Pam Grier Delivers Some Coffy

Posting by Alexa Vargas

Last night, I caught one of my favorite movies of all time on my Satellite tv, from Direc4U.com - the 1973 drive-in classic "Coffy", starring Pam Grier.

Coffy is the story of a gorgeous, good-hearted nurse who takes to the streets at night armed with a shotgun, to take down the drug pushers and crime lords responsible for getting her 11-year-old sister hooked on heroin. The beautiful, busty Grier plays this curvaceous killer with aplomb, shifting effortlessly from sensitive citizen to sexy super-vixen to vengeful vigilante and back, and stealing every scene she's in. It's small wonder that her bravura performance in this "blaxploitation" epic made her a megastar.

The film was directed by Jack Hill, the grindhouse guru who brought the world unforgettable schlockers like "Spider Baby", "The Big Doll House", and "Swinging Cheerleaders". Hill does some of his very best work in "Coffy", assaulting viewers with all the sex and gore one could ask for in a low-budget action flick while still making us feel a great deal of genuine pathos for the titular heroine.

Children of the '70s will recognize a few faces in the superb cast, including regular "M*A*S*H" guest star Allan Arbus as a lecherous mob boss and veteran drive-in heavy Sid Haig as his psychotic henchman. The company is rounded out by trash cinema luminaries Booker Bradshaw ("Skullduggery"), Robert DoQui ("Walking Tall Part II"), Linda Haynes ("Latitude Zero"), and Carol Locatell ("Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning"). Since Coffy spends much of her time posing as a high-priced hooker, there are also plenty of beautiful, barely clothed extras on hand to enhance the visual milieu.

"Coffy" is the female "Shaft", a smart, slick, sexy action tour de force that packs all the punch of a shotgun blast to the face. Damn right!