Ms. 45 (1981)

Director:

Abel Ferrara

Writer:

Nicholas St. John (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 April 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Crime Will No Longer Roam the Streets.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Mute | Vengeance | New York | Gun | Corpse

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

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
Jayne Kennedy	...	Seamstress
Wayne Caro	...	Office Boy / Mickey
Mariana Tripaldi	...	Buyer
Scott Covert	...	Buyer's Assistant
Karen O'Shea	...	Model / Party Guest
The Kog	...	The Bum
Cindy Green	...	Waitress
Nancy Ulrich	...	Photographer's Girlfriend
Eddie Sanchez	...	Central Park Gang
Larry Chua	...	Central Park Gang
Omar Patino	...	Central Park Gang
Robert Allen	...	Central Park Gang
Daniel Gooding	...	Central Park Gang
Michael R. Chin	...	Kissing Boy
Gerri Igarashi	...	Kissing Girl
Eddie Eisele	...	Man from Georgia
Evelyn Smith	...	Bag Lady
Patrick Loughran	...	Man on Desk
Eileen Trotta	...	Girl on Desk
Bobby Weismann	...	Party Host
Alvin Moore	...	Detective #1
Nicholas St. John	...	Detective #2 (as N.G. St. John)
Steve Dash	...	Policeman (as Steve Daskawisz)
Paul Varni	...	Guy on Street
John Scarangella	...	Guy on Street
Aris Sakellaridis	...	Guy on Street
Ben Falk	...	Blind Man
Michael Minard	...	Band Member
Robert North	...	Band Member
Rob Fisch	...	Band Member
Harry Maurer	...	Newsman's Voice (voice)
Beth Ann Lonergan	...	Little Girl (voice)
Gail Wenger	...	Party Guest
Jana Skidmore	...	Party Guest
Mary Barto	...	Party Guest
John Antonio	...	Party Guest
Joey Monteleone	...	Party Guest
Lisa Monteleone	...	Party Guest
Mary Reeves	...	Party Guest
Carol Drechsler	...	Party Guest
Anthony Picciano	...	Party Guest
Joe Perce	...	Party Guest
Donna Harris	...	Party Guest
Ira Blumenthal	...	Party Guest
Rex Piano	...	Party Guest
Kim McLean	...	Party Guest
Paul Sansone	...	Party Guest
Peter Abbay	...	Mr. Death
Elissa D'Arrigo	...	Party Guest
Tony Gandiosi	...	Party Guest
Rene Belafonte	...	Party Guest
Dan O'Neill	...	Party Guest / Bartender
Jerry Goralnick	...	Party Guest
Claver Mullaney	...	Extra
Jim Paletz	...	Extra
Timothy Pastor	...	Extra
Bill Plunkett	...	Extra
Natalie Rannazzisi	...	Extra
Michael Rothermel	...	Extra
Rob Roy	...	Extra
Francene Thomas	...	Extra
Bruce Thorne	...	Extra
Nancy Upton	...	Extra
Bonnie Williams	...	Extra
Scott Winer	...	Extra
Madaline Wood	...	Extra
Jim Johnson	...	Extra
Ann Barcar	...	Extra
Shelley Freedman	...	Extra
Barbara Jo Fuchs	...	Extra
Kathleen Gati	...	Extra
Barry Gomolka	...	Extra
Gerry Heller	...	Extra
Michelle James	...	Extra
Chris Jones	...	Extra
Nancy Kleinman	...	Extra
Renata Hickey	...	Extra (as Renata Majer)
Tom McGrath	...	Extra
Cheryl McIntyre	...	Extra
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stephen Singer	...	Rich Volk (uncredited)

Directed by
Abel Ferrara

Writing credits
Nicholas St. John		(screenplay) (as N.G. St. John)

Produced by
Richard Howorth	....	associate producer
Mary Kane	....	associate producer
Rochelle Weisberg	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Joe Delia

Cinematography by
James Lemmo		(as James Momel)

Film Editing by
Christopher Andrews

Art Direction by
Ruben Masters

Makeup Department
Laurie Aiello	....	key makeup artist
Lisa Monteleone	....	makeup artist

Sound Department
Christopher Andrews	....	sound effects editor
Jack Cooley	....	sound re-recordist
Kathleen King	....	location sound
John Paul McIntyre	....	sound (as John McIntyre)

Special Effects by
Sue Dalton	....	special effects
John Paul McIntyre	....	special effects (as John McIntyre)
Matt Vogel	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Tony Giarratano	....	dolly grip
Tony Giarratano	....	key grip
John Paul McIntyre	....	dolly grip (as John McIntyre)
Don Muchow	....	electrician
Don Muchow	....	gaffer
Rick Owen	....	electrician
Rick Owen	....	gaffer
John Verardi	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Nick Dibeneditto	....	negative matcher (as Nick DiBeneditto)
Richard Howorth	....	assistant editor
Robert K. Matthias	....	negative matcher (as Bob Matthias)
Pete Spataro	....	color timer

Music Department
Larry Alexander	....	music engineer
Christopher Andrews	....	music editor
Joe Delia	....	musician
Sylvia Delia	....	singer
Artie Kaplan	....	musician
Abe Speller	....	musician
Peter Yellen	....	singer

Other crew
James Barrata	....	production crew
Jason Braunstein	....	associate in charge of production
Vincent Celli	....	production crew
Karen Hatt	....	caretaker
Karen Hatt	....	cook
Ernie Jew	....	production crew
Ed Leiter	....	ballistics: Centre Firearms
John Paul McIntyre	....	production crew (as John McIntyre)
John Outcalt	....	production crew
Rex Piano	....	production crew
Damon Santostefano	....	production crew
Laura Tully	....	production crew

Thanks
Tony Landano	....	thank you
James Macreading	....	thank you (as Jim Macreading)
Michael Minard	....	musical thanks
Clive Stevens	....	musical thanks
Ron Tarantino	....	thank you
Dan Tieger	....	thank you

Production Companies

• Navaron Films

Distributors

• Rochelle Films (1981) (USA) (theatrical)
• USA Home Video (II) (1983) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (1984) (UK) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (Australia) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (????) (Greece) (VHS)
• BijouFlix Releasing (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Complete Entertainment Inc. (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Centre Firearms Co. Inc.  ballistics (as Centre Firearms)
• Magno Sound  sound re-recording
• Mayor's Office for Motion Pictures & Television  thank you: guardian angels (as Mayor's Office for Motion Pictures)
• New York Police Department (NYPD)  thank you: guardian angels (as New York City Police Dept.)
• Sterling National Bank  thank you
• Summit Screen  titles (as Summit Screen Service)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:(Banned) (original rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1981) | Finland:K-18 (2001) | Argentina:18 | USA:X | New Zealand:R18 (re rating) (1999) | Portugal:M/18 | USA:R (edited for re-rating) | USA:X (original rating) | Australia:R | France:-12 | Norway:18 (re-rating) (2003) | Sweden:(Banned) | West Germany:18 | UK:18 (cut) | Iceland:16 | Norway:(Banned) (1981-2003) (cinema release) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Navaron Films

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 human "death instinct", which leads people to take risks, seek thrills or behave destructively in ways that could lead to death.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: 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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Machete (2010)

Surprisingly good early Ferrara

Reading through other reviews it seems a lot of people are hung up on this being a "revenge" picture or an "exploitation" picture. I think it's being far too narrow to call it either. Don't go into this expecting gore, sex, and action. This isn't that type of movie and if that's all you want out of it you're going to be disappointed. As revenge pictures go Ms.45 keeps the actual act being revenged brief, in the periphery, and basically just suggested and not explicitly shown. The real story here is what Thana does next, and then after that, and then after that. Watching someone who wasn't quite right to begin with (she was shut down and withdrawn from the beginning) choose their path in dealing what had happened to them was interesting. You go from rooting for her to eventually realizing how far wrong she's gone. It's a pretty stark victim to victimizer scenario but with Ferrara's fantastic camera work throughout. His love of New York really shines through as well. It's easy to see the film maker he was becoming. Ms. 45 isn't without its issues - but it's a surprisingly solid movie that sticks in your head for days.