VividSimon Simply Perfect

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

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "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.

sol- 'Angel of Vengeance', or 'Ms. 45' as it is better known, this early career urban drama from Abel Ferrara follows a mute woman who becomes mentally unhinged after being raped both on her way home and upon arriving home after startling an intruder. Hardly ever smiling and conveying all emotion through her expressive eyes alone, Zoë Lund is superb in the lead role and the film gets off to a strong start as she initially takes a semi-rational approach to the double rape. Having killed the second rapist, Lund dismembers the body in a darkly comic manner, carrying it out of her apartment in bits and pieces. These early scenes come with some neat horror touches too, like Lund imagining blood and guts coming up from the drain of her bathtub, and as alluded to, the first half of the movie is quite strong. The second half though pushes the boundaries of both credibility and audience sympathy as Lund goes from accidentally shooting a man who followed her down a dark alleyway, to viciously killing all men who try to pick her up, to going out of her way to seduce and then murder as many men as she can lure. Understandably, she is meant to be psychotic by the end of the film, but she also becomes complete unsympathetic as she starts seducing men just in order to have victims, all the while using the one gun with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of bullets (!); plus, she is a perfect shot every time. The final attack scene that the film builds up to nevertheless needs to be seen for itself and there is something to be said for the film giving the revenge thriller formula a feminist spin.

nzpedals Maybe they couldn't think of something to add into the plot, which is a bit skimpy? The basic theme is great, ie, disadvantaged female gets even with creeps who deserve a good slapping. And does she deliver!A superb performance from Zoe Lund (aka Tamerlis), who doesn't say a word, but manages to say truck-loads just by the looks she gives.But then it seems to go on a bit without really saying (!) much or achieving much. A pity, and I would have liked a better ending.Others in the cast, and the director and producers combine to deliver and interesting, and different movie. One that could have been better. I've given it a 7, and will happily watch it again.

Scott LeBrun Writer Nicholas St. John and director Abel Ferrara created one of *the* great cult films of the last few decades, an interesting mix of slickness and sleaze - and with feminist leanings, to boot. One can hardly fail to notice that most of the male victims in this tale are horny creeps, men for whom we don't exactly shed a tear when they expire. Ferrara gets down to business fairly quickly, yet also takes his time with the pacing. He gets an impressive performance out of the late, great Zoe Lund, a beautiful young woman who possesses the right amount of vulnerability and eventual inner rage. The jazzy, upbeat, and very catchy score by Joe Delia is a highlight, as is Ferraras' use of the NYC locations.Ms. Lund plays Thana, a seamstress in NYC's garment district who has the horrible misfortune to be raped twice in one day. (The first of these miscreants is played by Ferrara in a disturbing cameo.) But she manages to get the drop on the second rapist (Peter Yellen) and kill him. Now something has been set off inside this seemingly demure lady, and she's out to punish the male population of the city. They're *all* fair game.Ms. Lund is very expressive, which is important given the fact that Thana is mute. We do feel for her and root for her, and see almost everything from her perspective. She's good through the characters' whole arc, from traumatized victim to furious angel of vengeance who gains confidence when she finally stops repressing her sexuality. When she dresses in nuns' garb, it's a memorable image. The supporting roles are well cast, too: Albert Sinkys as Thanas' prissy boss Albert, Darlene Stuto as the tough talking Laurie, Editta Sherman as nosey landlady Ms. Nasone, S. Edward Singer as the photographer, and Jack Thibeau as a man Thana meets in a bar. The violence packs the appropriate visceral punch, and the film leads to a very spooky slo-mo massacre at a Halloween party.This is simply must viewing for any exploitation aficionado. It may show its age, but that's immaterial given how potent and gripping it is in the end.Eight out of 10.