![[box cover]](../../reviewimgs/c/coffy.jpg)
Coffy
Writer-Director Jack Hill and Pam Grier collaborated so often and so successfully that one could say they were the the Von Stroheim and Dietrich of blaxploitation. The 1973 Coffy was their third collaboration, after their two women-in-prison pictures The Big Doll House (1971) and The Big Bird Cage (1972). Like its successor Foxy Brown, Coffy is a revenge picture, this time about a nurse (named Coffin, nicknamed "Coffy," played by Grier) whose sister is a brain-damaged junkie that Grier feels she must avenge. The story is an excuse to have Grier show some skin and kick some ass, and as in Foxy Brown she joins forces with a pimp to do some "undercover" work. Hill works wonders with Coffy, which features cat-fights and gratuitous nudity, yet still manages to serve up an interesting tale of retribution. It's the best film from Hill and Grier, and although it suffers both from cheapness and Grier's awkwardness as an actress, it is consistantly amusing. Besides, that opening sequence is a lot of fun to watch, and our Pam is also never too hard on the eyes. MGM has given this a decent DVD transfer, if not stellar, in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and the original monaral audio. Commentary by Hill, trailer. Keep-case.
—DSH
