10 Movies That Abused Animal Rights During Production

4. Land Without Bread Purposely Killed Wild Animals For Effect

Nothing is ever quite certain when dealing with the films of Luis Bunuel, but there are strong suggestions that several appalling incidents regarding the treatment of animals occurred during the filming of his surrealist documentary Land Without Bread. There is one particularly infamous scene in Bunuel's 1933 film that continues to be fiercely condemned over 80 years after the film was released. It contains a shot of a goat teetering on the edge of a cliff, before the narrator states: "Goat meat is only eaten when this happens", and the animal proceeds to tumble down the rocks to its death. A puff of smoke from the corner of the frame is seen during the sequence, revealing that the goat was not accidentally killed, but deliberately murdered for the sake of the film. Of course for Bunuel - the more nefarious, the better. During Land Without Bread he included unspeakable scenes of animal cruelty, including a scene where a rooster is decapitated, and a sequence where a donkey is stung to death by bees. Rumors remain to this day that the film crew smothered the animal with honey to attract these insects, and it's easy to see why the film was condemned, cut, and even banned upon release.