Zoo poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Richard Carmen, CJ, John Paulsen

In 2005 a bizarre new story spread from the sleepy rural town of Enumclaw, WA -- a man died of internal injuries sustained while attempting a sexual act with a horse. It was discovered the man was par... read more read more...t of a small group of zoophiliacs -- people who crave erotic contact with animals -- and that they had been engaging in various activities with local animals for some time. While investigating the incident, Washington police authorities discovered the state had no laws on the books concerning bestiality, and Sen. Pam Roach quickly introduced legislation which would make it illegal. While the story became a national news item after hitting the Internet, Seattle-based filmmaker Robinson Devor was curious about what sort of people became involved in the underground world of zoophilia, and Zoo is a docudrama which explores the horse sex case, the other members of the zoophile ring (two members of the group participated in the production of the film), the animal rescue organization that took possession of the horses, and the legislators and law enforcement officers who reacted to the case. Originally produced under the title In the Forest There Is Every Kind of Bird, Zoo was screened in competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

39% liked it

4,327 ratings

Critics

58% liked it

48 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 15 min.

Directed by: Robinson Devor

Release Date: April 25, 2007

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: September 18, 2007

Stats: 470 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

zoo Zoo
Upload a Photo | View All Zoo Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (470)

  • brooklynspo
    June 8, 2008
    brooklynspo
    yeah, i watched zoo
  • kiriyamakazou
    January 28, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    Zoo doesn't exactly deal with the subject of bestiality. Instead it provides testimony of the events leading up to a mans death via penetration by a horse. It is an expose on the lives of a select group of men that feel more connected with animals than they do humans. These are n... read moreot the sick weirdos you'd expect. They are normal and seemingly intelligent men. The film is shot as a beautiful reconstruction. Every scene is lit perfectly and has a dream like quality. It results in a film that you wish had been played as a fictional narrative. The film does not take shots at anyone and is a genuine attempt to understand these men and have them tell their story.
  • rubystevens
    May 30, 2008
    rubystevens
    you probably don't want to watch this. it's well made but extremely disturbing. this is animal abuse no matter what these freaks may claim; they are no better than rapists and child molesters; sick
  • DrBenway
    March 21, 2008
    DrBenway
    Fairly done, heartfelt, unique documentary concerning a man who was f***** to death by a horse
  • dunmyer
    April 25, 2007
    dunmyer
    [size=3][color=black]Zoo is one of the worst movies of the year, but it has material that is among the most interesting of the year. Dichotomies like that don't come around very often! It's really too bad that this material didn't get into the hands of a more talented filmmaker.[... read more/color][/size]
    [size=3][/size]
    [img]http://www.thedocumentaryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/Zoo.jpg[/img]

    [size=3][color=black]The film centers on an actual event that took place in Washington State not too long ago. Apparently it got a lot of press, but I have to admit, I never heard about it. A man bled to death from internal injuries that he didn't even know he had, after he'd received anal intercourse from a stallion.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]They don't dramatize the sex act. There's only a two-second shot from a homemade video that clearly shows a horse with its front legs up on a fence and its back legs on the ground. The horse is penetrating a man who is standing up without any pants on. The horse is pushing its penis in and out like any other species would.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]The actual sex act is not what interests the filmmaker, however. He was curious to find out what happened at the farm that led to such a thing. Who were these people that were with the man that night? What did the owner of the horses think of this? And what would compel a man to seek a sexual experience with a horse? etc.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]What results is something of an anthropological study of zoophiles, people who have a deep affinity with non-human animals and occasionally seek to have sexual experiences with them. The problem is that the filmmaker doesn't really learn anything significant. Or he's too dim-witted to find anything interesting.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]So what we're left with is long passages about how "zoos" (they do call themselves that) find each other on the Internet. You would not believe the long, banal sequences about the Internet "opening up imaginations," with long shots of radio transmitting towers! This movie gives new meaning to the word banal.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]Then after the long Internet chapter, we get the farm chapter. Languid images of men with first-grade educations hanging out on a farm together. Once the filmmaker learned about the lifestyle of the men who owned the farm, they talked these men into re-enacting their typical goings-on. So there are pathetically staged sequences where toothless grizzly men have parties together and go for long walks. Soporific in the extreme.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]One of the men in the loose network of friends was not toothless. He was upper middle class, well-educated and urbane. He found this network of men and had begun visiting the farm on occasion. He is the one who died. It wasn't clear if this was his first intercourse experience with a horse, or if he was an expert. But again, the film is not that interested in the details of that night.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]Another character that emerges is the woman who was called to the farm the next day to remove the animals. All the animals were taken. She gives her narration in a set of somber voice-overs, and she also reveals nothing.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]It's amazing to me that all the people involved in this unusual case really have nothing of value to say. People in that area of the country apparently have inner lives similar to animals. Light's on, but nobody's home.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]Well, there was one passage that I found intriguing. A man was saying in voice-over that you can't talk to animals about Tolstoy, or the differences between Monet and Picasso. That kind of thing doesn't exist in their world. Their world is a simpler place. And for just an instant you can be taken to that place, he said. I did find that idea exciting. Getting a glimpse of what it must feel like to be a non-human animal.[/color][/size]

    [size=3]I found one more interesting thing, although it's never mentioned in the film. None of the men involved appear to be gay. They appear to be straight men who yearn to be penetrated by animals. One man even had a plaster cast of a horse's penis in his home, and he knew the horse. That was a penis he had, I suppose, fallen in love with. Yet they're not gay, in our conventional use of the word. [/size]

    [size=3]Perhaps a deeper, more exciting filmmaker would have dug into themes such as that. I almost saw glimpses of a new kind of sexual orientation.[/size]
  • gator681
    April 10, 2008
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]"Zoo" is a provocative documentary about an unnamed engineer(here known as Mr. Hands") who died after a sexual act with a horse. He was part of a group of otherwise lonely men who had met over the internet where they talked about their shared obsession in zo... read moreophilia which is a sexual attraction to other species.(Mr. Hands had the closest to a normal life, being divorced with a child.) While using mostly recreations, the documentary successfully defuses the sensationalistic aspects of the story with an elliptical approach that relies not only on the testimony from an animal rescue worker who was on the scene afterward but also from three pseudonymous participants.(That having been said. Was it absolutely necessary to show how a horse is gelded?) The exquisite cinematography perfectly captures the shadow world that these men inhabit. [/font]
  • danieljparsons
    April 22, 2009
    danieljparsons
    A good music score, photography and unusual film stock (kinda like early 80's sexploitation films) are some good points in an otherwise surprisingly dull 'insight' into the life of a man who died after being fucked by a horse. Zoo should surely be horrific and/or illuminat... read moreing watching but its structured in such a dreary way that, more often than not, it's just boring. Robinson Devor should be applauded for tackling one of the remaining taboos (i.e. bestiality), but unfortunately he seems too concerned with trying not to disgust, and the voices heard throughout the film too often say things in as vague a way as possible.
  • pontxo
    August 29, 2011
    pontxo
    This is evidence that even the eeriest of topics can be documented into a balanced piece which tries to give a voice to all parties involved in the subject matter. I'm not condoning this behavior at all, but fortunately it was made with such quality, above average quality and car... read moree, that it deserves very high marks.

    It's very well made documentary about an even more disturbing lifestyle... at least for those of us who are not into zoophilia, of course. Nevertheless, it's intended to cause an empathic reaction on the audience, although I can't say many people will feel any sympathy.

    I know it's difficult, but place your prejudice about sexual behavior, sit back, watch and listen... that's all it takes and come back with a very uncomfortable topic of conversation at your next friendly gathering.
  • sleepykiss
    April 7, 2010
    sleepykiss
    A disturbing, yet extremely well-made documentary of the sensationalized bestiality case of the Seattle man that died from having sex with a horse. The film focuses on the testimonies of the people involved in the case & perspectives from a few zoophiliacs, but not so much on sp... read moreecific case details.
  • theSwitchbladeSister
    March 5, 2010
    theSwitchbladeSister
    An overly artful view of a gritty, disgusting, fascinating subject.

    That is, a man being fucked to death by a horse.

    The attempt to make the subject matter tasteful in its portrayal in the doc really turned me off to the whole experience quite a bit. This is a flick you go int... read moreo expecting to be repulsed and delighted at the same time. Oh well.

View All Zoo Reviews

Critic Reviews

Neva Chonin
May 25, 2007
Neva Chonin, San Francisco Chronicle

Punch lines and outrage come easy, but beware: If you walk into this film with a secure moral judgment, prepare to have it shaken by the time you leave. Full Review

Bill Stamets
May 11, 2007
Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times

This experimental-style documentary invokes the waking dreams of David Lynch, Werner Herzog and Errol Morris. It's like a true-crime inquiry undertaken during a total eclipse. Full Review

Michael Phillips
May 10, 2007
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Devor has an eye; this is clear. If he trades some of the poetry for a little prose next time out, he'll really have something, whatever his subject. Full Review

May 10, 2007
Chicago Reader

Devor's moody style (silhouettes, reenactments, an ominously throbbing score) only heightens the sleazy Dateline NBC feel. Full Review

Kenneth Turan
May 4, 2007
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Zoo is a cool sensibility married to a hot topic, a poetic film about a forbidden, unsettling subject. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
May 3, 2007
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

You could wander into this poetic documentary willing to be sympathetic toward its subject -- men who have sex with horses -- and still find Zoo cryptic and borderline bogus. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
April 26, 2007
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

[The filmmakers] insist, none too convincingly, that animals are capable of consenting to fulfilling their sexual needs. Wilburrrrr!! Full Review

Ty Burr
April 26, 2007
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Filmed with visual beauty and conceptual taste -- too much so, say the film's detractors -- it's an eerie glimpse into a secret world. Full Review

Gene Seymour
April 26, 2007
Gene Seymour, Newsday

As artful and delicate as director Robinson Devor tries to be with his documentary's disorienting material, the enterprise bogs down from the weight of its artistic intent and mannered methods. Full Review

Manohla Dargis
April 25, 2007
Manohla Dargis, New York Times

Zoo is, to a large extent, about the rhetorical uses of beauty. It is, rather more coyly, also about a man who died after having sex with a stallion.

View more Zoo reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Grizzly Man
    Grizzly Man (62%)
  • La Bête (The Beast)
    La Bête (The Beast) (0%)
  • Vase de noces (One Man and His Pig) (Wedding Trough) (The Pig Fucking Movie)
    Vase de noces (One Man and His Pig) (Wedding ... (0%)

More Movies like Zoo

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Zoo : Watch Free on TV

Zoo Trivia

  • In what movie do an obnoxious club of kids adopt a seal they helped to escape from the zoo?  Answer »
  • In what movie did a hippo and giraffe and a lion and a zebra get taken from their zoo in new york to a remote place near south africa?  Answer »
  • What zoo did the animals in Madagascar escape from?  Answer »
  • Where are the four animals from im Madagascar ?  Answer »
More Zoo Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Zoo. Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add Zoo to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?