In only the first half hour, Rabid Dogs has more tension and psychological insight into the criminal mind than all of Reservoir Dogs making Tarrantino look like an amateur. Even Scorese has admitted the influence of Bava, this movie has Mean Streets starting to look pale in comparison. The master cinematography, confined setting, brilliant camera angles, and editing brings to mind some of Orson Welles best laid out scenes. This all presides over a backdrop of overwhelming despair abundant in nihilism which begs yet another comparison to another admitted admirer, David Lynch, who looks like a student to the teacher - the breadth of brechtian super realism truly achieves it peak, of which an entire generation of filmmakers have aspired to, including Fellini - all of whom had never had the chance to see the film until the late nineties. The movie crashes through the fourth wall and the viewer becomes a passenger in this unfortunate circumstance. The film is a tribute to the genius of Mario Bava and in a way the culmination of all his talent and influence neatly compacted into a ninety minute film school. One of the finest crime dramas ever made. The intricate dialog which illustrates a pure hatred of life and total lack of respect of all that is good - even makes one start to question if Coppola missed the boat with the Godfather a little bit in making his characters a little too heroic and romantic, rather than the base individuals they are supposed to portray. One comes from this film with a horror of the criminal rather than a wish to emulate. In this real time robbery, murder and car-jacking, Bava takes us to the precipice, the edge of reason and finally beyond all semblance of humanity.
Review of Rabid Dogs
