Recently watched: Disco Godfather (1979). Tagline: “Touch him and you're dust!” I’m using this period of enforced social isolation to explore the weirder corners of YouTube for long forgotten and obscure movies. (My boyfriend Pal is accompanying me only semi-willingly).
Blaxploitation action movie. Anti-drug cautionary tale. A joyous
celebration of disco hedonism featuring rollerskating. Disco Godfather is all
this and more! If that’s not enough, Disco Godfather also keeps threatening to
turn into a horror movie when we witness the freaky demonic bad trip “visions”
of zombified angel dust casualties. When a reverend and some church ladies gather
to perform a bedside exorcism to “save the soul” of a female PCP victim, it
overtly recalls the earlier blaxploitation Exorcist rip-off Abby (1974). As if
to underscore the comparison, Abby’s leading lady (Carol Speed) even appears
here in a supporting role!
Rudy Ray Moore stars as Tucker Williams, an ex-cop turned fiercely
glamorous nightclub impresario and superstar DJ known as “Disco Godfather”. When
his much-loved nephew – a promising basketball player – is hospitalized after freaking-out
on angel dust, Williams vows revenge on the elusive local drug kingpin – and kicks
a lot of bad guy ass along the way! (The ultra-fake fight scenes – complete with
sprays of spurting blood – are pure comedy gold. Some martial arts are thrown
in too for good measure).
I’m the first to admit I wasn’t previously au fait
with charismatic actor, comedian, singer, film producer and all-round
Renaissance man Rudy Ray Moore (1927 - 2008) and haven’t yet seen Dolemite Is
My Name (the acclaimed 2019 biopic starring Eddie Murphy), but I’m an instant
fan. Apparently, Moore’s homosexuality was a tightly guarded secret during his
lifetime (and Dolemite is My Name reportedly skips the issue entirely). For me,
seen today there is a genuine camp / queer sensibility to Disco Godfather and
Moore himself emerges as a regal, flamingly flamboyant African American man in
the grand style of Little Richard or Esquerita. In the close-ups he clearly
seems to be wearing false eyelashes, and his outrageous sparkly disco attire is
designed for maximum nipple exposure!
The climactic final show-down at the abandoned
warehouse goes on forever and the constant fighting becomes numbingly repetitive,
but anything-goes oddity Disco Godfather has much to recommend it. For aficionados of seventies
style, the disco scenes offer a sublime time capsule of superfly fashion and hairstyles.
And watch for the dancing white twink extra with the ultra-seventies “bowl” haircut
who manages to hog a lot of screen-time in the nightclub sequences doing his
signature “robot move”!
Watch Disco Godfather here:
Note: the good folks at Vinegar Syndrome have issued a deluxe remastered region free Blu-ray and DVD combo pack of Disco Godfather.
Looks FAB! Jx
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