Ms .45 (1981)
Rape-revenge-killing-spree-exploitation with a little more on its mind than just great kill scenes. Poor mute Thana is raped twice within the first 10 minutes, so we are fully with her when she goes on her revenge killing spree against creepy sexists men that can’t take respect a no. It works incredibly well despite her being totally mute, as we can still easily follow her thought process. It is not just the rapists that gets a taste of the .45, but almost indiscriminately men in general. I think there is a quite 2020s feminist point here somewhere about patriachy, though it also pretty clear that the movie wants us to question our initial sympathy for Thana, as she becomes outright misandrist. #notallmen and all that, but while I did think the movie lost a bit momentum towards the end, I can’t deny that simply because it tries to deal with its subject matter in a more reflective artistic manner, makes this much more interesting than the usual run of the mill rape victim revenge stuff like Death Wish (though there are many other good reasons to watch those).
Rating: 3.5