I just emerged from the sleazy world of Coffy where heads explode like pottery when shot, and many, many do get shot. Coffy stars Pam Grier, the Blacksploitation star best known for one of the most beloved films of the genre, Foxy Brown.
These films follow a predictable pattern: Pam Grier looks great in skimpy clothes, holds down a day job and racks up a terrible body count on her time off. Her target might be a crack dealer or a politician — the main thing is that they have pissed her off. This means that they -and we- will be seeing her half naked for a good part of the film as she pretends to be a prostitute. Having Grier pose as a prostitute was apparently very important to her producers.
The ensuing violence is so relentless that it becomes unintentionally comic, tilting the viewer into giddiness rather than shock. My favorite unintended joke is the theme song: “Coffy is a color, it’s the color of your skin. Coffy is a color, it’s the world you live in.”
Well, I may live there for 90 minutes for a laugh or two, but I burn rubber getting out.
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