DVD Collectors Online

The Hanged Man, a review by addicted2dvd

The Hanged Man
An ex-gunslinger who survives his own hanging turns into a mystical avenger fighting for justice in the Old West, coming first to the help of a young widow who is trying to keep her silver mine from the clutches of an unscrupulous land baron.

My Thoughts:
This is the second movie I have now watched out of that 20 Great Westerns boxset I found in the Walmart Bargain Bin. This is actually a TV Movie from 1974. When I found that out I was quick to pop this one in... as it has been my experience that I really enjoy the TV movies from the '70s. In this case I would say it is a decent movie... but nothing really great. While it was a good story... I just didn't care about any of the characters in this movie.

Once again the quality of this movie is better then I expected. Even though the image was a little on the dull side... for the most part the image was clear and more then watchable... with only a little dust noticeable on the film. And no problems with the sound either. At least not on the cheap standard TV and extremely old Surround Sound that I have. One of these days I need to get me some new equipment where I can really judge the quality of the DVDs I watch.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Western Round-Up on July 12th, 2009)

Kidnapped, a review by Achim

Title: Cani arrabbiati
Year: 1974
Director: Rabid Dogs, Mario Bava, Kidnapped, Mario Bava
Rating: NR
Length: 191 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: Italian: Dolby Digital Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Riccardo Cucciolla
Don Backy [Aldo Caponi]
Lea Lander
Maurice Poli

Plot:
It was to be the most startling film of Bava's 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 -- one of the most intense EuroCrime thrillers of all time -- would remain locked away for nearly 23 years.

This presentation includes both the finished version known as KIDNAPPED featuring footage shot by producer Alfredo Leone and Mario's son and longtime assistant Lamberto Bava as well as RABID DOGS -- Bava's original unfinished film -- now with a newly created opening credit sequence.

Extras:
Scene Access
Trailers
Featurettes
Production Notes

After a successful robbery a group of four gangsters is on the run, with the police hot in pursuit. One gets shot They took three hostages, a young woman and a man with his sick son, who he wants to bring to the hospital for urgent surgery. Going around the police roadblocks the tension in the car rises, with the leader of the thugs being tough but calm headed and reasonable and the two younger ones getting more and more heated up.

Bava tells this simple story that concentrates on the different characters and their interactions. There is several scenes with high tension in which Bava builds up the suspense excellently. Camera work is great and on par with the best of Bava's other films. The good acting is here only hindered by the almost mediocre dub-work. Especially Maurice Poli as the leader of the gang nicknamed "Doc" shifts moods nicely. The car chase in the beginning is excellently done, funnily enough without any over-the-top action and rather at a more realistic "medium" speed.





My notes on Rabid Dogs:
While Kidnapped is the advertised feature here, I am not entirely sure why Anchor Bay chose this one over Rabid Dogs. Rabid Dogs, as seen in the cover text, is the film as Mario Bava intended it. There seems to be no content missing, so shooting had apparently wrapped, and we'll never know how far away Bava was from completing the film when it was ripped out of his hands. The transfer on the disc looks basically the same, only a few shots are obviously more heavily deteriorated; I assume they actually used the Kidnapped print, removed what shouldn't be there and then added only the needed shots from the work print. The music may have gotten some changes as well, we may never know. (Unless my guesses are actually clarified in the documentary I am about to watch .)

Rabid Dogs is only slightly different than Kidnapped. The opening credits are presented in a stylized fashion, much better than the simpler ones in Kidnapped. There is a two short scenes missing in the film, which hinted at the ending and were ultimately more irritating than they helped and the ending runs a little longer than Kidnapped, adding one more reveal at the end. While the changes don't necessarily make it a worse film, they are not Bava's choices and therefore simply shouldn't be there. Had I found that one discussion on IMDb earlier than I would have watched Rabid Dogs as the main attraction and Kidnapped as the special feature, not the other way around.

(From Mario Bava marathon on July 27th, 2009)

The Good Old Days TV Thread, a review by addicted2dvd

My Thoughts:
When this originally aired I was only 8 years old. So I doubt I really appreciated the beauty of a young Pamela Sue Martin at the time. Though I do remember being a huge fan of the series even back then. And of course I as I grew watching the re-runs my appreciation for the lovely Pamela Sue Martin also grew. Her character in this, Nancy Drew, was smart and brave... at the same time remaining sweet as can be. All those qualities made me a huge fan of the Nancy Drew episodes of this series. I still enjoyed The Hardy Boys... but not nearly as much as I did the episodes with Nancy Drew. This episode gives us another female teen heartthrob in Maureen McCormick who was Marcia on The Brady Bunch.  I enjoyed the episode. It is an interesting story.

My Rating:

(From The Good Old Days TV Thread on February 18th, 2010)