{"id":2302,"date":"2024-08-15T15:17:12","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T15:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=2302"},"modified":"2024-10-14T11:20:16","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T15:20:16","slug":"disco-godfather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/15\/disco-godfather\/","title":{"rendered":"Disco Godfather"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Disco Godfather <\/strong>(1979)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Transvue Pictures\/Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 97 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, violence, suggestive material, drugs)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: J. Robert Wagoner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Cliff Roquemore and J. Robert Wagoner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Ernie Fields Jr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Arledge Armenaki\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: September 1979 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Rudy Ray Moore, Carol Speed, Jimmy Lynch, Jerry Jones, Lady Reed, Hawthorne James (as \u201cJames H. Hawthorne\u201d), Frank Finn, Fitz Houston, Julius Carry (as \u201cJulius J. Carry III\u201d), Bishop Pat Patterson, William Nutting, Hazel Spears, Theodis Williams, West Gale, Pucci Jhones.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: N\/A<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: *** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0Before fentanyl and before crack, angel dust (aka PCP or \u201cwack\u201d) was America\u2019s number one drug problem. It was the killer drug that PSAs, TV movies and afterschool specials warned us about in the late 70s\/early 80s. The one I remember most is Desperate Lives, the TV movie where a young Helen Hunt jumps through a glass window while under the influence. All of them had one thing in common. They conveyed that using angel dust, even just one time, automatically makes the user go violently insane. It\u2019s the same way the makers of the 1936 cult classic Reefer Madness depicted marijuana.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The nuttiest of all the anti-angel dust movies is Disco Godfather<\/strong> (sometimes known as The Avenging Disco Godfather). The blaxploitation take on the subject, it\u2019s a real scream. It\u2019s a message movie disguised as an urban action flick. It also has disco dancing, a lot of it. If Reefer Madness and Saturday Night Fever had a love child, it would be Disco Godfather<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It stars Rudy Ray Moore, better known as black action hero Dolemite, as ex-cop Tucker Williams who traded in his badge and gun for gaudy outfits and platform shoes as the owner\/MC of the Blueberry Hills discotheque. The \u201cDisco Godfather\u201d, as he\u2019s commonly known, really knows how to make an entrance. He comes in dancing (badly, I might add) to a tune called \u201cHe\u2019s the Godfather of the Disco\u201d. I assume that\u2019s the title; it\u2019s the only lyric and it\u2019s repeated like 20 times. When he finally reaches the booth, he implores his customers to \u201cPut yo\u2019 weight on it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Tuck declares war on angel dust and all who deal in it after his nephew Bucky (Carry, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh) freaks out while under the influence. He vows to \u201cpersonally come down on the suckers that\u2019s [sic] producing this s***\u201c. The main sucker is Stinger Ray (James, I\u2019m Gonna Git You Sucka), the fancily dressed sleazebag who provided the dope that turned Bucky into a raving maniac in full view of the clientele at his uncle\u2019s disco. After stopping by the police station to officially \u201creactivate his reserve status\u201d (whatever the f*** that means!), he hits the streets to rid the ghetto of the scourge of angel dust.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There is so much hilarious craziness in Disco Godfather<\/strong>, I hardly know where to begin. Actually, I do. After his nephew is taken to the hospital, Tuck is invited to take a tour of the ward where they keep the patients affected by angel dust. It\u2019s a literal madhouse populated by dope fiends in various stages of withdrawal. He looks on in horror as they moan, twitch and writhe around on the floor. I\u2019ve never seen this much bad overacting in one room. Wait, it gets worse. The doctor (Jones, Dolemite) tells Tuck the horrific backstory of a female patient who mistook her baby for the Christmas ham, cooked him in the oven and served him to her family while under the influence. Oh, let\u2019s not forget the poor girl who\u2019s so bad off, the doctors can\u2019t do anything for her. Her mother, clearly a firm believer in the power of prayer, shows up with her priest and a group of chanting church ladies to perform some sort of exorcism. I swear I\u2019m not making any of this up.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Moore\u2019s tradition of fake kung fu continues in Disco Godfather<\/strong>. A martial artist he\u2019s not! The terrible editing only makes it funnier. He has several fights, but the one that stands out is when he goes up against a crazed cowboy hitman with a whip. I don\u2019t have to tell you who the winner of this match is, do I? Next, let\u2019s talk about the warehouse scene where Tuck is assisted by some random guy who happens to be jogging by when all hell is breaking loose. When he learns the bad guys are dope dealers, he declares \u201cLet\u2019s kick some ass then!\u201d before joining the fight. Stuff like this happens every day, right? These are the highlights (lowlights?) in Tuck\u2019s war on drugs.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I already mentioned Tuck\u2019s visit to his old workplace where he gets the okay to do his thing by his old boss, Lt. Hayes (Finn). I didn\u2019t tell you what happens after he leaves. In a scene that defies logic and explanation, the LT goes into his office, picks up the phone and delivers a brief monologue before hanging up without calling anybody. He says, and I quote, \u201cThere\u2019s only three things you can do to that man to get him uptight. One of them is to mess with his family. He\u2019s going to turn over every stone in this city until he finds the main man. When he does, all hell is going to break loose.\u201d Thanks for the plot summary, LT! Nice to know somebody read the script beforehand. BTW, there\u2019s a dirty cop among Tuck\u2019s former colleagues (of course there is) and it isn\u2019t hard to pick him out (of course it\u2019s not).<\/p>\n

\u00a0I saved the best for last. The psychedelic PCP trip-outs have to be seen to be believed, especially at the end when Tuck is forced to inhale PCP through a gas mask by a big mean mother of a henchman. He freaks out. He has hallucinations of his mother and the \u201cAngel of Death\u201d before his final confrontation with Stinger. I won\u2019t say what happens with that exactly, but the cheesy animated effects make it extra trippy and extra gut-busting.<\/p>\n

\u00a0As you can see, I had a blast watching Disco Godfather<\/strong>. I first saw it in \u201994 and hated it. That was before I became familiar with Rudy Ray Moore. Now that I know how he works, it\u2019s different. I rewatched it the other night on Tubi and LOVED it! Oh, it\u2019s a bad movie alright. The acting, writing, dialogue, editing, music, choreography and everything else; all of it is sloppy, amateurish and unintentionally hilarious. Every now and then, the action stops for a random dance interlude, one featuring disco dancers on roller skates. It\u2019s laughable in its attempts to warn audiences of the dangers of angel dust. At one point, Tuck takes time out from his mission of revenge to participate in a rally led by an activist, played by Carol Speed of the blaxploitation Exorcist knock-off Abby, urging everybody to \u201cattack the wack\u201d. Catchy slogan, no? NO!<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019ve reached a point in my life where I prefer cheesy exploitation movies from the 70s and 80s to today\u2019s hollow offerings at multiplexes. I had more fun watching Disco Godfather<\/strong> than the latest Indiana Jones adventure. How can I possibly dislike a movie with lines like \u201cMove and I\u2019ll blow your Afro off!\u201d and such? Or, another great line, when Tuck says to the hitman he catches bugging his office phone, \u201cTelephone man, I\u2019m gonna see you don\u2019t ring no more bells.\u201d Such bad dialogue is absolutely priceless. This is why I always go back to movies like Disco Godfather<\/strong>. They have a purity that\u2019s lacking in today\u2019s movies. I only wish I could have seen them in a crummy grindhouse theater in Times Square.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Disco Godfather (1979)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Transvue Pictures\/Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 97 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, violence, suggestive material, drugs)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: J. Robert Wagoner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Cliff Roquemore and J. Robert Wagoner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Ernie Fields Jr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Arledge Armenaki\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: September 1979 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Rudy Ray Moore, Carol Speed, Jimmy Lynch, Jerry Jones, Lady Reed, Hawthorne James (as \u201cJames H. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-b-movies","category-guilty-pleasures"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Disco-Godfather-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2302"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3291,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302\/revisions\/3291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}