Ms. 45 (1981)

A shy and mute seamstress goes insane after being attacked and raped twice in one day, in which she takes to the streets of New York after dark and randomly kills men with a .45 caliber gun.

Director:

Abel Ferrara

Writer:

Nicholas St. John (screenplay)

Stars:

Zoë Lund, Albert Sinkys, Darlene Stuto

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zoë Lund	...	Thana (as Zoë Tamerlis)
Albert Sinkys	...	Albert
Darlene Stuto	...	Laurie
Helen McGara	...	Carol
Nike Zachmanoglou	...	Pamela
Abel Ferrara	...	1st Rapist (as Jimmy Laine)
Peter Yellen	...	The Burglar (2nd Rapist)
Editta Sherman	...	Mrs. Nasone (Landlady)
Vincent Gruppi	...	Heckler on Corner
S. Edward Singer	...	The Photographer
Stanley Timms	...	The Pimp
Faith Peters	...	The Prostitute
Lawrence Zavaglia	...	The Arab
Alex Jachno	...	The Chauffeur
Jack Thibeau	...	Man in Bar

Storyline

A timid and mute woman gets raped twice coming home from work and decides to take matters into her own hands. She dresses suggestively and roams the streets alone, wreaking vengeance upon anyone who tries to take advantage of her. Eventually, her secret life spills over into her regular life in the fashion industry.

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Plot Keywords:

mute | new york | pistol | vengeance | gun | 

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Taglines:

It will never happen again!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

X

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 April 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Angel of Vengeance

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$62,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Navaron Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name of Zoë Lund's character, Thana, is reminiscent of the Greek god of death, "Thanatos". Sigmund Freud used the word to refer to the "death drive," a subject's internal drive to return to an inorganic state.

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Goofs

One band member is playing the trumpet, but what you hear is obviously a saxophone. There is no trumpet sound in the song the band is playing.

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Connections

References The Driller Killer (1979)

User Reviews

High-Caliber cult!

Neneh Cherry already specifically stated in a song that this is a woman's world, so who are we to argue with that? Women RULE this world, whether they carry around .45 caliber guns or not… Infamous cult movie director Abel Ferrara's interpretation of feminism revolves on a mute and seemly defenseless young beauty that wipes male scum from the face of the earth with a pistol. After being the victim of assault and attempted rape TWICE in one afternoon, Thana kills her second assailant and chops up his corpse in the bathtub. Whilst getting rid of the bagged body parts, she randomly kills numerous other men on the trash-filled streets of New York. "Ms.45" has quite a lot in common with Ferrara's breakthrough film "the Driller Killer", except that it doesn't contain so many tedious moments and that you actually have sympathy for the Thana character, whereas Reno Miller could die instantly for all I cared. Strictly talking from a cinematic point of view, "Ms.45" is a much better film than "Driller Killer" as well. Ferrara manages to retain his depressing yet realistic portrait of dead-end New York, but the camera-work is much more steady and versatile. Zoë Lund, who remarkably looks like Nastassja Kinski, is a terrific anti-heroine and the fact she plays a mute even increases the complexity of her character. Lund later co-wrote "Bad Lieutenant" before sadly passing away at the young age of 37, due to heart failure. Unfortunately, however, "Ms.45" didn't stand the test of time very well. The graphic violence and definitely the controversy has been surpassed severely nowadays and I sincerely doubt that the new Playstation-generation will be impressed by Ferrara's take on the explicit revenge-flick trend. Luckily selected group of film buffs including myself still consider this to be a quintessential cult gem that'll live on forever. Kill 'em all, Thana!