This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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!

"Ms .45" is an American movie from 1981, so this one had its 35th anniversary last year. The director is Abel Ferrara and he is probably somewhat known, certainly more known than screen play writer Nicholas St. John and at least as much as lead actress Zoë Lund in her very first performance. She plays the title character, a woman who gets raped early on in the movie and from that moment on goes on revenge path against men and keeps shooting everybody who gets in front of her and slightly does not act like a perfect gentleman. That's the whole story and while I felt that the film started off relatively solid, it gets uninteresting quickly and I must say it never recovers from that during its 80 minutes runtime. Quite a shame as I know Ferrara can do better than that. You may decide for yourself if you see this as a feminist, androgynist, sexist movie or none of these. One thing that is for sure though is how absolutely stunning and beautiful Lund looks in here. She had me glued to the screen and even if her acting is probably not on par with her looks, it was still a bearable watch mostly thanks to her. With another lead actress, it would have been an even weaker movie. The film hits rock-bottom probably when they show her in that nun costume and at that point it has a bit of a Jess Franco aura to it already and there is not that much quality anymore, if any at all. Lund is of course the most known cast member, unless you count Ferrara's cameo. Still, it makes me sad to see she died so early and with what her thought on drugs were. But she left us this film here, or maybe I should say "her performance" and the looks on her tremendous body as the film itself is just not good unfortunately. I have to give it a thumbs-down. Nothing worth seeing beyond Lund.

Ms. 45 (1981)*** (out of 4)Abel Ferrara's controversial story of the mute Thana (Zoe Tamerlis) who is raped one day when she's walking home. Things get even worse when she gets home as there's an intruder there who rapes her again, although this time she manages to kill him. These attacks set something off in Thana who soon hits the streets with a 45 and begins killing off men.The first time I watched this film I saw it simply as a female version of DEATH WISH. In a lot of ways those two films share a lot in common but I think I was being a bit harsh in playing this off as just some sort of rip-off because there's actually quite a bit going on here. For starters, the best thing about the picture is the bizarre nature of the film, which comes from the direction of Ferrara who perfectly nails what this film is trying to do. For me, the film works as a very dark and rather disturbing tale of someone who has something tragic happen to them and they simply lose their mind.What I like about MS. 45 is that so many things go unanswered. We never know how she gets the gun. How she keeps coming up with bullets. We don't know why she doesn't tell the police after the original rapes. The character doesn't speak a word throughout the movie and we never fully know why she's doing the things that she is. Not having anything explained actually works in the film's favor and especially the way Ferrara dives into her mental state as the picture moves along and the killing's increase.A lot of credit also has to go to Tamerilis who does a terrific job in the lead role. I thought she was terrific in the part as one of the hardest things to do as an actor is to give a performance without being able to use words. As a silent performances she's quite wonderful here as she gives a full range of emotions and even without words you constantly know how she's feeling. The supporting cast is also quite good including Ferrara in his quick cameo.MS. 45 isn't a flawless movie but it perfectly captures a rather sleazy New York and as a character study it really delivers.

Not sure what to make of this - but it's interesting and I like it.First up - New York when it was still mostly working class, before capital dominated. Feels like Saturday Night Fever, Looking for Mr Goodbar, even Kojak. Brass music set the mood, and the streets were truly dangerous.The sexploitation is mild and the music early on is a bit sentimental. But the psycho element kicks in without apology and the music becomes mental, with cartoon cowboy-gunshot effects from an endless supply of bullets.This is the second mute heroine I've watched this week (Sweet Karma), and I'm wondering if that's the most effective way for an actress to play her part. Just watching the face and the reactions.In the end it's a class act, with recurring humour and a final weirdness. Maybe the working class deserve to get shot in a random mega-city? Especially when the only tears shed are for a dog that survives.I recommend - and thanks to BA Harrison for recommending earlier in this thread. ps. I watched on youtube.