Product Description

The bleak but captivating story of three men who take a woman hostage and hijack a car driven by a man taking his dying son to the hospital. Mario Bava's film was completed posthumously in 1997 by Peter Blumenstock. Told in real time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93403 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-02-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: Italian
• Subtitled in: German, English
• Dubbed in: Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Amazon.com
Kidnapped (aka Rabid Dogs), unreleased for over twenty years except in limited quantities during the '90s, clearly inspired Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs among other American gangster films. Three thugs hijack a car following their robbery, as the viewer discovers that the car's original drivers, Riccardo (Riccardo Cucciolla) and Maria (Lea Leander), have also just kidnapped a baby, held hostage in the backseat. While the nervous couple fights for the child's life, the thugs feud violently about how to handle upcoming run-ins with the law. Set entirely in the car, the film exudes claustrophobic anxiety. On the tail of the renowned Italian director's major boxset re-release, The Mario Bava Collection: Volume 1, Kidnapped) offers a filmic digression into reality from the Bava's beloved forays into fantasy and horror. Though not as cinematically imaginative, the suspense-building close-ups in Kidnapped) rival chiaroscuro moments in Black Sunday for amped up tension. As an experiment, Kidnapped feels like what has come to be known as classic Bava, though his vintage horror and fantasy films are more visually engaging. —Trinie Dalton

Customer Reviews

Rabid Dogs is One of Mario Bava's Great Statements

This is a wonderful DVD from the folks who restored it in the 1990s. An excellent-transfer, great sound, and some wonderful goodies! Originally-released in a limited-run in 1998, it is available again for the true Bava-cultists (like me). You cannot go-wrong with this DVD, the reconstruction is spot-on. The score is one of the best in Italian-cinema, and it makes "Last House on the Left" seem a little-tame. Mario Bava shows us why he made all of his other horrors--life in Italy during his film-run (50s-70s) was rife with political and criminal-violence. Enjoy! This is the real-deal.

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 circumstances which earned its "lost" status until recently) its a really well assembled suspense thriller building its tension slowly. As tensions in the car rise and victims plead for their lives even the criminals begin to turn against each other. One wants to rape the woman hostage, while another goes along with what ever happens while the leader is more concerned with just getting to their destination. There are moments in the film that to me were great in a transgressive way that newer films couldn't even come close to topping. And in the end, I don't want to ruin it but if you get into the plot as much I did it will definitely suprise you. I was totally blown away by the film. One thing also is the feeling of anger that seeps from every frame. This is a brutal film to watch at times with its portrayl of a world that is vain arrogant and rather brutal in considering the plight of the hostages (especially the child). To me its a film that in tone could almost compare to one of my favorites, Kurosawa's Ran.
Unfortunately I've only viewed the Rabid Dogs cut on the new Anchor Bay disc. It also contains Lamberto Bava's edit Kidnapped more in line with his fathers intentions which I will watch in the future but was turned off for the synthesizer score (I just love the harpsichord and organs blaring in Rabid Dogs even though admittedly the score is incesant) and didn't want to watch the film so soon after seeing it. Still this a definite recommend from me, worth viewing.

Mario Bava's lost masterpiece
To all you Quentin Tarantino fans out there, WATCH THIS MOVIE. First off let me start by saying this is not a horror movie, it is however very extreme and violent. This is a film Mario Bava made in 1973 that never surfaced due to legal issues, and is an absolute shame. This is more like a crime/action/thriller movie, and VERY different for Bava. While I wouldn't say Tarantino ripped it off, I would say however that he drew A LOT of inspiration from it, especially for Reservoir Dogs.
The story is about four gangsters and a heist that goes wrong, have a run in with the cops, and take some hostages. All I could think when I watched this movie was RESERVOIR DOGS, the style of it is very (for lack of a better word) Tarantino-like. The acting was pretty impressive and stars George Eastman from Anthropopagus, if your a fan.
The most exciting parts for me were the beginning and the ending, I won't go into much detail here, but will say there are a couple of twists throughout the movie. I won't say which kind of twists though, you just have to watch it and find out.