One sweltering Friday morning, the Ajaccio street gang make off with the wages of a pharmaceutical company. When their driver is shot dead and their car runs out of petrol, they take hostage a man on his way to hospital with his sick son in the back seat and a woman out shopping. The gang then head out of the city…
Mario Bava is one of those film directors who really can turn his unique talents to any genre: horror, sci-fi, psychological thriller, fantasy. And his 1974 crime thriller Rabid Dogs (aka Cani Arrabbiati), is one that I have always wanted to see, but never got around to, mainly because Bava never got to finish it (the producer went bankrupt and the footage impounded), and the releases that came out after his death in 1980 were never his intended vision. Now, Bava’s psycho-drama has been given the Arrow makeover, and they should be commended for undertaking this once lost cinematic gem. It’s the best thing they have done, to date.
Arrow’s restoration is a re-master of Bava’s intended version of the film, featuring composer Stelvio Cipriani's original retro score. The special features include both the Blu-ray and DVD presentation of Rabid Dogs and Kidnapped (a re-edited, re-scored version completed by Bava's son, Lamberto) with new English subtitles. Also included is the 2007 documentary, End of the Road: Making Rabid Dogs and Kidnapped, an interview with Umberto Lenzi, and the alternate Semaforo Rosso title sequence.
For more on the film, check out Pete's full review (click here) http://youtube.com/v/Mm0jHfuchr0
(*) Quote from Stephen Thrower's Fear by Noonlight [great title btw] article in the collector’s booklet
