a.k.a. The Avenging Godfather, Avenging Disco Godfather. 1978. D-J. Robert Wagoner. P-T. Toney and Rudy Ray Moore. S/P-J. Robert Wagoner. 90 min.

    Moore is Tucker Williams, a retired cop who's now known as "The Disco Godfather" and works as a DJ at a local club ("Put your weight on it!"). Tucker's nephew, Buckey (Julius J. Carry) flips out on angel dust and lands himself in the hospital. Dr. Fred Mathis (Jerry Jones) gives Tucker some info on the horrifying effects of this new drug and Tucker sets out to "bust the dust".

    The man behind the drug trafficking, Stinger Ray (James H. Hawthorne), decides he wants the contract he placed on Tucker canceled and sends a team of crooked cops out to hit the hitmen, but Tucker recognizes one of the cop's badge numbers, #143. After they discover there's a leak in the department, Tucker and Lt. Frank Hayes (Frank Finn) set up #143, who later commits suicide in his bathtub.

    Tucker goes on a rampage, busting dealers, pushers, and breaking up drug parties. At one party, people are even snorting cocaine off of a SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER soundtrack album! Tucker is taken to Stinger's hideout and forced to inhale some angel dust. He then hallucinates about his child molesting mother and sees the same monster Buckey saw earlier during his trip. Tucker believes Stinger is the monster and chokes him to death. Buckey (now better) and Lt. Hayes try to take Tucker to the hospital as he freaks out from the dust.

    This film seems to often be overlooked and in regards to his previous fims Moore had a big reputation to live up to by this time. With the angel dust plotline, Moore was able to include both disco (which obviously was a huge fad at the time) and horror elements into an action film. The film's artwork is excellent. On first glance it looks like a typical action film of the time. A closer look reveals skulls, pills, a hyperdermic needle, and even a person dead in a bathtub, making a shocking statement. The idea of Moore as a disco DJ is preposterous (but at the same time hilarious...) and luckily doesn't hold any real bearing on the plot. The disco scenes are a bit lengthly at times but kept at a minimum for the second half of the film.

    There are some rather powerful scenes that pull this up to another level from your average low-budget film. The angel dust addicts in the hospital are particularly disturbing as well as the shocking bathtub suicide by the officer. The exorcism (with Lady Reed appearing) and "trip" scenes are effective as well, even for the low budget. One scene that could have been extremely powerful but unfortunately falls flat, is where Dr. Mathis, distraught about the addict's conditions, questions God's existence.

    As with his previous films, there is plenty of martial arts, especially in the last sequence of the film. Howard Jackson does show up for a fight towards the end of the film but was unable to be involved in the film beyond this scene.

    Disco music is of course featured prominently as well as some music from DOLEMITE. Also, "trip" noises are featured throughout as well. A soundtrack was released on Apple Juice Records.