Taking place largely in real time, the film follows a trio of payroll robbers who kidnap a young woman and force a man with a sick child to be their getaway driver, all while trying to avoid being caught by the police.

An adaptation of the Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine short story "Man and Boy" by Michael J. Carroll, Rabid Dogs was a departure for Bava, as its emphasis on realism sets it apart stylistically from his colourful horror films.

Following three weeks of principal photography, producer Roberto Loyola declared bankruptcy, resulting in the then-incomplete film being shelved due to his ownership of the rights.

Rabid Dogs remained unseen for over two decades, but following an acquisition of the rights by Lander, it has since been released on home video in multiple versions, with various scenes being partially re-shot, added or removed for continuity.

One of these versions, titled Kidnapped, was supervised by Bava's son Lamberto and his colleague Alfredo Leone.

The remaining criminals, Doc (Maurice Poli), Blade (Aldo Caponi) and Thirty-Two (Luigi Montefiori) are forced to flee on foot into an underground car park, pursued by the police.

At a traffic construction site, Doc tells everyone to close their windows, attracting attention on a hot day.

The attendant relents, but a young woman (Eriak Dario) shows up claiming her car had broken down and she needs assistance.

The group finally reaches the hideout: a ruined villa where Doc has stashed a back-up car, carrying papers to enable him and Blade to emigrate.

Unlike Bava's earlier films that showcased garish colors and outlandish camera angles, Rabid Dogs was described by Roberto Curti as not even looking like the work of the same director.

[2] This led to him trying a new project different from anything he had done previously, and he began developing what would become Rabid Dogs under the working title L'uomo e il bambino.

The film is based on "Man and Boy", a short story published in an issue of Giallo Mondadori,[2] and the screenplay was written by Alessandro Parenzo and an uncredited Cesare Frugoni.

[2] All that remained to be filmed were some cutaway shots involving helicopters and police cars, and a pre-credit sequence.

'Red Traffic Light') and was developed by Lea Lander's group Spera Cinematografica with funding from German film journalist Peter Blumenstock.

[3] This version included shot-on-video inserts to connect footage and the addition of a police siren sound at the end of the film.

[3] This version lost Spera's inserts and kept the original ending of the film, which was shot per Bava's script indications.

[4] A Blu-ray of the film was released by Kino Lorber in the United States which only contains the Leone and Bava version titled Kidnapped.

[5] The Lucertola version on Arrow Video's Blu-ray contains parts in standard definition as no complete film print could be found after Kidnapped was created.

"[6] On reviewing the Semaforo rosso version, Slant Magazine gave the film three and a half stars out of four, declaring that the "final plot twist so shocking that it forces the spectator to reevaluate everything that transpired prior.