RABID DOGS

Directed by Mario Bava
Written by Cesare Frugoni & Alessandro Parenzo
Cinematography by Emilio Varriano & Mario Bava
Music by Stelvio Cipriani
Cast: Riccardo Cucciolla, Maurice Poli, Lea Lander, Luigi Montefiori (George Eastman) & Aldo Caponi

1974/96 mins/Color/Mono
1.66:1/Italian/Italy/NTSC Region 0

Review from the Lucertola Media DVD

A group of reckless thieves make a stunning daily robbery. While trying to espace, the driver is killed. The remaining three (Doc, Blade and ThirtyTwo) are now on foot. Stucked in a shopping mall parking, they kill one woman and take the other one (Lea Lander) as an hostage. Soon enough, they switch car for one which has a father (Riccardo Cucciolla) taking his sick son to the hospital. But this is only the beginning of the end...

Taking place in "real time" and almost entirely in a car. RABID DOGS is a claustrophobic, ruthless, violent piece of Italian crime cinema. This must have been a tough shoot for the cast but they gave it all they got. Maurice Poli is especially great as "Doc" while Aldo "Blade" Caponi is doing a good David Hess. There's the ever "lovable" Luigi Montefiori as "ThrityTwo" in one of his best role. For over 90 minutes you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat but nothing can prepare you for the ending which will blow you away! M. Night Shyamalan, please take some notes on how to do it right.

The movie was originaly called MAN AND BOY and was based on a story Bava found in an Ellery Queen Mystery magazine. Long thought to be lost, Mario Bava's masterpiece was finally released some 22 years later! Due to one of the producer's death at the time, the movie was put on hold and never finished. It was actress Lea Lander and her Spera Cinematografica company that raised the money to restore and finish the film.

In 1998, Lucertola Media released RABID DOGS on DVD. Mario Bava fans around the world rejoiced at this announcement. Unfortunately, what we got was a less than stellar edition. First of all, the movie is incorrectly presented in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio when it should be 1.85:1. The colors are a little soft and there's some grain and scratches. As for the audio, we get the original Italian track in Mono with optional yellow English or German subtitles. This is not home theater material but still does the job.

We get the trailer, filmographies on Mario Bava and the principal cast, four "pages" 'About the Film' and a Tim Lucas piece of the director. The movie is separated in 12 chapters. The disc features static menus, comes in a keep case without a booklet or inlay card.

The Lucertola Media edition has long been out of print. In 2005, Jeff Films released the movie on DVD and it featured the same transfer as Lucertola Media. In 2001, the movie was also released in Germany as WILD DOGS by Astro Records and Filmworks. Unlike the other, the Astro Records and Filmworks is correctly framed at 1.85:1 but features Dolby Digital mono Italian & German with no English subtitles. Still this edition has the best transfer. The colors are rich, sharp and bright. All editions are not anamorphic. There is also another version out there known as KIDNAPPED that was supervised by Lamberto Bava.

( Original title: Cani Arrabbiati )

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Review by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2007. ©