Rabid Dogs (1974)

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 escape.

Director:

Mario Bava

Writer:

Alessandro Parenzo (story and screenplay)

Stars:

Lea Lander, George Eastman, Riccardo Cucciolla

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Riccardo Cucciolla	...	Riccardo
Don Backy	...	Bisturi / Blade / Stiletto (as Aldo Caponi)
Lea Lander	...	Maria / Greta Garbo
Maurice Poli	...	Dottore / Doc / Doctor
George Eastman	...	Trentadue / Thirty-two (as Luigi Montefiori)
Erika Dario	...	Marisa
Marisa Fabbri	...	Maria Sbravati
Luigi Antonio Guerra	...	Employee (as Luigi Guerra)
Gustavo De Nardo	...	Gas Station Attendant (as Francesco Ferrini)
Emilio Bonucci	...	Taxi Driver
Pino Manzari	...	Toll Collector
Ettore Manni	...	Bank President

Storyline

A gang of thieves hijack a man's car after botching their getaway from a robbery. They take a woman prisoner and command the man to drive them to safety. The man must try to cope with the bad situation he is in as well as trying to get help for a sick child that he is caring for.

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Plot Keywords:

woman in jeopardy | psycho killer | psychopathic killer | having sex with skirt hiked up | sexual abuse | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

25 February 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kidnapped

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spera Cinematografica, International Media Films, Kismet Entertainment Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Dolby SR (version 'Kidnapped')

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Remade in 2015 by a French Canadian movie called Enragés.

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Goofs

In the Anchor Bay and Arrow Video presentations of the original film, Marisa Fabbri is credited twice (once in the opening credits, and again in the ending credits) while Erika Dario receives no credit. This error does not occur in the original Spera Cinematografica prints, the Lucertola Media DVD or in the "Kidnapped" cut.

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Alternate Versions

Originally shot in 1974 under the title 'L'uomo e il bambino', this film was shelved when one of the film financial backers died and ownership of the picture became entangled in bankruptcy proceedings before post-production had been completed, which prevented its theatrical release. The film sat on a shelf for almost 25 years until actress Lea Lander rescued it from oblivion by helping finance a DVD release: a new short prologue was shot, according to Bava's original script, and editing and scoring were completed using existing available materials. In 2002 producer Alfredo Leone and director Lamberto Bava (Mario's son), allegedly dissatisfied with the DVD edit, produced a new restored version of the film. Lamberto Bava and his son Roy shot additional footage and original composer Stelvio Cipriani created a new complete musical score (though the DVD release employed some of Cipriani's cues and themes, the film was never properly scored in 1974). This restored version, produced by Kismet Entertainment Group and retitled "Kidnapped", premiered theatrically in the US on May 31, 2002 as part of a Mario Bava retrospective at the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theater in Hollywood

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Connections

References Blood and Black Lace (1964)

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Soundtracks

Hold On To Me
(Appears in the 'Kidnapped' version)
Words by Myriann D'Antine
Music by Stelvio Cipriani
Sung by Simona Patitucci

User Reviews

Brava, Bava

There's a long troubled history behind this one, about how it wasn't released until 1996 due to legal problems with the financiers and such like, but the saddest thing is how the world let Mario Bava slip through its fingers as a master filmmaker. How could Alfredo Breschia make five films in 1979, yet Bava had to fire his cinematographer just so he could afford to make this film?

Let's get to the film: Four nasty armed gunmen violently rob a firm of it's wages and during the getaway their driver is killed and car immobilised. After a stand-off with the police that results in a woman being stabbed in the neck, our three remaining bad guys grab another woman for a hostage and in a hurry jump into a car containing a sick child and his father. Get used to the inside of this car because about two thirds of the film takes place in it.

We also get to know our bad guys a bit more. There's the calm, intelligent Doc (Maurice Poli), the not-calm, violent Blade, and the really not-calm psycho and potential rapist Thirty-Two (George Eastman). They want to get out of town avoiding all roadblocks, whereas the man just wants them to leave him and the kid alone. The woman, understandably, is terrified, especially of Thirty-Two and his not-too-subtle sexual innuendo.

You can't write much about a plot like this without spoiling stuff, but needless to say its a horrific road trip full of anger and tension. Don't expect Bava's colour schemes here though, because he plays things one hundred percent legit, letting the sweaty actors scream at each other to keep the mood anxious and unpredictable. The tone is relentlessly nasty throughout. Riccardo Cuicolla is as good as he was in The Case Is Closed: Forget About It, and a good choice to play the man who just wants to protect the sick child he has with him.

This is Bava mind you, so don't think thing play out the way you think they will. After this he only made the creepy Shock, and I've read that film was mostly completed by his son Lamberto. With the right money and recognition, what else could the man have achieved?