Ms .45 (1981)

Please don't spend money on this.

Great Film overall

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Better Late Then Never

Ms. 45 is about some woman who gets raped by a couple of guys. Then she goes on her period and decides to kill men. This movie would make a great guide for those idiotic feminists who want to dabble in sheer misandrism. @#&+$! Well, I didn't care about this movie. The violence is nice but the story is worthless and the pacing blows. A waste of time....

Ferrara's Ms. 45 is a well executed movie about rape and revenge. The genre "rape and revenge" movies is no genre I like because it's dressed as a "feminist" take on women's way to handle rape but it's more the male directors way do exploit women by showing nudity and exploit violence to show blood. This movie is not the case which make this movie very good. It might be shot in 1980 but they really made a exploitation movie about rape and revenge in a fair way. This movie contains a plot beyond the rape and beyond the revenge to give it a bit more depth which is important. The movie might be short but it has a interesting story line. The use of the victim as a mute woman amplifier the voice of a woman in society, our voices are not heard and especially when it comes to rape and abuse against women. The rape scenes are not sexualised as in most RR movies, actually this whole movie contains no nudity of either men or women at all which is very good. It's more focused on the trauma of the act. The script is very good and Thana's muteness gives the story a very important symbolism. If you are interested in the RR genre don't watch any other film than this one because this one is actually the only one that portray the act of rape and the psychological trauma of it and the revenge of it in a fair way, without exploiting women to the degree that the movie itself become the sleazball that the men in the movie act like. Full of symbolics for female oppression and male domination and how our society is formed to not be suited and safe for women that adds depth to the movie. If it wasn't for the great script and even the acting that really made an impression (Zoë Tamerlis was so good and just about 18 years old) on me the movie wouldn't be so popular till this day but this movie appeal to an audience 36 years later and that's impressive! 99/100 recommend!

The discussion between so many horror geeks is which revenge flick started it all, the notorious I Spit On Your Grave (1978) or this less known and harder to find Ms 45 made by Abel Ferrara who just came out the cult classic Driller Killer (1979). What makes Ms 45 a must see are two reasons, see how New York looked back then, a filthy place. Secondly, the main lead, Zoe Lund, died at the age of 37 due a drug-related heart failure. Even as this is a revenge flick I'm more into I Spit On Your Grave. That one has more brutality and the rape scene's are more explicit. Still, Ms 45 made in the slasher era is low on gore but it's a slow builder. The mute Thana (Lund) is raped twice on one day. I've seen the full uncut version and the rape scene's for that era are low on everything. But this flick is cult due the revenge done by Thana. From killing one man by shooting him in the head to transform herself into a sexy looking killer. It's a typical Ferrara flick, love or hate it. I'm always left with mixed emotions. Just look at the last scene, slo-mo for over 10 minutes and a weird score. It's not that bad but to say it's a horror I can't say therefor there isn't any gore to catch. But for so many it's a cult flick, for me a mediocre revenge flick.Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Zoe Tamerlis Lund's ability to keep hold of an audience despite her lack of speech in this movie is truly phenomenal. During all of the action sequences, her innate command of viewers takes hold and makes your eyes automatically drawn to her and Thana's character. The way she shows Thana's ongoing mental decay is brilliant as well. She was certainly brilliant in the film, but what happened to her leaves much to be desired.Lund died of a cocaine overdose in her mid-30's. She was a talented musician, model and screenwriter,and rather easy on the eyes. It's too bad she was taken at such a young age, like many other talented actresses. Who knows where she could have gone with that many talents...