10/30/2025
BLU-RAY CORNER: ‘Ms. 45’ lives up to its reputation. Forty-five years after its release, this film retains its power to shock first-time viewers, while leaving them with the impression that Zoë Lund was one of the coolest people to ever walk this planet.
Directed by Abel Ferrara from an original script by Nicholas St. John, ‘Ms. 45’ is a gritty time capsule of NYC at the dawn of the 1980s. Filmed just three years after David “the Son of Sam” Berkowitz’s shooting spree (which left six dead and nine wounded), and released seven months before Max’s Kansas City shuttered its doors, ‘Ms. 45’ gains power from its authenticity. It depicts the New York City that your parents always warned you about.
The story centers around Thana, a mute teenager who works as a seamstress in the garment district. She’s surrounded by fellow female workers who offer support and protection, perhaps even infantilizing her, and a bisexual male boss who spends most of his screen time grooming her for conquest. In the film’s first five minutes, we get a harsh snapshot of these mean streets. As Thana and her friends leave work, they are immediately confronted by a gauntlet of leering males on the street. The men take turns making lewd gestures and voicing crude comments, which elicits a quick middle finger and a “F*ck you!” from Thana’s most outspoken ally, Laurie. Eventually, the girls split up and Thana is left alone to walk the final few blocks to her apartment. Suddenly, randomly, an arm reaches out from a dark alley and pulls Thana into the confined space. Being mute, Thana is unable to scream. In what seems like less than 60 seconds, she is sexually assaulted by a masked predator (played by Ferrara). Lying in the grime of the alley, Thana picks herself up, and finds her way back to her walkup apartment, her mind lost in a fog of incomprehension. What she couldn’t possibly know is that simultaneous to her attack, a burglar has broken into her apartment. Let’s just say that the timing of her arrival back home is unfortunate.
Thana’s attacker doesn’t get off so easily this second time around. In the throes of (his) passion, she bashes a glass paperweight into his skull, followed by the sharp end of an iron (a symbol of her day job). The burglar was carrying a .45 automatic pistol, which Thana soon puts to good use as she comes to embody her namesake, Thanatos, the Greek god of death. Triggered by her double assault, and the objectification of the women she sees around her, Thana becomes “Ms. 45” and begins meting out deadly justice to every man who she views as showing predatory behavior.
R**e revenge films, especially from the down & dirty 1970s, are a thriving sub-genre in the world of exploitation cinema. ‘Ms. 45’ followed in the wake of ‘Thriller: A Cruel Picture’ (1973) and ‘I Spit on Your Grave’ (1978), but its script, production values, musical score, tight screenplay, and especially Zöe Lund’s powerhouse central performance as Thana, elevate ‘Ms. 45’ to a whole other level.
In 1979, Ferrara had directed another violent thriller, the depraved ‘Driller Killer’, in which he played a psycho visual artist who visits Max’s Kansas City. ‘Ms. 45’ could be viewed as a kind of loose sequel to ‘Driller Killer,’ seeing as how Ferrara’s ra**st might be passing on his legacy of violence to Thana.
While ‘Ms. 45’ is very much a film by Abel Ferrara, it would not be so burned into the psyche of cult cinema lovers were it not for Zöe Lund. Cast in this role when she was only 17 years old, Lund conveys incredible depth of emotion in this non-speaking part. She is fearless in tackling the subject matter and her commitment makes her magnetic. Plus, it must be stated, she is startlingly gorgeous throughout her transformation from a mousy seamstress to an avenging angel clad in black clothing and blood-red lipstick. The film’s final war cry, in which she wreaks havoc dressed as a nun at a Halloween party, is unforgettable.
This week, Arrow Video has released the definitive home viewing presentation of ‘Ms. 45.’ Featuring a brand-new 4K UHD restoration from the original 35mm camera negative, the presentation looks immaculate, and its color palette is rich and immersive. The disc is stacked with a program of valuable extras. In an archival interview, Ferrara recounts his first meeting with Lund, and how despite his later difficulties with the actress, no one else could have played this role more effectively. I also enjoyed the reminiscences of production staffer Jack McIntyre, and composer Joe Delia who delivered a driving musical suite which incorporates disco, jazz, No Wave, and giallo flourishes. The audio commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas debates whether ‘Ms. 45’ can be viewed as a “feminist film,” while drawing parallels to Catherine Deneuve’s “selective mute’ character in Roman Polanski’s ‘Repulsion’ (1965) and pointing out that Ferrara originally wanted to cast John Waters’ star Divine as Thana’s nosy landlady (!).
Pick up this Arrow Films release. It’s killer.
P.S. – In the credits of ‘Ms. 45’, Zöe uses her birthname, Tamerlis. She was born to a Swedish mother and Romanian father in NYC in 1962. On Halloween night, 1986, she married Robert Lund and began using his last name. Zöe, an unapologetic he**in addict, died at the age of 37 in Paris, France.
