Ms.45 — Ms.45(Blu Ray/ UHD)
Ms.45 is an early 80's rape/revenge thriller set on the gritty streets of New York City. The film speeds by like a bullet- with the mute ‘n’ timid victim shifting from being traumatised & shellshocked, to a red lipstick wearing/ gun tooting killer. It drops down in horror, manipulative drama, and all-out gonzo exploitation. Here from Arrow Video, both in the UK and stateside, here’s either a UHD or Blu-ray release of the film, taking in a commentary track, and a good selection of extras
Ms.45 (aka Angel of Vengeance) is from the year 1981. It was directed by Bronx-born Abel Ferrara. Between the early 70s and the present day, he has thirty-four director credits to his name- these go from hardcore anthology 9 Lives Of A Wet Pussy (1976), lo-fi arty and demented horror The Driller Killer (1979), unhinged psychological cop drama Bad Lieutenant (1992), and monochrome/ arty vampire film The Addiction (1995).
Ms.45 has an extreme, taut and tight one hour and twenty-minute runtime- with really little or no plot fat. It focuses on Thana (Zoë Lund) a deeply shy, timid, and mute dressmaker, who works in a small NYC fashion house. Within a few minutes of meeting Thana, she’s been dragged down an alley- raped by a masked man, then as she staggers into her small/ some floors up apartment. She gets raped again by a burglar- suddenly snapping, she whacks the attacker over the back of his head, before smashing in his skull with an iron.
After semi-recovering from her trauma, Thana decides to place the dead burglar in the bath- sawing him up with subtly but effective effects, and stacking his black bagged limbs in her fridge- before throughout the film dropping off the parts all over the city, and here I’ll end plot detailing- as it’s fairly sparse/ stripped, but damn pacy/ eventful film- which works best the less you know.
The gunning down gore is quite effective, as are the sparse effects in general. As a lead, Lund shifts from being believable traumatised, to being clearly troubled/mentally unwell, to a cold-eyed killer. The small supporting cast is also good, with Editta Sherman as the busybody with a dog neighbour, Mrs. Nasone. And Albert Sinkys, as her initially seemingly caring boss, who later shows his touchy-feely/ sleazy side.
The score is also very good here- moving between sparse haunting/off-kilter piano music and more upbeat/ tuneful jazz fusion.
I’m ashamed to say, though I’ve always enjoyed Ferrara's work, for some reason I’d never seen Ms.45 until this release. And I must say it's a great pulse-bound slice of exploitation filmmaking- shifting between jarring attack, emotional shock, and gunning down intensity.
This new release features a new 4k scan- this looks nice, clean, and balanced print- with both the dialogue and score even in the mix.
On the new extras side, we have a few things- first off, we have a commentary track from academic/ author Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, who wrote the book of Rape Revenge Films: A Critical Study and Cultographies: Ms .45. She begins by talking about how she has been writing about/ discussing the rape/revenge genre for some fifteen years- pondering were the interest in these film comes from. She talks about how Ms.45 is one of the top five exploitation films of all time, and that it appeals to a wide range of people from different walks of life. She chats about how the picture does interesting things with gender representation. She talks about how this film links back to The Driller Killer, before giving a brief bio of the director. We find out that lead actress Zoë Lund was just seventeen when she appeared in the film, and she talks about how Ferrara's work sits in both the art and exploitation genres. Later on, she discusses how it wasn’t until 2013 that the film finally got a full uncut release. She touches on the other members of the cast, and we find out that initially, Divine was going to play the role of busybody neighbour Mrs Nasone. She discusses the use of Christian imagery in the film and more. It's a decent track, though I’m not sure I gain much in the way of facts about the film production, locations, etc.
Otherwise, on the new side, we have The Voice of Violence (18.56) featurette with film critic BJ Colangelo. Where Dreams Go to Die (15.55) featurette with film critic Kat Ellinger.
On the archive side, we have- interview with director Abel Ferrara (7.45). interview with composer Joe Delia (10.06). interview with creative consultant Jack McIntyre (10.32). Zoe XO (6.21) a 2004 short film directed by Paul Rachman. Zoe Rising (5.55) a 2011 short film directed by Paul Rachman. Theatrical trailer and Image gallery.
Ms.45 truly is a classic slice of exploitation cinema- with an inspired/ believable lead, a rapid pace, and a mix of gunning down to troubling violence. This Arrow release offers up a great 4k scan and a worthy selection of new/ archive extras.