When her 11-year-old sister suffers irreparable brain damage after shooting up tainted heroin, the title character, an inner-city nurse played by Pam Grier, becomes a one-woman war on drugs. Using her killer body and just-as-impressive brain, Coffy goes after the kingpins by posing as a hooker to infiltrate the underworld, then attacks them with guns, wine bottles, and their own contaminated drugs.

Coffy, Pam Grier, 1973. Photo courtesy of the Everett Collection.