Coffy (1973)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Jack Hill

Writer:

Jack Hill (writer)

Release Date:

13 June 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

No one sleeps when they mess with Coffy!

Plot:

Coffy is a nurse whose younger sister gets involved in drugs and is severely injured by contaminated heroin...

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Nurse | Pimp | Shooting | Shotgun

Cast

Pam Grier	...	Coffy
Booker Bradshaw	...	Howard Brunswick
Robert DoQui	...	King George
William Elliott	...	Carter
Allan Arbus	...	Arturo Vitroni
Sid Haig	...	Omar
Barry Cahill	...	McHenry
Lee de Broux	...	Nick
Ruben Moreno	...	Ramos
Lisa Farringer	...	Jeri
Carol Locatell	...	Priscilla (as Carol Lawson)
Linda Haynes	...	Meg
John Perak	...	Aleva
Mwako Cumbuka	...	Grover
Morris Buchanan	...	Sugarman

Runtime:

91 min | Germany:84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | France:-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | UK:18 | Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

The idea to hide various weapons in Coffy's afro came from Pam Grier.

Goofs:

Continuity: Vetroni's death: Coffy shoots Vetroni full in the chest with a shotgun, while he is standing in a swimming pool with his heart at the waterline. Vetroni is facing the camera and we see the blast, but there's no blood.

Quotes:

Howard Brunswick: You're upset, you can see that don't you?
Coffy: I can see plenty! I can see how every time a kid rips off a car or an appliance store to get a fix, you get your cut.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Kill Bill' (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Coffy Baby

Pam Brier is a sensation!

By 1973 AIP had struck paydirt many times over with Black Caesar and its sequel, the two Slaughter films, several black/horror hybrids like Blacula, and of course the jungle prison sleazies, and now their first black superchick flick Coffy went into production. Jack Hill (The Big Doll House, The Big Bird Cage) was at the helm again, along with the tried-and-tested formula of Pam Grier and Sid Haig. Coffy is a nurse by day and avenging angel at night, tracking down the dealers who got her sister hooked on the Big H. She opens the film blowing the head off a dealer with a shotgun, then follows the trail of dead bodies to a bald hood named Omar and her crooked politician boyfriend, who she shoots in the balls. "Revenge is a virtue", the soundtrack blares; critics applauded the liberated ballsy lead character while decrying the level of sex and sadism. As revenge actioners go, Coffy don't come better. Grier in her first lead role is a sensation. Little wonder Tarantino tailor-made a film for her.