OVERALL: R2

The UK edition, for having slightly better extras than the US disc. The French edition has both cuts but is not English-friendly.

GENERAL NOTES:
Filmed in 1973 as "L'uomo e il bambino" (The Man and the Child), Rabid Dogs was shelved when one of the film financial backers died and ownership of the picture became entangled in bankruptcy proceedings before post-production had been completed, which prevented its theatrical release. It sat on a shelf until the late 1990s when actress Lea Lander helped fund a DVD release in 1998 (preceded by a 1996 festival screening).

A new prologue was lensed based on Bava's original screenplay and post production was completed using the original film elements. In 2001, producer Alfredo Leone and Mario's son Lamberto who were both unhappy with the DVD, funded a new version. Lamberto and his son Roy shot additional footage and original composer Stelvio Cipriani created a new complete musical score (though the DVD release employed some of Cipriani's cues and themes, the film was never properly scored). This version, produced by Kismet Entertainment Group was called "Kidnapped" and had it's world wide premiere in the USA (31.5.2002) as part of a Mario Bava retrospective at the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.

Please see the image-comparison from below - and another one from here:
http://10kbullets.com/reviews/kidnapped-comparison-lucertola-media-vs-astro-records-and-filmworks-vs-anchor-bay/

CUTS:

• R0 Germany- Astro - No cuts (92:25 PAL)
• R0 Letterboxed Germany- Lucertola Media - No cuts - Unfinished "rough cut" version "Rabid Dogs" (96:39 NTSC). Note, that this version includes the silhouetted crying inserts.
• R1 America- Kino Lorber - No cuts - 2002 "Kidnapped" version (95:42)
• R1 The Mario Bava Collection Volume 2 America- Anchor Bay Entertainment - No cuts - includes 2 versions of the film:
  1) Finished version "Kidnapped" (95:15 NTSC) by Lamberto Bava (inserts of police helicopters, scenes with the child's mother, new opening titles and new score).
  2) Unfinished "rough cut" version "Rabid Dogs" (96:15 NTSC). Note, that the "Rabid Dogs"-version does not include the silhouetted crying inserts that you will find on the Lucertola disc (followed Bava's notes on the film) and the film ends on the car boot scene as well.
• R2 Germany- Marketing Film - No cuts (92:25 PAL)
• R2 Germany- Schröder Media HandelsgmbH & Co KG - No cuts (92:25 PAL)
• R2 Amazon Exclusive Germany- Tiberius Film - No cuts - 2002 "Kidnapped" Version (91:57 PAL)
• R2 United Kingdom- Arrow Films - No cuts - Contains the Rabid Dogs version (91:55 PAL) and the Kidnapped version (91:35 PAL)

Do you own a release not listed? Then please visit our forums and let us know!

Comparison added by David on 08/01/03
Comparison last updated by Eric_Cotenas on 28/06/22

UPDATE LOG:

08/06/16: Added R2 UK.
17/05/20: Amazon link added.
18/05/20: changed Lucertola to Germany (the American DVD was a bootleg copy by Substance)
18/05/20: Added German Amazon exclusive
28/06/22: Added France and Kino R1.