the writings of M.R. James. It includes a standard assortment of introductions and commentaries, along with short films from several BBC series:

The entire series A Ghost Story for Christmas:

Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968, Jonathan Miller)
Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010, Andy de Emmony)
The Stalls of Barchester (1971, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
A Warning to the Curious (1972, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
Lost Hearts (1973, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
The Ash Tree (1975, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
The Signalman (1976, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
Stigma (1977, Lawrence Gordon Clark)
The Ice House (1978, Derek Lister)
A View from a Hill (2005, Luke Watson)
Number 13 (2005, Pier Wilkie)

The entire series Classic Ghost Stories:

The Mezzotint (1986, David Bell)
The Ash-Tree (1986, David Bell)
Wailing Well (1986, David Bell)
Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad (1986, David Bell)
The Rose Garden (1986, David Bell)

From the series Spine Chillers:

The Mezzotint (1980, Marilyn Fox)
A School Story (1980, Marilyn Fox)
The Diary of Mr. Poynter (1980, Marilyn Fox)

From the series Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee:

The Stalls of Barchester (2000, Eleanor Yule)
A Warning to the Curious (2000, Eleanor Yule)
Number 13 (2000, Eleanor Yule)

The Ice House

The Ice House. Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1978.

😸

Edition screened: Included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 34 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Lost Hearts

Lost Hearts. Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1973.

😸

Edition screened: Included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 35 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Mezzotint (Bell)

The Mezzotint. David Bell, 1986.

😸

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Mezzotint (Fox)

The Mezzotint. Marilyn Fox, 1980.

😸

Edition screened: From the series Spine Chillers and included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 11 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Number 13 (Wilkie)

Number 13. Pier Wilkie, 2006.

😸

Edition screened: Included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 40 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Number 13 (Yule)

Number 13. Eleanor Yule, 2000.

😸

Edition screened: From the series Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee and included in BFI DVD box set Ghost Stories for Christmas, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 30 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad (Bell)

Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad. David Bell, 1986.

😸

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Old

Old. M. Night Shyamalan, 2021.

😸

Edition screened: Viewed online. English language. Runtime approximately 108 minutes.

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

A mystery drama pivoting on human subjects who come to understand that they are the subjects of involuntary scientific experimentation leading to their torturous deaths. As such, it also is and must be a commentary on animal experimentation, made obvious by a post-revelation laboratory scene in which a scientist professes “But think of the lives we’ve saved.”

One-Armed Boxer

One-Armed Boxer (Du bei chuan wang). Jimmy Yu Wang, 1972.

😸

Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2022. Mandarin language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

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