Cani arrabbiati (1974)

Director:

Mario Bava

Writers:

Alessandro Parenzo (screenplay)
Alessandro Parenzo (story)

Release Date:

25 February 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Lock the doors, rollup the windows, and buckle up ... for the ride of your life!

Plot:

Following a bungled robbery, three violent criminals take a young woman, a middle-aged man, and a child hostage and force them to drive them outside Rome to help them make a clean getaway.

Plot Keywords:

Robbery | Criminal | Hostage | Grindhouse | Urination

Cast

Riccardo Cucciolla	...	Riccardo
Don Backy	...	Bisturi (Blade) (as Aldo Caponi)
Lea Lander	...	Maria
Maurice Poli	...	Dottore
George Eastman	...	Trentadue (Thirtytwo) (as Luigi Montefiori)
Maria Fabbri	...	Maria Sbravati
Erika Dario	...	Marisa
Luigi Antonio Guerra	...	Employee (as Luigi Guerra)
Francesco Ferrini	...	Gas Station Attendant
Emilio Bonucci	...	Taxi Driver
Pino Manzari	...	Toll Collector
Ettore Manni	...	Bank President

Also Known As:

Kidnapped (Italy) (restored version) (USA) (DVD title)
Rabid Dogs (USA) (literal English title)
A Man and a Boy (International: English title)
Semaforo rosso (Italy) (alternative title)
Wild Dogs

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 | Canada:16+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

International Media Films

Trivia:

Don Backy/'Aldo Caponi' (Who played Bisturi (Blade)) was a successful singer/songwriter in Italy during the 1960s. He was part of the music group "Clan" founded with singer/actor/director Adriano Celentano.

Movie Connections:

References Grand Hotel (1932)

Soundtrack:

Hold on to Me

Remarkable change of pace for Bava proves he was a master director

Mario Bava is best remembered for his ultra-stylish and dreamlike Gothic horror mood pieces. Films such as "Black Sunday" and "Kill! Baby! Kill!" are fondly remembered as some of the most atmospheric films ever made. Bava always had a sense of subtlety and restraint for those works. However, in the early 70s, he made two films which marked a stunning change of pace for the master director. "Twitch of the Death Nerve" is a brutal film which took the Giallo to a whole new level. However, it was still very stylized and didn't seem too grounded in reality despite its disturbing nature. "Rabid Dogs", his next change of pace, is absolutely nothing like anything else the man made before. Its a tension filled and often sadistic crime story grounded in reality.

The main reason the film works is because of how divorced it is from Bava's earlier output. Instead of the director's usual dreamlike technique, "Rabid Dogs" is a very gritty and minimalist film. Most of it is set in a moving car and deals with the tensions between the captured and the kidnappers. Also, the shocking violence seems more realistic and grounded in reality, making it far more disturbing than anything else in Bava's filmography. Ultimately what makes the film memorable is the ultra-nihilistic outlook. This is as pessimistic and misanthropic work as "Last House on the Left", so be prepared to have a cold shower running afterwords. "Rabid Dogs" is a film which shocks on multiple levels and is a near-masterpiece for Bava, his last truly great film. (8/10)