Ms.45 (Abel Ferrara 1981)

I am reminded of the words of Black Panther Party Minister of Defense Huey Newton in a short poem: "Army .45 will stop all jive."

I remember when this movie was presented as revolutionary. It was more Death Wish than Battleship Potempkin and even then, she was as much spree killer as vigilante. 

The star described herself as a revolutionary in an interview. She was disgusted when people cheerfully told her that they used to be revolutionaries, too. If they were ever revolutionaries, they still were.

I can't remember where I read that. She was only 17 when they filmed this thing which explains a lot. 

 

The poor girl was thirty-seven when she died of heart failure caused by prolonged cocaine use. She switched to cocaine when she moved to Paris. Before that she was an enthusiastic heroin user. She was described one place as the "epitome of heroin chic".

Zoe Tamerlis plays a mute garment worker who is raped on her way home from work and again by a burglar when she gets home. She kills the second one with a household object, and good riddance to him. Then she uses his gun which I assume was a .45 automatic to kill other would-be rapists or guys she thought were would-be rapists or just guys. 

It was still a 1981 movie and one of her victims is a wealthy Arab in an elaborate keffiyeh. It wasn't so revolutionary after all.

From the director of The Bad Lieutenant. Reportedly made for $62 thousand.

The dog, Bogey, got second billing in the closing credits.

Available on Fandor.