Rabid Dogs

Rabid Dogs (Cani arrabbiati) is a 1974 Italian thriller directed by Mario Bava and a striking stylistic departure from his vividly colored horror pictures. Unfolding largely in real time, it follows three payroll robbers on the run who seize a young woman as a hostage and force a man driving his sick child to act as their getaway driver while the police close in. Adapted from Michael J. Carroll's short story "Man and Boy", the production was halted after roughly three weeks of shooting when producer Roberto Loyola went bankrupt, leaving the incomplete film shelved over rights issues. Unseen for more than two decades, it finally surfaced on home video in several differently edited versions after actress Lea Lander acquired the rights; one of these, titled Kidnapped, was supervised by Bava's son Lamberto together with Alfredo Leone. A Franco-Canadian remake directed by Éric Hannezo appeared in 2015.