Les chiens enragés

There's a long troubled history behind this one, about how it wasn't released until 1996 due to legal problems with the financiers and such like, but the saddest thing is how the world let Mario Bava slip through its fingers as a master filmmaker. How could Alfredo Breschia make five films in 1979, yet Bava had to fire his cinematographer just so he could afford to make this film?

Let's get to the film: Four nasty armed gunmen violently rob a firm of it's wages and during the getaway their driver is killed and car immobilised. After a stand-off with the police that results in a woman being stabbed in the neck, our three remaining bad guys grab another woman for a hostage and in a hurry jump into a car containing a sick child and his father. Get used to the inside of this car because about two thirds of the film takes place in it.

We also get to know our bad guys a bit more. There's the calm, intelligent Doc (Maurice Poli), the not-calm, violent Blade, and the really not-calm psycho and potential rapist Thirty-Two (George Eastman). They want to get out of town avoiding all roadblocks, whereas the man just wants them to leave him and the kid alone. The woman, understandably, is terrified, especially of Thirty-Two and his not-too-subtle sexual innuendo.

You can't write much about a plot like this without spoiling stuff, but needless to say its a horrific road trip full of anger and tension. Don't expect Bava's colour schemes here though, because he plays things one hundred percent legit, letting the sweaty actors scream at each other to keep the mood anxious and unpredictable. The tone is relentlessly nasty throughout. Riccardo Cuicolla is as good as he was in The Case Is Closed: Forget About It, and a good choice to play the man who just wants to protect the sick child he has with him.

This is Bava mind you, so don't think thing play out the way you think they will. After this he only made the creepy Shock, and I've read that film was mostly completed by his son Lamberto. With the right money and recognition, what else could the man have achieved?

Far better than I remember from a viewing a few years back, this is a taught and most assured thriller from Bava. What it lacks in colour and theatricality from a lot of his work it certainly makes up for in down right dirty gritty realistic nastiness. These ruthless robbers are quite clearly capable of anything and we never for a moment doubt the sincerity of their various threats of violence and worse. For most of the film the action is confined within a car and with these mixed and varied characters, becoming more desperate all the time, the tension is considerable. George Eastman is at his most manic and some of the close-ups of him and his immediate sidekick are really scary. Riccardo, beautifully underplayed, in contrast to the rest, is hijacked in his car and together with a sick child and a woman hostage are forced to endure a remarkable journey, incredibly well paced. Full of surprises, but nasty all the time, this brutal outing from the master is well worth seeing.

Rabid Dogs is a heist film from director Mario Bava (Black Sabbath, Hatchet For The Honeymoon, Diabolik). It tells the story of a dangerous gang of criminals - Doc, Blade and Thirtytwo, who hijack a car in the aftermath of a heist to find themselves with three hostages: a woman, a child, and an innocent man. Much of the drama plays out within the claustrophobic setting of the car as its heads out of the city. The attention is focused on the child, who is sick and requires a hospital, as well as the tension within the gang, and the sexual abuse which one of the gang members subjects his female hostage to. It's truly a roller-coaster of a thriller- a pulpy little crime tale that deserves the attention of modern crime/horror audiences and critical acclaim.

The film exhibits Bava's skill for cinema aesthetics, with its stylized editing and artifice. His skill for pacing results in a thriller which keeps the audience on its toes throughout. The moral ambiguity of all of the characters that inhabit his world creates a story that continually catches us off guard, shocking us with lashing of visceral violence and nihilistic cruelty. Surprises too come from the remarkably modern vibe; from the Tarantino-esquire dialogue and graveyard wit, to the blacker than black final twist. These postmodern touches place Bava firmly ahead of his time- as if further proof was needed after his horror masterpieces Black Sabbath, The Mask Of The Demon and Bay Of Blood.

Until recently, Rabid Dogs was thought to be a 'lost film', likely to have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Luckily, actress Lea Lander who starred in the picture, raised the money to restore the print 20 years later, based upon Bava's written notes and work print. The film also has the addition of one newly shot opening, which was nicely done, and filmed in accordance with Bava's specifications. What results is the closest product to Bava's complete vision that cineastes have been able to see. The film was briefly available on DVD, but went out of print quickly. It is now available as a copy (with menus and a limited supply of extras) from eBay and various websites.

It's highly recommended for fans of Bava's work, as it shows us a darker side of his art in a new genre. Fans of edgy cinema everywhere will certainly enjoy this film, particularly those who enjoyed films such as The Hitcher, Reservoir Dogs, Hitch-Hike and The Taking Of Pelham 123. Bava is to my mind a cinematic genius- his controversially dark approach, his skill and confidence with the camera and his stylish aesthetic compensating for his film's lack of superficial 'Hollywood' sheen or budget.

It is ironic that Mario Bava, master of Italian fantasy, should make a gritty, realistic thriller as his last film. Gone are the atmospheric lighting that made films as Lisa and the Devil and Kill, Baby, Kill! so unforgettable. The claustrophobic scenes in the getaway car are expertly handled. The increasing hysteria of the gangsters and the anxiety and despair of the kidnapped woman are, in true Italian fashion, slightly over the top. It works, though. Bava never loses his grip on the situation and one is kept on tenterhooks throughout. This, then, is classic 70's low budget filmmaking and it is a shame we had to wait for more than 20 years to finally see it. Rabid Dogs is up there with Edgar G. Ulmer's Detour and Ida Lupîno's The Hitch-Hiker as one of the best examples of this exciting subgenre.

After the heist of the payment of the employees of a chemical industry where the treasurer and a security guard are murdered, the driver of the runaway car of the criminals Dottore (Maurice Poli), Bisturi (Don Backy) and Trentadue (Luigi Montefiori) is shot and a bullet hits the gas tank. The car runs out of gas and the trio is forced to run to the parking lot of a mall where they kill one woman and kidnap her friend Maria (Lea Lander) and use her car to escape from the police. They are chased by the police but they carjack the car of the middle-aged Riccardo (Riccardo Cucciolla), who is driving his unconscious ill son to the hospital for an emergency surgery. They force the calm RIccardo to drive them out of the city using secondary roads to escape from the blocks in the highway. During the trip, the tension increases but Riccardo and Dottore manage to control the situation until an unexpected conclusion.

"Rabid Dogs" is a masterpiece of tension and suspense by Mario Bava. The immediate association that I made was with the famous Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" that is visibly inspired in this movie, but less realistic and tense. This is the first time that I have seen "Rabid Dogs" and the dialogs and situations are still very impressive; imagine thirty-five years ago the impact of this movie. The claustrophobic location inside a car where most of this feature was shot transmits the horror of Maria with the cruelty and sadism of Bisturi (that means scalpel and not blade) and Trentadue. The final twist is totally unexpected but makes a perfect sense to the plot. Now I intend to see the restored version "Kidnapped" also available on the DVD. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Cães Raivosos" ("Rabid Dogs")

Note: on 19 June 2020 I saw this film again.