Kidnapped
by Lamberto Bava, Mario Bava
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Don Backy, George Eastman, Lea Lander, Maurice Poli, Riccardo CucciollaDirector: Lamberto Bava, Mario Bava
Brand: Fox
Producer: Lamberto Bava
Producer: Alfredo Leone
Producer: David E. Allen
Producer: Harmon Kaslow
Writer: Alessandro Parenzo
Writer: Cesare Frugoni
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-04-03
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Movie Reviews of Kidnapped
Movie Review: Kidnapped aka Rabid Dogs
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Summary of Kidnapped
Contains Two Versions Of Bava?s Restored Crime Classic Plus An All-New FeaturetteFor Master Of The Macabre Mario Bava (BLACK SUNDAY), it was to be the most startling film of his entire career: After a botched payroll heist, a trio of vicious criminals take hostages in a desperate getaway that explodes with cruelty, degradation and shocking violence. But when the film?s financier was killed during the last stages of production, his entire estate ? including the sole unfinished work print of RABID DOGS ? was seized and impounded by an Italian court. Mario Bava?s final masterpiece ? and one of the most intense EuroCrime thrillers of all time ? would remain locked away for nearly 23 years.
Anchor Bay?s presentation of RABID DOGS includes both Bava?s original film ? now with newly created opening and end credit sequences ? as well the version known as KIDNAPPED featuring footage shot by producer Alfredo Leone and Mario?s son and longtime assistant Lamberto Bava. Features:Widescreen Presentation enhanced for 16x9 TVs Audio Commentary with Author Tim Lucas End Of The Road: Making RABID DOGS and KIDNAPPED Italian with optional English subtitles Mario Bava Bio
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
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