Ms. 45
Image Entertainment
DVD, 1981, 80 mins.

review by Shade Rupe

The jump in aesthetic quality from Ferrara's first horror feature (Driller Killer) to the beauty, grace and finesse of Ms. 45 is astounding. From the cinematography to Ms. Tamerlis' mute performance as the title character to the biting soundtrack, Ms. 45 is an instant classic.

The late Ms. Tamerlis (who was Harvey Keitel's compatriot in drug addiction in Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant, credited as Zoe Lund) breathes silent fire into the tragedy of poor Anna, first humiliated by an alleyway rape (performed with fine cruelty by Mr. Ferrara himself as "Jimmy Laine") then by an attempted rape by an intruder in her home. Smashing the perpretrator's finality of attack with an iron, Anna then has to dispose of the body parts, piece by piece. Beyond silent about her problems, due both to her inability to speak and her own trauma, Anna slowly succumbs to the weight of these attacks, becoming an avenger against all perpetrators of harm. The only problem is, she doesn't know when to stop.

A few beautiful and memorable set pieces compliment the film, especially the multiple gang-member killing in Central Park. Precisely choreographed, these moments are a ballet of feminine violence. The film though never takes a feminist stance. If anything she is equally condemened for her own 'god-playing' crimes. The final slow-motion Carrie-like dance of death exposes this vigilante as an out-of-control killer, not only debiliated by her muteness, but by her blindness to who the 'real' perpetrators are.

Image's widescreen DVD is, of course, a noticeable improvement over previous releases. And this reviewer is sad to report that there are three noticeable clips in the film. During the first rape we cut to the interior of Anna's apartment being ransacked, the second rape is shortened, and inexplicably one character's shooting death at the end is clipped. Image is looking into these discrepancies as thsi reivew is typed.

Equally sad is the lack of extras. Image's previous laserdisc release at least included a trailer. Ferrara has performed commentaries on a couple of his film releases on DVD now, and this film demands the same sort of attention. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see a re-release with the cuts replaced and Ferrara's words on his film. Until then, we've got a nice bright copy of a classic vengeance film to watch, still frame, and savor.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:

http://www.image-entertainment.com