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.

W-X titles



click Title for details Animal Violence Immaculate Corpse
Wacky TaxiCleanThe expansive middle
WackoCleanThe expansive middle
The Wages of Fear MinimalThe elusive topExxon
Wail (Keen)CleanThe expansive middle
Wailing Well CleanThe expansive middle
Waiting for GuffmanCleanThe expansive middle
Waiting WomenCleanThe expansive middle
Wake Up and KillCleanThe expansive middle
Waking LifeCleanThe expansive middle
Walerian Borowczyk: Short Films and Animation MinimalThe expansive middle
A Walk Among the TombstonesMinimalThe expansive middle
A Walk Through the Bowery CleanThe expansive middle
WalkaboutExtremeThe expansive middleporn
WalkerCleanThe expansive middle
Waltz of the Bat Clean The expansive middle
Wanda Clean The expansive middle
Wanda Whips Wall StreetCleanThe expansive middle
The War of the WorldsCleanThe expansive middle
The War Room CleanThe expansive middle
Warm Nights and Hot PleasuresCleanThe expansive middle
A Warning to the Curious (Clark)CleanThe expansive middle
A Warning to the Curious (Yule)CleanThe expansive middle
The Warped Ones SubstantialThe expansive middle
The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahar (Eclipse 28)SubstantialThe expansive middle
Warrendale CleanThe expansive middle
Wasp CleanThe expansive middle
Water for Maya CleanThe expansive middle
The Way of the Dragon CleanThe expansive middle
The Way We Were CleanThe expansive middle
The Wayward BusCleanThe expansive middle
W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films MinimalThe expansive middle
We Are the FleshCleanThe expansive middle
We Fuck Alone CleanThe smeary bottom
We Need To Talk About KevinMinimalThe expansive middle
We Own the NightCleanThe expansive middle
We Won't Grow Old TogetherCleanThe elusive top
The Weavers of NishijinCleanThe expansive middle
A WeddingCleanThe expansive middle
The Wedding PartyCleanThe expansive middle
Wedlock House: An IntercourseCleanThe expansive middle
Weed (de Renzy)CleanThe expansive middle
Weekend (Godard)HeavyThe expansive middle
The Weight of WaterMinimalThe expansive middle
Weird Wisconsin: The Bill Rebane CollectionMinimalThe expansive middle
The Weird World of WeirdCleanThe expansive middle
Welcome Home Brother CharlesCleanThe expansive middle
Welcome Home, Soldier BoysCleanThe expansive middle
Welcome to the DollhouseMinimalThe expansive middle
A Well Spent LifeCleanThe expansive middle
Wendigo SubstantialThe expansive middle
The Werner Herzog Collection SubstantialThe expansive middle
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe SubstantialThe expansive middle
The WhaleCleanThe expansive middle
What a Way To Go!CleanThe expansive middle
What Have You Done to Solange?MinimalThe expansive middle
Whatever WorksCleanThe expansive middle
What's the Matter with Helen?HeavyThe expansive middle
Wheel of TimeCleanThe expansive middle
When a Woman Ascends the StairsCleanThe expansive middle
When Angels FallSubstantialThe expansive middle
When Horror Came to Shochiku (Eclipse 37) SubstantialThe expansive middle
Where Is the Friend’s House?CleanThe elusive top
Where the Green Ants DreamCleanThe expansive middle
The Whirled (Four Shorts of Jack Smith)CleanThe expansive middle
WhirlpoolCleanThe expansive middle
Whiskey Galore (MacKinnon)CleanThe expansive middle
Whiskey MountainCleanThe smeary bottom
Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad (Bell) Clean The expansive middle
Whistle and I'll Come to You (Emmony) Clean The expansive middle
Whistle and I'll Come to You (Miller) Clean The elusive top
White ChristmasCleanThe expansive middle
The White DiamondCleanThe expansive middle
White DustCleanThe expansive middle
The White GorillaCleanThe expansive middle
White Heaven in HellCleanThe expansive middle
White Lite (Keen)CleanThe expansive middle
White MaterialSubstantialThe expansive middle
The White ReindeerCleanThe expansive middle
The White RibbonSubstantialThe elusive top
White Slaves of ChinatownCleanThe expansive middle
A White Spot in the Back of the HeadCleanThe expansive middle
White VertigoCleanThe expansive middle
Who by Water CleanThe expansive middle
Who Can Kill a ChildCleanThe expansive middle
Who Saw Her Die?CleanThe expansive middle
The Wicked LadyCleanThe expansive middle
The Wicker Man (Hardy)HeavyThe expansive middle
WigglewormCleanThe expansive middle
Wilczyca (The Wolf)SubstantialThe expansive middle
The Wild and the NakedCleanThe expansive middle
Wild at HeartMinimalThe expansive middle
The Wild Blue YonderCleanThe expansive middle
The Wild BunchHeavyThe expansive middle
Wild JumboCleanThe expansive middle
Wild StrawberriesCleanThe elusive top
Wild Things (McNaughton)CleanThe expansive middle
The Wildcat (Lubitsch)CleanThe expansive middle
Willard (Morgan)SubstantialThe expansive middle
Willie DynamiteCleanThe expansive middle
Willy’s WonderlandCleanThe expansive middle
Wind from the EastCleanThe expansive middle
Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian RadichCleanThe expansive middle
The Wind-of-Youth Group Crosses the Mountain PathCleanThe expansive middle
WindowCleanThe expansive middle
Window Water Baby MovingCleanThe expansive middle
Wings (Shepitko) CleanThe expansive middle
Wings (Wellman) CleanThe elusive top
Wings of DesireCleanThe expansive middle
Winstanley CleanThe elusive top
Winter HeatCleanThe expansive middle
Winter LightCleanThe expansive middle
Winter SleepSubstantialThe elusive top
Winter SolsticeCleanThe expansive middle
A Winter Straw Ride Clean The elusive top
Wise BloodCleanThe expansive middle
The WitchSubstantialThe expansive middle
The Witch Burned AliveCleanThe expansive middle
The Witch in LoveSubstantialThe expansive middle
The Witch: SubversionMinimalThe expansive middle
The Witch Who Came from the Sea CleanThe expansive middle
Witchcraft Through the Ages MinimalThe expansive middle
The Witches (De Laurentiis)CleanThe expansive middle
Witchfinder GeneralMinimalThe expansive middle
WitchhammerCleanThe expansive middle
Witch's Cradle CleanThe expansive middle
WitchtrapCleanThe smeary bottombut Linnea
With a Friend Like HarryCleanThe expansive middle
With Love from TrumanCleanThe expansive middle
With the ReindeerCleanThe expansive middle
Withnail and ISubstantialThe expansive middle
The Wizard of Gore (Kasten)MinimalThe expansive middle
The Wizard of Gore (Lewis)CleanThe expansive middle
The Wizard of OzCleanThe expansive middle
The Wold-ShadowCleanThe expansive middle
Wolf GuyCleanThe expansive middle
The Wolf ManMinimalThe expansive middle
The Woman (McKee)MinimalThe expansive middle
Woman Chasing the Butterfly of DeathMinimalThe expansive middle
The Woman in BlackCleanThe expansive middle
The Woman in Green CleanThe expansive middle
Woman in the Dunes CleanThe elusive top
The Woman in the FifthCleanThe expansive middle
A Woman Is a Woman CleanThe expansive middle
A Woman KillsCleanThe expansive middle
Woman of DesireCleanThe expansive middle
A Woman Under the Influence CleanThe elusive top
A Woman's TormentCleanThe expansive middle
The WomenCleanThe expansive middle
Women Are Naturally Creative: Agnès VardaCleanThe expansive middle
Women at PlayCleanThe expansive middle
Women in Cages HeavyThe expansive middle
Women in Cellblock 9 CleanThe expansive middle
The Women of Inferno IslandCleanThe expansive middle
Women on the Verge of a Nervous BreakdownCleanThe expansive middle
Women Reply: Our Bodies, Our SexCleanThe expansive middle
Women TalkingCleanThe expansive middle
The Wonder RingCleanThe expansive middle
Wonder WomenHeavyThe expansive middle
Wooden Crosses CleanThe expansive middle
WoodenheadCleanThe expansive middle
Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk HorrorSubstantialThe expansive middle
Woodshock CleanThe expansive middle
Words for Battle CleanThe expansive middle
Workshop ExercisesCleanThe expansive middle
The WorldCleanThe expansive middle
The World Is Not Enough CleanThe expansive middle
The World of Jacques DemyMinimalThe expansive middle
World on a WireSubstantialThe expansive middle
The World’s Championship Women’s Wrestling ContestCleanThe expansive middle
The World’s EndCleanThe expansive middle
The Wormwood StarCleanThe expansive middle
The Wounded ManCleanThe expansive middle
WoyzeckMinimalThe expansive middle
WR: Mysteries of the OrganismCleanThe expansive middle
Wrath of DaimajinMinimalThe expansive middle
The WrestlerCleanThe expansive middle
Written on the WindMinimalThe expansive middle
Wrong MoveCleanThe expansive middle
Wrong TurnMinimalThe expansive middle
Wrong Turn 2: Dead EndCleanThe expansive middle
Wrong Turn 3: Left for DeadMinimalThe expansive middle
Wrong Turn 4: Bloody BeginningsCleanThe expansive middle
Wrong Turn 5: BloodlinesCleanThe expansive middle
Wrong Turn 6: Last ResortHeavyThe expansive middle
Wuthering Heights (Arnold) HeavyThe expansive middle
The X from Outer Space CleanThe expansive middle

Xtro 3: Watch the Skies MinimalThe elusive topTonya Harding
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