1973 / 91 minutes
Theme written by Roy Ayers
Being a memorable portrayer of female vigilante, Pam Gier established Coffy as an character to be imitated later on frequently and also paved the way for another classic, Foxy Brown. The real thing is, female characters were seldom as powerful as in Coffy in that era, and alot this particular character's strenght seem to generate where the movie get's it's momentum from, a strong will to avenge. In this case, to avenger her 11 year old sister having to get herself together after a brief involvement with drugs. This is where the staple violence comes in yet it doesn't go over the top.
The doublecross man-I've-should've-known plot is semitypical yet it works like it should. Mobsters are made just enough sleazy to make them believable, most of them anyhow. Some of the real gold is in the soundtrack with Coffy Baby being one of the highlights. Lovely But Deadly, a remake made in '81, which I've not seen, features an all-white cast and apparently didn't receive much closure. I suggest to enjoy Coffy with a sixpack of corona and a few cigarettes if you mind for. Personally I'm having troubles comparing this one and Foxy Brown, as in which one is better, but I really recommend both.
