A scene from William Lustig’s Vigilante, starring Fred Williamson and Robert Forster. Vigilante is playing on August 23 and August 24 as part of the Anthology Film Archive’s “New York City Vigilantes” series of films, featuring Abel Ferrara’s rare Ms. 45, Michael Winner’s original Death Wish, and William Lustig’s Vigilante and Maniac Cop 1 and 2.

(And, by the way, after you’ve enjoyed this series, make sure to check out Winner’s Death Wish 3, not exactly a good film, but one of the wackiest, campiest, most unapologetically violent pieces of 80’s trash cinema ever to grace a big or small screen.)

More detailed information on the program below:

Source: Publicity Still, courtesy of William Lustig and the Anthology Film Archives

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ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES
32 SECOND AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10003

NEW YORK CITY VIGILANTES
AUGUST 21-24

Beat the suffering summer heat with some of the finest
NYC vigilante films from the mid 70s to early 90s:

MS. 45, DEATH WISH, MANIAC COP 1 & 2,
AND VIGILANTE !!

WILLIAM LUSTIG, DIRECTOR OF VIGILANTE AND MANIAC COP 1 & 2, WILL BE HERE IN-PERSON ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 22!

The sweltering heat of the city in high-summer getting you down? What better way to channel your frustrations than by indulging in some vicarious vengeance? This August, Anthology gives you a chance to vent (or maybe just stoke the coals of your pent-up anger) by enjoying some of the finest NYC vigilante films ever made. Filmed on the streets of seventies and eighties New York, these five movies celebrate a grittier, scummier (but equally humid) period, not to mention a decidedly pre-PC attitude towards dispensing justice.

As you suffer through another summer, don’t take it out on your fellow pedestrians or subway passengers – come in, cool off, and let these fictional vigilantes settle your scores!

Special thanks to William Lustig, Abel Ferrara, May Haduong (Academy Film Archive), Adam Lounsbery and Frank Castle.

Abel Ferrara
MS. 45
1981, 80 minutes, 35mm. With Zoë Lund and Abel Ferrara (as “1st Rapist”).
This early-1980s cult classic still stands as a potent and uniquely feminist entry in the urban revenge subgenre. Mute fashion seamstress Thana is raped twice within the film’s first 15 minutes. After killing the second rapist, she takes to wandering the city’s streets at night and blowing away any man who tries to pick her up. What begins as a revenge film gradually becomes a disturbing portrait of urban alienation and sexual fear. MS. 45 is that rare breed of exploitation film – intensely disturbing yet sexy, clever, intelligent, and even funny.
–Thursday, August 21 at 7:00 and Saturday, August 23 at 9:00.

Michael Winner
DEATH WISH
1974, 93 minutes, 35mm. With Charles Bronson, Hope Lange, Vincent Gardenia and Jeff Goldblum (as “Freak #1). Archival print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
In the film that spawned an increasingly dubious franchise, Charles Bronson plays Paul Kersey, a bleeding-heart liberal who has a change of heart after his wife and daughter are violently attacked by a gang of thugs in their apartment. Turning vigilante, Bronson stalks the mean streets of New York on the prowl for muggers, hoodlums and the like. DEATH WISH is a violent, controversial film that is frank and original in its treatment of urban crime and the average citizen’s helplessness in dealing with it. Herbie Hancock wrote the musical score.
–Thursday, August 21 at 9:00 and Saturday, August 23 at 5:00.

William Lustig
MANIAC COP
1988, 90 minutes, 35mm. Written by Larry Cohen. With Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell, Robert Z’Dar and Richard Roundtree.
Innocent people are brutally killed on the streets of New York by a uniformed police officer. A young cop, Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell), finds himself marked as the chief suspect after his wife is murdered. As Lieutenant Frank McCrae (Tom Atkins) investigates these mysterious killings, the death toll rises and he suspects a mysterious police cover-up. This ‘maniac’ cop must be stopped, but it might not be so easy – he isn’t an ordinary man. He’s inhuman, ready to take on the entire police force, and he’s hell-bent on revenge!
–Friday, August 22 at 7:00 and Sunday, August 24 at 5:00.
DIRECTOR IN PERSON FRIDAY AUGUST 22ND!

William Lustig
MANIAC COP 2
1990, 90 minutes, 35mm. Written by Larry Cohen. With Robert Davi, Bruce Campbell, Robert Z’Dar, Leo Rossi and Michael Lerner.
“Thirty-one dead bodies. Eight breasts. Stiletto through the back. Shotgun in the face. Neck-snapping. Cop-on-a-meathook. Two motor vehicle chases, with five crashes. Three guys set on fire. Kung Fu. Chainsaw Fu. Convenience store Fu. Drive-In Academy Award nominations for…the great Charles Napier, as a TV host, for saying ‘When it comes time for your execution, you can’t con Con Edison!’…; William Lustig, the director, who did his usual excellent job; Larry Cohen, the writer, for lines like ‘There’s a piece of Cordell in every cop’ and ‘There’s only that much difference between a cop and a MANIAC cop’; and, of course, Robert Z’Dar, who does it again, as the Maniac Cop his ownself. Four stars. Best of ‘91.” –Joe Bob Briggs
–Friday, August 22 at 9:15 and Sunday, August 24 at 7:00.
DIRECTOR IN PERSON FRIDAY AUGUST 22ND!

William Lustig
VIGILANTE
1983, 90 minutes, 35mm. With Robert Forster, Fred Williamson and Richard Bright.
New York City factory worker Eddie Marino (Robert Forster) is a solid citizen and regular guy, until the day a sadistic street gang brutally assaults his wife and murders his child. But when a corrupt judge sets the thugs free, Eddie goes berserk and vows revenge. Now there’s a new breed of marauder loose on the city streets, enforcing his own kind of law. His justice is swift. His methods are violent. He is the VIGILANTE.
–Saturday, August 23 at 7:00 and Sunday, August 24 at 9:00.