Ms. 45 (1981)
January 3, 2025 7:14 AM - Subscribe
[TRAILER] A shy and mute seamstress (Zoë Lund) comes unglued after being attacked and raped twice in one day. She wanders the New York streets at night in a sexy black dress with her attacker's gun strapped to her garter belt, blowing away any man who tries to pick her up.
Also starring Albert Sinkys, Darlene Stuto, Abel Ferrara, Stephen Singer, Jayne Kennedy, Jack Thibeau.
Directed by Abel Ferrara. Written by Nicholas St. John. Produced by Richard Howorth, Mary Kane for Navaron Films. Cinematography by James Momel. Edited by Christopher Andrews. Music by Joe Delia.
85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Many streaming options in the US currently. JustWatch listing.
Also starring Albert Sinkys, Darlene Stuto, Abel Ferrara, Stephen Singer, Jayne Kennedy, Jack Thibeau.
Directed by Abel Ferrara. Written by Nicholas St. John. Produced by Richard Howorth, Mary Kane for Navaron Films. Cinematography by James Momel. Edited by Christopher Andrews. Music by Joe Delia.
85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Many streaming options in the US currently. JustWatch listing.
Lund herself was, in addition to being the film's star, a primary creative force on the film:
In the beginning stages of the film, the only material that existed was vague descriptions of several scenes. Being that my face is on camera, without dialogue, for something like 98% of the time, I was involved very much. As to the film being pro-woman, I go beyond that by saying that the film is as much pro-woman as it is pro-garment worker, whatever.posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:42 AM on January 3 [4 favorites]
Another one that I'll put on the short list and at least try out. At the time, I may have classified it in the same category as I Spit On Your Grave, which made Roger Ebert's zero-star list as well as making it onto Siskel & Ebert's worst movies list that year. (AFAIK, Ebert didn't review this movie, although he seems to have been generally favorably disposed towards Ferrara's work in general.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:13 AM on January 3 [2 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:13 AM on January 3 [2 favorites]
A couple of pieces on the critical rehabilitation of Ms. 45:
Collider: Critics Hated This Relentless Revenge Thriller, But Now It's an Exploitation Classic
RogerEbert.com: On “Ms. 45” and Revenge Movie Feminism
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:41 AM on January 3 [1 favorite]
Collider: Critics Hated This Relentless Revenge Thriller, But Now It's an Exploitation Classic
RogerEbert.com: On “Ms. 45” and Revenge Movie Feminism
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:41 AM on January 3 [1 favorite]
I am not generally a fan of rapesploitation, but I do like this film. I've seen most of I Spit on Your Grave, and it's very different as the rape scenes take up a lot more screen time than with this film where most of the screen time is taken up with revenge. I do also like the added ableist element to it as a disabled woman myself.
posted by miss-lapin at 10:08 AM on January 3 [4 favorites]
posted by miss-lapin at 10:08 AM on January 3 [4 favorites]
Lund also wrote (or at least co-wrote) Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant. She was a creative force who died too young.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 1:09 PM on January 3 [6 favorites]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 1:09 PM on January 3 [6 favorites]
Carol Clover wrote about this one and I Spit on Your Grave at length in Men, Women, and Chain Saws. I still haven't seen this one, so her writing about it seemed a bit abstract to me, but I seem to remember her taking serious issue with it. Curiously, as miss-lapin notes, I Spit on Your Grave seems to linger on the various rapes--but Clover defended that one as a feminist classic (I won't go so far as to say that she's wrong, but that's certainly not the read of the film I came away with. And I ... didn't love it, or even particularly like it, so I haven't revisited it).
I'll have to watch this one (it looks like it's on Hoopla) and also revisit Clover.
posted by johnofjack at 2:07 PM on January 3 [2 favorites]
I'll have to watch this one (it looks like it's on Hoopla) and also revisit Clover.
posted by johnofjack at 2:07 PM on January 3 [2 favorites]
I also need to reread her work, but I do remember taking issue with her interpretation of I Spit on Your Grave. But I'm curious to know what you think of this one, johnofjack.
posted by miss-lapin at 5:43 PM on January 3
posted by miss-lapin at 5:43 PM on January 3
I liked it! I thought it was a pretty taut thriller, and I think that DirtyOldTown is right that Ferrara takes Thana's plight seriously and treats it with respect. I didn't endorse Thana's actions, but I think it would take an effort not to understand them.
posted by johnofjack at 8:51 AM on January 4 [2 favorites]
posted by johnofjack at 8:51 AM on January 4 [2 favorites]
One of my all-time favorites. Must've seen it twenty times...
It's tremendously violent, lacks a happy ending, and thoroughly feminist. The first ten minutes are difficult to watch, as Thana is raped twice. After that, though, the fun begins, because the attacks have transformed her into a homicidal maniac. She starts killing just about anyone who has a penis. I kept track: 16 of the men she killed deserved to die, and two probably didn’t, and that’s about the right ratio, in
my opinion — all men aren’t pigs, but about 89% of us are.
Ms 45’s female protagonist is mute, incapable of speech, maybe to symbolize the relative voicelessness of women in society, and OK, I get it, but I wanted her to have dialogue. It's my only complaint. The movie was written by a man, and my suspicion is that he wrote her mute because he doesn’t quite understand how (or that) women think. Still, it’s a kickass flick.
posted by Doug Holland at 7:32 AM on January 8
It's tremendously violent, lacks a happy ending, and thoroughly feminist. The first ten minutes are difficult to watch, as Thana is raped twice. After that, though, the fun begins, because the attacks have transformed her into a homicidal maniac. She starts killing just about anyone who has a penis. I kept track: 16 of the men she killed deserved to die, and two probably didn’t, and that’s about the right ratio, in
my opinion — all men aren’t pigs, but about 89% of us are.
Ms 45’s female protagonist is mute, incapable of speech, maybe to symbolize the relative voicelessness of women in society, and OK, I get it, but I wanted her to have dialogue. It's my only complaint. The movie was written by a man, and my suspicion is that he wrote her mute because he doesn’t quite understand how (or that) women think. Still, it’s a kickass flick.
posted by Doug Holland at 7:32 AM on January 8
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Ms. 45 works as an exploitation thriller, in that a sexy lady does kill a bunch of people. But there is no lingering on or titillation to the presentation of the sexual assaults and Ferrara takes the damage and trauma this does to Thana very seriously indeed. She is treated with respect and consideration the entire way through. Ferrara makes a point of showing the misogyny and ableism that await Thana around every corner. I wouldn't say he wants you to forgive Thana becoming a vigilante killer, but he sure as hell expects you to understand.
Thana is compelling as hell. There is a reason Kat from HBO's Euphoria chose to dress as Thana for Halloween. She's badass.
I particularly like the bit at the end where we see that although she eventually snapped and killed some men who were not actively trying to harm her, she did not in fact, harm the dog.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:26 AM on January 3 [5 favorites]