In this 1993 book, Carol J. Clover, Professor of Scandinavian and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley argues that horror movies "work mainly to engage the viewer in the plight of the victim-hero - the figure, often a female, who suffers pain and fright but eventually rises to vanquish the forces of oppression."

In the following excerpts, Ms .45 is discussed in this regard (including comments by Abel Ferrara and Zoë Lund).