Kidnapped (Rabid Dogs)
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Mario Bava is a director that many of you out there might not have heard of. To some in the horror community he is a brilliant director of Gothic horror and colorful lighting. Me? Well...he's okay. I'm never a huge fan of directors, because to me it all boils down to the finished product. (Remember Carpenter did Ghosts of Mars and Spielberg did War of the Worlds. They all can't be winners). Kidnapped (aka Rabid Dogs) was Bava's last film that was never completely finished. Thanks to Anchor Bay we the viewers get 2 versions of this lost "classic". Kidnapped, edited by Mario's son Lamberto (Demons) has some added footage, but the original Rabid Dogs gets a better musical score. In the long run, since both are still about the same, I'll take the wonderful score on Rabid Dogs. Frankly, I'm never a fan of when added footage gets lumped into a movie years later anyhow. Now let's go through the story real quick.

The film opens with a group of thieves stealing some money and are being chased through the city streets by the police. Their getaway driver gets shots and they have taken a few hostages. After killing one of the women the police decide to give them some room to save the other hostage. They eventually jump into the car of a man and his sick child. The man was on his way to the hospital, however now he has become the new getaway driver taking the three criminals and their woman hostage out of the city to a safe house. This is the basis and 99% of the movie.

While definitely a slow burn, this movie is not boring. There is tension within these 4 doors and the passengers just don't know if they are getting out of all this alive. Like majority of Italian films made at the time the acting is very over the top at moments. The two criminals in the back seat really take their crazy to a cartoon level. Even though the movie takes place inside a car for the majority of the film, this character driven movie is uncomfortable at times and does pull off some twists. Tension flares between the 3 criminals when they all start to get on each other's nerves, and the poor woman hostage really has her hands full in the back seat with a couple of sweaty horny criminals. The fact that there are no back story to any of the characters is both a good and bad thing. With no knowledge of the characters other than them being themselves it adds to the tension. At the same time it would be nice to know how these 3 crooks got together to pull the job off. The leader seems so much different than the other two it would just be nice to find out what his story is.

I had a good time with the film,and with two versions to watch and some extras like a commentary and a featurette, this is worth a purchase. If you are a fan of Bava or this movie then this release is exactly what you have been waiting for. My suggestion to those that check this out is, if you think that this is boring and going nowhere stay to the end. I hate to say that the ending caught me for a loop, but it did. While initially feeling that this movie was only deserving a score of 3 1/2 cans (because it wasn't really moving at a pace I normally like) once it ended I laughed in glee. The ending to this gritty film, dual versions and a few extras cranked this up to an overall 4 1/2 can purchase. Bava and his fans should be proud and thank you Anchor Bay for bringing this lost classic to the masses.

Added:  Tuesday, April 10, 2007
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