Kidnapped aka Rabid Dogs
I'll admit that I've never seen films by Mario Bava. I've only recently gotten into Italian Cinema with the films of Dario Argento and other Giallo taken up my interest. Until now I had never tried any Bava. So hearing of this film and being intrigued with the premise I picked up the DVD.
The premise of the film is four criminals rob a pharmaceutical companies payroll during which the getaway driver is killed. The three remaining killers flee to a parking lot taking hostages, one of which they kill in order to escape. Afterwards in order not to be spotted by police in a familiar car they pull off and take more hostages this time a middle aged man and a sick child. At this point the films been a violent crime film. When it gets in the car the film is basically centered on the drive of the criminals and their hostages. Whats good in the film despite minor flaws is that even in its form (neither Rabid Dogs or the re-edited Kidnapped was completed with Bava's support due to...
Saved by the end
Note; this US Anchor Bay DVD has two alternate cuts, one finished by
Bava's son, called 'Kidnapped'. But almost all Bava fans and
professional critics prefer the rougher edged, less polished original
;'Rabid Dogs', so that's what I watched.
--vague possible mild spoilers ahead --
It's a film that is saved by the rare truly successful twist ending,
that changes everything you thought you saw. The acting is less than
great, and the film has a definite misogynistic tone (although everyone
in it is pretty awful on the humanity scale).
On the other hand, there's effectively high tension, as 3 murderous
robbers take two innocent people and a baby hostage. Especially
impressive that it never gets talky or visually dull, despite taking
place almost entirely inside a car.
But the over-acting and clunky dubbing (and writing) really hurt. Then
the end came and I was suddenly ready to forgive a lot.
Mario Bava takes a little drive in the country
Some films are just born unlucky. Mario Bava's 'lost' 1974 film Rabid Dogs is a classic case in point. Shooting started as A Man and a Boy with Al Lettieri and an extremely low budget: Lettieri dropped out after a week due to 'illness' and the money barely materialised only for the film to never get through post-production when the producer died and the film was seized by creditors for a quarter of a century. When co-star Lea Lander pulled together a deal to get Bava's rough cut restored, the only US deal she could get with it was with producer Alfred Leone, who, in a throwback to the old days when no foreign film could be allowed on US shores untouched, promptly re-edited, rescored and redubbed the film with new dialogue and added stock footage and new scenes shot by the director's son Lamberto Bava 'to complete it the way my old friend wanted it to be seen.' Sure... An attempt to make a more contemporary shocker in a more naturalistic setting as the European horror genre was hitting...
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