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Synopsis:
Following difficulties in his career Mario Bava happened across an idea that would enable him to compete with the younger directors lighting up the Italian box office such as Dario Argento and Sergio Martino.

Rabid Dogs begins as $70,000 of wages are being transferred when the Ajaccio gang hit. With a hail of bullets in a quick raid they speed off in their waiting getaway car. Tough, violent and realistic, Bava’s film ramps up the tension and doesn’t stop as hostages are added and the film builds to its dizzying finale.

Unfolding in real time, a rare device seen only in earlier films such as High Noon and 12 Angry Men yet totally unheard of in Italian cinema at the time, Rabid Dogs is a singular film in Bava’s filmography and one of the greatest crime films of the period.

SPECIAL 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.

***RABID DOGS RELEASE UPDATE 14-04-2014***
Unfortunately no suitable material for the new HD transfer of RABID DOGS has been uncovered. Lamberto Bava (assistant director) and Alfredo Leone’s (producer) re-cut of the film, KIDNAPPED has been transferred in High Definition. This version of the film has many differences not common to RABID DOGS so it cannot be simply re-edited to the RABID DOGS version.

After communicating with Lamberto Bava we have discovered the original negative of RABID DOGS was used to edit KIDNAPPED and the off-cuts could not be located and are now presumed either lost or destroyed. Unfortunately the negative was not transferred to another source suitable for HD transfer, no 35mm exhibition prints are known to exist and no other pre-print sources such as an internegative or interpositive have been recovered or known to exist. The original transfer for the Standard Definition RABID DOGS Anchor Bay DVD was a Standard Definition transfer only and the source for that transfer is unknown as the original lab is no longer in operation and whatever material that may have been transferred may have gone with it.

In light of this information from Mr Bava regarding the negative and the lack of suitable materials we have taken the decision to continue with our release of the films. Therefore RABID DOGS will be presented in a mixture of High Definition and Standard Definition in order for the film to be presented in the best quality possible.

RABID DOGS will now be released later in the year so please do keep checking back for a confirmed date which will be announced soon. We thank you all for your understanding and patience with this release.

We finally signed off RABID DOGS today (woohoo!) but we can't confirm a release date til the BBFC confirm the rating. But in the meantime here are the final specs, don't under estimate the booklet, at 8,000 words it's a real corker and contains a nice surprise!

SPECIAL 3-DISC EDITION CONTENTS:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of ‘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
- Original Italian mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
- Newly translated English subtitles
- 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
- Bava and Eurocrime – An interview with Umberto Lenzi
- Alternate Semaforo Rosso version opening title sequence
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Stephen Thrower, Peter Blumenstock on the history of the film’s first distribution and more!

...and BBFC pass RABID DOGS uncut, advising an 18 certificate and "scenes of strong sexual threat, humiliation, violence".