Reality and illusion collide as megalomaniacal filmmaker Chris Neville murders a young would-be actress, then sets about making a feature about the deed, casting the deceased's clueless husband as the patsy, and finding a dead ringer to play the late actress.
Acting
Eric Bogosian's slimy charisma makes evil weirdly watchable.
Writing
Larry Cohen's self-aware script bites the hand that feeds it.
Direction
Cohen turns shoestring budget into deliberate grindhouse aesthetic.
Director
Larry Cohen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Zoë Lund was Larry Cohen's muse and co-wrote Ms. 45; this was their final collaboration before her tragic early death.
Released during the 'video nasty' panic and Reagan-era deregulation of media, it weaponizes contemporary fears about screen violence corrupting reality.
US
