Why You Should Buy Arrow Video’s Blu-Ray of ‘KIDNAPPED’ over Kino’s

I’m a huge Mario Bava fan. For those of you that have been following the site and the podcast, you already know this. While he is growing to be a bit more appreciated, I still find him to be the best of the Italian genre directors. Yes, even above Dario Argento & Lucio Fulci. What Argento & Fulci provide are visual assaults courtesy of color, violence and gore. Bava, on the other hand, can do those things but he has coherent stories in his films. Look, I like Fulci & Argento but there is no question that I am a Bava fan. Arrow Video was first out of the gate to release some Bava on Blu-Ray with Bay of Blood (aka Twitch of the Death Nerve and other titles) and Kino has been releasing Bava’s films Stateside.

One of my favorite Bava films, hell maybe even one of my top 20 films of all time, is Rabid Dogs. Sadly, the main producer, Roberto Loyola, filed bankruptcy and the courts seized the film as an asset of his while the film was wrapping up production in 1974.  The film finally was released posthumously in 1998 and in 2004 at the Venice Film Festival. In 2007, Mario Bava’s son, Lamberto Bava (director of Demons) re-edited the film to make it tighter and replaced the music score with a inferior one. While Lamberto Bava & producer (not the one that went bankrupt) Alfredo Leone insist that Lamberto’s edit, which is retitled Kidnapped, is better than the “rough cut” of Mario Bava’s Rabid Dogs, I beg to differ. Even if the film is “unfinished” or is a “rough cut”, Mario Bava’s Rabid Dogs stands as a uncensored, untainted piece of work. It is Mario Bava’s unfiltered story in its rawest form, which is fitting given the content of the film. Rabid Dogs was a film that is quite possibly one of the most underrated films in genre cinema. It never got its due. It is a harsh and tense film that rivals Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left – a film that Rabid Dogs is often compared to. Bava ditches his gothic horror to bring us a different kind of horror, humanity and the depths they will go to.

While this post started out as a pure announcement post, I decided to inject a lot of my feelings in thoughts into it and, hopefully, stress how this film needs to be in your collection. You just have to make sure that you are picking the right film. Kino has released Kidnapped on Blu-Ray earlier this year. However, it is missing Mario’s Rabid Dogs – the original, untouched film. Arrow has just announced that they will be releasing Kidnapped as well on Blu-Ray in November but they will be releasing Rabid Dogs in their 3-Disc Set! I’ll be the first to admit that I only own one Mario Bava film on Blu-Ray & still haven’t bought any of Arrow’s releases. I know that Arrow has a following, especially among the horror collector community, but this will be my first purchase of theirs. I highly commend what they are doing by giving both versions a proper release in HD. Below, I have included the artwork (which I hope will have a reversible cover for Rabid Dogs fans) along with all the details on the release below.

SPECIAL 3-DISC EDITION FEATURES:
– High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of two versions of the film; ‘Rabid Dogs’ – Bava’s original version posthumously completed from his notes & ‘Kidnapped’ – the re-edited, re-dubbed and re-scored version, supervised by Bava’s son and assistant Lamberto Bava and producer Alfredo Leone
– Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on both versions
– Audio Commentary with Bava biographer and expert Tim Lucas
– End of the Road: The Making of Rabid Dogs – A documentary featurette including interviews with Lamberto Bava, Alfredo Leone and star Lea Lander
– Original Trailer
– Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Stephen Thrower, a history of the multiple versions of the film from Semaforo Rosso to Rabid Dogs to Kidnapped by Peter Blumenstock, illustrated with original stills and posters
– Much more to be announced!

Judging from the previous Arrow Bava releases, this set will be Region B coded – more than likely due to Kino’s releasing having the North American (Region A) territory. It is not confirmed but I highly expect this to be the case. Sadly, I know that can be a deal breaker for some of you, but in my mind, this release is worth me buying an All-Region Blu-Ray Player.