Sweat. Grime. Desperate, agonizing suffocation. This is the blistering world of Mario Bava's Rabid Dogs (1974), the final film in a brilliant career that spanned nearly forty years. Here Bava strips away his expected baroque flourishes in favour of creating a stripped-down, bare-bones narrative of claustrophobic terror that reveals a more cynical, disgusted perspective of humanity than previously seen in his work. It is a vision of men who want to reflect the every day evil they've come to see the world capable of. A vision that is common in great directors in their later years (Kurosawa, Eastwood, Fuller).

A violent street gang rob a pharmaceutical company payroll. In the ensuing real time chase they murder one female, take another hostage and force a desperate old man and his sick child to serve as their getaway drivers. The remainder of the film is a nail-biting escape through the Italian countryside waiting for this powder keg of dangerously unpredictable scum to explode.

The gang is comprised of Dottore ("Doc") played by Maurice Poli as the brains of the operation and his two violent underlings Bisturi ("Blade") played by Aldo Caponi and ever popular genre actor George Eastman (credited as Luigi Montefiori) as Trentadue ("Thirtytwo"). Poli's attempts to play the cool-as-a-cucumber mastermind quickly give in when confronted by the out of control primal instincts of the younger nihilist's, who are more or less walking hard-ons. Control quickly begins to slip through his fingers. After what should be a harmless stop at a grocery store for water, events are set into motion to bring out the monster in Eastman. A monster that will jeopardize what should be a clean getaway. What happened at this harmless stop? Five feet, four inches of pure sex poured into a tight blue jump suit that goes by the name of Erika Dario, that's what. You take a drooling id driven psycho and dangle tail like that in front of it and the audience is chewing its nails to the bone waiting for him to explode in mad fury. These three men serve to demythologize the sexy criminal and remind the audience that at the end of the day these are dangerous men whose only intent is to hurt anyone who stands in their way of making a quick buck.

Bava moved away from his customary Gothic stylization into a lean, mean almost neo-realist language for this film. The film's pace and tone are delivered at break neck speeds to keep an uneasy feeling for the viewer. The real treat however is that it's Bava's camera that holds the viewer hostage. The scenes in the car, which compromise the bulk of the picture, are filmed in tight close-ups and medium shots that are held for a split second. Brief jarring glances at the people and surrounding from odd angles give the feeling of being in a dangerous situation where one would steal hasty, short glances of small details because they are afraid of making eye contact with their captors. These explosive dynamic shots keep a breathless pace that never lets the viewer get a grip and settle down. Danger is around every possible corner here. The film relishes the feeling of panic and uncertainness in a world of dangerous men.

DO NOT READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM. The real heart of the film is in the last ninety seconds where Bava shows us the extent of his new found pessimism. The old man who had been our hero of undeserved misfortune turns on us and reveals a whole new level of evil. The evil in everyday men. The harmless looking banker or teacher who would in reality skin you alive if he stood to gain from it. This old man served as the viewers emotional rock, our person to identify with. When Bava pulls the rug out from under the viewers feet, it is a truly delicious moment of diabolic bliss. Bava is not wary of the overt public face of evil. Criminals are easy to spot and easy to predict. The terror lies in the unknown hearts of our friends and neighbors and the secrets they harbour.

Anchor Bay Entertainment recently released this film in their second DVD collection of Mario Bava films "The Mario Bava Collection Volume 2". It features "Rabid Dogs" and an alternate cut of the film by Lamberto Bava known as "Kidnapped." The real treat is the commentary track by Bava historian Tim Lucas which delivers an incredible amount of insight into the film and Bava himself.

The film was held up for nearly twenty years before being released. Multiple versions have surfaced but this version of the film is the one to pine for. Had it been released when it was intended it may have been the key to reintroducing the world to Bava who had fallen off the world's radar. Italian genre in the seventies had turned to younger voices, the likes of Sergio Martino, Dario Argento, Umberto Lenzi and Fernando di Leo, all great filmmakers, but this film stands a head above in its mature control and execution and serves as a wonderful end to an incredible career of one of Italy's master storytellers.

Run to the store. Take an old man and small child hostage if need be.

- Reviewed by Chris Sacks