With its startlingly violent, stark opening scene of vigilante justice at the hands of a statuesque, defiant beauty, Coffy instantly explodes any preconceptions of the victimized woman on screen and presents Hollywood’s first female action star. Released just three weeks prior to Cleopatra Jones—which had slipped through AIP’s grasp, thus instigating their own version—Coffy is a raw, no-holds-barred attack on the racist, sexist power structures both above and underground. Beginning as simple revenge for her sister’s involuntary, debilitating drug addiction, Coffy’s quest uncovers deep corruption throughout a system designed to protect its citizens. Dependable Nurse Coffin leads a double life as a seductive avenging angel, defending the defenseless—disguising herself as a high-priced call girl, hiding razor blades in her hair and a gun in a stuffed toy—so that she can ultimately turn the tables on the sadistic kingpin and his motley confederacy who are perhaps partly standing in for that titillated male audience that must pay a steep price for objectifying women. – BG