Yes! It's the curiously titled 'Cockfighter'! Fear not though, it's about blokes who enjoy watching chickens kill each other. Maybe fear a little, this isn't a Disney film.Warren Oates seems to be continuously excellent the more of his work I get to watch, and sure enough he gets the {sports metaphor involving a net or a run or a goal which means he's great}. Here he plays a character who pretty much says nothing, using only hand gestures to display his feelings about cocks.He pulls it off.This film 'ain't no 'date' film; this is about strapping sharp weaponry on to small birds and then watch them kill each other. Apparently it's the manly thing to do. Viewers get to see chickens stab each other in the head, then get to watch it in slow motion. Again. And again. There is however something visually amazing about watching two chickens kill each other, which I'm sure is why people did (do??) it. Probably not.It's an interesting and engaging character study, despite the 'shock' factor of chicken-death -for –fun. Everyone turns out great performances; The Oates seems to blend into the chicken scene expertly. Ed Bagley Jr. appears as a guy who loves his chicken a little too much and wears ridiculous clothing. He is a treat to behold. James Earl Jones' dad even pops up, which in retrospect I feel to be quite an honour, for some reason I can't quite fathom, a bit like people who feel 'lucky' to witness an animal give birth when in reality it's quite disgusting. The guy that plays the polish chicken-fetishist type guy (at one point he says something like "I'm well into cocks"… or something) is strangely creepy in his zeal for the 'sport'; watch all the close ups of him and tell me you don't feel awkward …like you've just watched him lick a child's face and he's turned to you and started a conversation about hammocks like nothing has happened. Harry Dean Stanton cuts a fine figure as a rival cock fighter who wears suits and fancy shoes. He all the way classy..uhuh. There is even a guy who sticks a c…chickens head into his mouth, licks its gentlemanly parts, then sticks his finger up it's hows-your-father, which apparently is illegal in the noble world of cock fighting. Who'd a thunk? Personally, I detest animal cruelty, and when it's for entertainment I'm raging. However I really enjoyed this film, which puts me in a weird place, like I've travelled to the future and got into a fist fight with my future-self. I'm not entirely sure whether it's pro-cock fighting or anti-cock fighting (although I suspect the film doesn't care). It's just about a guy who has found his calling doing something that most find morally reprehensible, but it's who he is and what he's good at. It's quite scary because it shows what people got up too to fill their time before game boys were invented.Think of 'Rocky' but with chickens. Yes 'Rocky' fans…there is a montage of chicken training action. Fear not. Chicken on a treadmill.According to IMDb.com this film has been banned from being released in the UK ever because the chicken fighting contravenes some film makers law, which is fine, but it is a good film, which is annoying.Ross @ www.musiconthemoon.com

The Roger Corman produced, Monte Hellman directed Cockfighter is a film -if made today- that would be sure to enrage PETA and the SPCA. In other words: animals were harmed and killed in the making of this film. Like it or hate it, the fight scenes within Cockfighter are the best part about it: they are grim, visceral, cruel and exciting. Bloody cock fights aside, the story is the age old sports film formula where the protagonist loses it all before he learns something about himself as he rebuilds from within to become the best. While things may play out as you'd expect, the gritty and realistic Cockfighter shares little in common with The Karate Kid, aside from a formula.There is no denying Cockfighter is an exploitation film. It wants to shock, it wants to entertain and it wants to do so in as fast and cheap a way as possible. It is vintage Roger Corman. If Hellman wasn't behind the lens I'd be OK with Cockfighter being a mere exploitation film, but because he is I expected more. Despite being steeped in real world Cockfighting circles, real fights and convincing locations / background talent, Cockfighter fails to elevate itself above being mere pulp entertainment. If you like grindhouse cinema, which is notoriously underwritten and over acted, then Cockfighter might possibly be the Citizen Kane of this garbage heap. But unless you're trying to convince the world that grindhouse is an important and relevant film movement, then you'll see Cockfighter for what it really is: a mediocre film that squanders the talents of Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton and most notably, Monte Hellman.http://eattheblinds.blogspot.com/

Cockfighter, another Roger Corman/Monte Hellman collaboration, explores the popular but mostly illegal "sport" of cockfighting (it is banned in 48 states). The film was marketed under several different titles but it never caught on and was virtually unseen until the Anchor Bay DVD release in 2001. Based on a novel by Charles Willeford, the film contains one of Warren Oates' best performances as Frank Mansfield, a trainer of prize cockfighters. Since he was disqualified for the "Cockfighter of the Year" award for excessive drinking and talking during a fight, Frank has taken a vow of silence and refuses to talk until he wins the medal. Filmed in actual outdoor arenas in Georgia (cockfighting was legal in Georgia) by cinematographer Nestor Almenderos (Days of Heaven, Kramer Vs. Kramer), the crowds at the matches consist of real fans and people who have participated in this brutal spectacle, giving the film a documentary look and feel.In Cockfighter, we are privy to a world that none of us will probably ever see or ever want to see, a world where roosters are bred and trained to engage in a deadly battle with other birds for the benefit of gamblers and spectators. With cocks equipped with little metal hooks attached to their feet to make them more deadly, Cockfighting is shown for what it is, a violent bloody business filled with sleazy operators who have no feeling for the life and death of the animals. Though the roosters in the film were destined to be killed in matches anyway, there is animal violence in the film and those that object to this should be forewarned. I personally had to turn away from the screen on several occasions.As the film begins, Frank has lost a match with his friendly adversary Jack (Harry Dean Stanton) and has to give up his truck, mobile home, and his girlfriend Dodo (Laurie Bird). Without wheels or money, he sells his house where his brother (Troy Donahue) and his sister-in-law (Millie Perkins) had been living and visits fiancée Mary Elizabeth (Patricia Pearcy). Mansfield is a driven man, yet also one who is thoughtful and gentle and the scenes with him and Mary "talking" about their future with a glittering lake in the background are unforgettable. Mary loves him and wants to get married but is clearly put off by cockfighting and will not go to a match. To shore up his finances, Frank goes into partnership with Omar (Richard B. Shull) and his luck seems to turn for the better. Like most films about sports or competition, the adversaries end up in the big match, in this case, the Southern Conference finals.While Cockfighter contains some sports clichés, it is not a soap opera in any sense. Rather it is a thoughtful character study of a man on the edge, caught between the only profession he has ever known and a chance to escape a lifetime of loneliness. Although Oates says only a few words during the film, his facial expressions and hand gestures leave little doubt about what he is thinking and feeling. Hellman, true to the standard he set in his earlier films, has created a gritty and involving film that deserves a wider audience and Oates gives the film true character.

"Cockfighter" is not an easy movie. It doesn't have one of those carbon-copy scripts that you can write like cheap romance novels. It doesn't have characters that cater to what the stars think will make them look good. There is no spoon-feeding here.Just re-released for sale on tape (and DVD), this film is now available again for those who like to watch a movie that honestly takes you someplace that few of us have ever been. Warren Oates plays a character who lives by a moral code much like the people in the pulp westerns and detective stories -- a man's honor is shown by his actions, and his willingness to see his convictions through to whatever end may come. After letting his pride destroy his chance of winning a high honor amongst cockfighters, he takes a vow of silence that will last until he earns that honor.While the scenes of actual cockfights can be distressing, they are essential to showing the viewer the main character's struggle as well as his obsession. When the character's love interest is added to the equation, the story takes on an epic quality formerly reserved for tales of a knight trying to win the love of his lady and the respect of his peers.Perhaps that may be giving the film too much credit, but I don't think so. While there are plenty of exploitational elements to draw a wide audience, the actual meat of the film is a man seeking redemption and honor.Find this movie. Watch it. Enjoy it. And see if it doesn't stick in your mind a heck of a lot longer than the average contemporary "Hollywood" movie.