Having made a name for herself with the release of COFFY,
Pam Grier went on to more action fare in the Blaxploitation genre. This time
she starred in this film, a carry-over from the previous movie uniting her
again with director/writer Jack Hill. It paid off once more with a movie that
fans of the genre love.
This time around Grier plays the title character, a strong
female woman who is doing her best to get her younger brother off of and away
from drugs. At the same time her boyfriend, an undercover policeman, is
recovering from plastic surgery done so he won’t be recognized by the remnants
of the gang he helped put away. Both plans fall flat when her brother passes
along the new identity to drug lords Miss Katherine and Steve Elias. In short
order Foxy’s beau is murdered and Foxy is set on a path of destruction and
revenge.
The movie would make a fine double bill with her previous
effort COFFY. Both have strong women who love the men they’re involved with but
don’t need to have them in their lives to be strong characters. Both are set on
a path for revenge against ruthless criminals out to reap profits from the sale
of drugs to the masses. And both have family members or loved ones killed by
the same drug lords who will then suffer for what they’ve done.
Grier once more proves that she has the acting chops to take
on a lead role and this film advanced her once more in not just the action
genre but in displaying her dramatic abilities as well. Watching these films
now one has to wonder just why she wasn’t given more work or the chance to play
stronger dramatic roles rather than just the action films she was in. Perhaps
it was just pegging an actress into a category that she was successful in or
maybe it was due to few lead roles being provided for black actresses at the
time. The truth of the matter is that in ignoring her capabilities we were
denied the chance to see her in more suitable roles until Quentin Tarantino
gave her the chance with JACKIE BROWN (no connection to this film).
What is great to see is Olive Films coming through once
again by providing another genre classic in blu-ray format that is perhaps the
best quality edition of this film released to date. Fans of action films or the
Blaxploitation genres now have the opportunity to add this to their collections
to be watched over and over again. As I said earlier, on a double bill with
their version of COFFY this would make a nice drive in evening at home, popcorn
and soda in hand and action blowing off the screen.
Click here to order.
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