As far as blaxsploitation movies or action movies with a female lead, Coffy is by far one of the best. Pam Grier sets the screen on fire as Coffy, a working class black woman(a nurse) who is on a mission to take down the drug syndicate due to her kid sister's life is ruined by drugs. Writer/director Jack Hill did not have the largest budget to work with. However, Coffy is actually a well made film with rich dialogue and is taken more seriously than a lot of films of this type during this period. The film is very entertaining as well with some tongue in cheek humor, action and serious boobage. To see Pam Grier's rack alone is worth the price of admission. Nonetheless, Pam's unique presence and performance here is second to none. She is a stunning dark skinned goddess that is equally capable of being seductive and kicking ass. Not knowing any martial arts, she uses her wits and her sexuality to dispatch her male adversaries and comes across very natural and convincing. Coffy, very much a vigilante film, predates Deathwish by a year. I think that this is equally as good as Michael Winner/Charles Bronson's classic. Also, frequent Pam Grier/Jack Hill collaborator Sid Haig makes a memorable appearance as an Armenian heavy. He also has great chemistry with Pam and appears again with her in Foxy Brown. Foxy Brown, also directed by Jack Hill is great as well. However, it is not quite as well made as this is and Coffy by far is Pam Grier's best film and essential watching for fans of 70's action cinema.

Having watched a lot of by the numbers 70s thrillers I was a little jaded by the time I came to watch this. Although at times it also falls into that trap there is enough here to elevate it above that level. I think it's unfair to call this Blaxplotation. It's just a thriller where the lead happens to be a black women.Most strikingly there weren't many women (black women at that) in the 1970s blowing criminals away with shotguns. Particularly ones who are completely self-driven. Frankly there aren't too many of those in Hollywood movies even today. Also I really like the the charm Pam Grier brings to the role whenever she's talking to good guys.There are bits of comic relief such as the scene where the heavy-hitters say to the former driver of the gangster they've just brutally murdered "hey, why not come and work for us now? We're not bad guys really" - all said in a totally irony free way. Or the scene where Pam Grier does a Borat-style Jamacan impression.There's some 'LA Confidential' style high level corruption shown, which again raises this above the usual standard of cheap 70s thrillers.If you like 70s thrillers this is definitely worth seeing.

One of Quentin Tarantino's favourite grindhouse movies, Coffy is a great example of blaxploitation film – a genre that emerged in the USA in the 1970s, created specifically for black people, that featured black casts and funk and soul soundtracks. It was a box-office hit and Pam Grier became the first female African-American protagonist of an action movie.Flower Child Coffin (Pam Grier), also known as Coffy, is a nurse whose little sister's life has been ruined by heroin. In the first scenes, Coffy finds the dealers who got her sister hooked on heroin and, pretending to be willing to do anything for a fix, goes home with them and kills them. Later in the movie, when two masked men beat up and seriously injure her police friend Carter in his home, while she's present, because he wouldn't be bribed, she decides to avenge him.Even though the main character fights what we could call a war against drugs, the movie's message isn't "you shouldn't do drugs". As I said before, this is a blaxploitation movie – a movie that exploits certain themes. The story itself isn't very relevant. It's all about watching Coffy, often naked, getting her revenge by killing people and fighting other, often naked, women. And it is Coffy – or better, Pam Grier – who leads the movie. She is great in her performance, and truly believable: whenever men fall for her, it's obviously because of her beauty and charms – she is sexy and she knows it, and she uses these qualities to get what she wants. Also, her relationship with her sister isn't developed at all, but we still take her (Coffy's) side in her fighting the drug bosses, again because of her amazing performance.Of course, this isn't an excellent movie, but you shouldn't expect much from the exploitation genre. It's just meant to entertain: it makes people laugh – like in this movie, when Coffy gets in a fight with some hookers and throws a bowl of salad onto one girl's head -, shocks – the best example being the killing of a man by tying a noose around his neck, attaching the rope to a car and dragging him around town -, and features a lot of female nudity; but it has many flaws – to give just one example, some of the supporting actors' performances are bad, but in a funny way, and the movie is sometimes boring. So if you're looking for a somewhat silly movie that will mostly make you laugh and make you ask yourself "the hell am I watching?", Coffy is the one for you!Rating: 7/10 Read more at http://passpopcorn.wordpress.com/

"Coffy" is a classic blaxploitation film. Pam Grier stars as the title character.The plot: Coffy is just a mild mannered nurse, but then her sister gets mixed with the drug trade and is hospitalized for contaminated heroin. She turns vigilante and vows to take down all the drug pushers and pimps.Like "Foxy Brown", Pam Grier is at her best here. She is the perfect heroine: Sexy and willing to kill. All the action sequences are well-shot and entertaining. Sid Haig plays one of villains named "Omar". He does his usual professional work."Coffy" is a fun and gritty picture featuring a killer performance from Grier. Highly Recommended! For more insanity, check out: comeuppancereviews.com