Petey Wheatstraw

I had trouble watching Dolemite (horrible acting) one month ago and Disco Godfather (crazy-a** halucination scenes, going on very long!) today!!! BUT!!! - Petey Wheatstraw had me laughing pretty much through the entire thing - watermelons, Petey's magical gift he recieved from the Devil, and Leroy & Skillet - hahahaha!!! Great actors, funny as hell! If you want to check out a Rudy Ray Moore film, check out this one! It's got a GREAT soundtrack, and the acting is better than his others (although I haven't seen Human Tornado in a while, very funny Kung-Fu moves by Rudy).

Petey Wheatstraw (1978) marks the end of Rudy Ray Moore's great run at independent film making. The 70's were about to end along with the great era of self produced films. The big movie companies were about to crush the small market studios once and for all.

Enough soapboxing on with my behalf, let's get on with the brief review. Rudy Ray Moore plays a signifying performer who some how manages to get mixed up with the Devil's personal affairs. He makes a deal with old Lucipher (watch the film to get that joke) and tries to welsh on his end of the deal. This film is flat out funny. Loosely based upon one of his stand up skits (Dolemite and the Human Tornado were also based on stand up routines)and technically sound (for a low budget production) Petey Wheatstraw is a must watch.

I highly recommend this film.

There is no other film quite like "Petey Wheatstraw". My friends and I love cheesy, weird little cult films and we've seen almost ALL of them in almost every genre - the black urban films that were churned out during the 1970's have some classics and some clunkers and Rudy Ray Moore is a fascinating movie "star". A nightclub comic who was famous forhis filthy "poems" - we had enjoyed his other films "Dolemite" and "Disco Godfather" but nothing prepared us for "Petey Wheatstraw" - from the absurd plotline to the garish costumes, the cheap sets, the great music, the bad acting and the awful, laughable fight scenes, this movie has everything!!! You just have to sit back with a beer, a drink, whatever floats your boat and take this thing on. You never can guess what oddity or strange turn of events are around the corner. Rudy Ray Moore, with his out of shape nightclub comic's body, struts around like he's the sexiest thing in the world and the street worn looking women in the film fling themselves at him. His "kung-fu" fighting has to be seen to be believed - my 95 year old grandpa could lift his leg higher!!

I saw rented this movie in the mid 90's as I walked through the aisle at Blockbuster. My friend and I saw the awesome cover (much funnier than what has) and saw the name and we decided we must watch this.

From the beginning, the movie is a joke. It starts on a funny and strange note and there are a handful of funny scenes, but it gets mixed with a lot of boring "meh" moments. I'd say watch it while you're doing something else and be prepared to rewind in case you walk back into it in the middle of a funny scene.

Petey Wheatstraw (1977)

** (out of 4)

Rudy Ray Moore is back, this time playing the title character, a comedian who is doubled crossed by a couple jerks. Petey is shot dead in the streets and his spirit is visited by Lucifer who offers him a deal. If Petey agrees to marry his daughter and have a son, Petey can continue life and be given a magical pimp stick. Petey takes the deal and enjoys the powers that the stick gives him but when it comes time to pay he wants no part of Lucifer's daughter.

After DOLEMITE and its sequel THE HUMAN TORPEDO, Moore found himself playing a new character and while it's not nearly as entertaining as the earlier movies, if you're a fan of the comic then there's plenty to enjoy here. If you're coming to this film expecting to see anything like THE HUMAN TORPEDO then you had better check yourself because this film is something completely different. As wild as the story sounds, the film is actually pretty straight-forward without too many campy or over-the-top moments.

The direction they took this film is somewhat shocking because it barely registers a R-rating until the final fifteen-minutes when we finally get some exploitation moments including a weird orgy sequence and some nudity. Everything before that is pretty much a straight but bizarre drama dealing with Petey being murdered but then given a chance to seek revenge on the men behind it. All of this is played rather straight and it is entertaining but I'm just not sure the blaxploitation crowd are going to enjoy something straight when it comes to Moore.

The film finally reaches some high marks at the end when Lucifer and his servants come for revenge. The make up on the devils is quite generic but it makes for some fun. As usual Moore doesn't give a great performance but he's certainly quite the character and he manages to make the role fun and keep the viewer interested in what's going on. The supporting cast is nice and for the most part fans of Moore should enjoy this one.