Monday, December 31, 2012

MS. 45 (1981)



A shy, mute and fragile working class young girl in a garment designer’s shop was raped twice; first in Manhattan’s alley and then in her apartment. She managed to kill the second man with his own gun but the mental trauma brought bizarre paranoia to her. In order to get rid of rapist’s body, she first chops his body parts, stuffed it in plastic bags and one by one dumping it in town’s dustbin. With possession of her tormenter’s gun, she turned in a vigilante male hater and killer. The streets turned into killing spree and as the old neighborhood lady and her dog living next door to girl get suspicious; we witness the final shock in Halloween party.


Abel Ferrara’s this low budget psychological shocker reminds me two films- one is Swedish exploitation cult ‘Thriller- A Cruel Picture’ and another is De Palma’s ‘Carrie’. Ferrara’s exploitation film is furious and more violent in tone where mental trauma and paranoia of the rape victim turns into an uncontrollable blind rage-revenge. Ferrara managed to brought certain bizarre sequences with his trademark slow motion violence, eerie background score and most importantly the pace of the film with duration of less than one and half hour. There is a scene which seems like homage to ‘Taxi Driver’ before that shattering shooting spree climax. The film gained its momentum in video circuit much after its release and gained an underground cult status.
Recommend to catch the uncut version.  

Ratings-7/10  


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