Zoo (2007)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Robinson Devor

Writers:

Robinson Devor (writer)
Charles Mudede (writer)

Release Date:

30 May 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

We are not who we appear to be.

Plot:

A look at the life of a Seattle man who died as a result of an unusual encounter with a horse. |

Plot Keywords:

Horse | Cremation | Zoophilia | Liberal | Underworld

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Coyote	...	Himself
Jenny Edwards	...	Herself
John Edwards	...	Himself
John Paulsen	...	Mr. Hands
Ron Carrier	...	The Happy Horseman
Russell Hodgkinson	...	H
Tom Gormally	...	The Polishman
Forest Fousel	...	Capitol Hill man (as Forest L. Fousel)
Brad Harrington	...	Bremerton man
Andrew Scott McIntyre	...	Military man (as Andrew McIntyre)
Richard Carmen	...	Mr. Hands' brother
Ken Kreps	...	Mr. Hand's father
Malayka Gormally	...	Mr. Hands' wife
Conor Gormally	...	Mr. Hands' son
Robert Padilla	...	The rancher

Runtime:

USA:80 min (Sundance Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Manitoba) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Seattle, Washington, USA

Trivia:

The horse performer in this movie was a Thoroughbred mare named 'Somebodys Baby', and is a former successful racehorse. The horse in the incident portrayed was in reality an Arabian stallion.

A humanizing look at something awful

Zoo is probably as tasteful a movie as can be, given its bestial subject. For those of you who aren't aware, there's a small population of the world who prefer the love of an animal--both mentally and physically--over the love of a human. This film stylistically recreates the life and death of one horse lover, Mr. Hands, and his pack of animal molesting friends, during one of many meetings and BBQ's in a small town near Seattle. Mr. Hands died from internal injuries, caused by the numerous and repetitive thrusting of the enlarged member of a stallion into his anus.

The film is tasteful because it's not sleazy. In this respect, it's almost worse on the audience because it humanizes these so-called animal lovers. What you'd think would be more like a shockumentary, more than anything else, really becomes a shallow dissection of a zoophile's playful mind. It's certainly not psychological, nor really in-depth; but its shallowness really makes it that much more grim.

As I watched the film, I felt like a voyeur peering into the lives of ordinary human beings doing absolutely bizarre and reprehensible things--and they just talked about it as if it were as benign and workaday as eating a bowl of cereal or taking the dog for a ride (insert pun here). Yet, much like a pedophile talking about his love for children, these zoophile's innocently and sincerely spoke about their love for animals.

Initially concerned about the content of the film, I left the theater without witnessing the exploitation or mockery of bestiality, nor did I see anything graphic or overtly sexual. I did leave the theater a little sickened, however, because I didn't loathe Mr. Hands or his friends. In fact, I somehow sympathized with their pitiful plight.