Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.
Pluskylang Great Film overall
Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
HughBennie-777 What this Rudy Ray Moore action-comedy lacks in pace and skill (not like "Human Tornado" was a bastion of mature, professional film-making) it makes up for in sheer sloppy insanity. The grafting of a supernatural thriller onto Moore's usual urban scenario enables some of the funniest, bug-eyed, ethnic performances on record. And the implausibilities are hundred-fold. Whether it be the film's ridiculously costumed demons attacking ghetto toughs with kung-fu, an orgy of she-devils seducing Moore, as he whoops and giggles straight at the camera, ridiculous, feel-good montages, or the film's opening: the arrival of Petey Wheatstraw as a fully developed 9 year old boy, birthed straight out of his mommy's uterus following the discharge of a watermelon, there's plenty to enjoy. Yes, watermelons figure prominently in the movie, almost as much as the black supporting cast's hyper-gesticulating mugging and other raunchy, offensive material--and this doesn't include the sight of Moore's flabby body packed into tight polyester leisure suits, or the man's bare feet. One bad guy, disciplined by an avenging Moore, poops his pants and this sequence is celebrated almost as much as the comedy team antics of Leroy & Skillet, Skillet being a bulbous, muskrat-resembling criminal who weighs at least 600 pounds, most of the weight distributed throughout the ass area. This man's performance is more reason to see the movie than the nudity, doo-doo humor, awful karate fights, and funk score. Still, unlike the infinitely superior "Human Tornado" or even the tighter "Dolemite", what passes for a script here is about the most trampled, dismembered, impossible-to-figure-out, narrative mess, additionally hindered by too many lengthy scenes and abandoned characters. Yet it definitely beats Moore's unwatchable "Disco Godfather". For all the man's commitment to the project, Moore is disappointing, whereas Skillet is the true genius presence of the movie.
dr_foreman Years ago, I wrote a hostile review of Petey Wheatstraw for IMDb. What can I possibly say to justify that? I was young, and foolish. And the greatness of this film had not yet revealed itself to me.Well, "greatness" is too strong a word. Petey Wheatstraw is not great, but rather "amusing" and somewhat "crazy." If you permit yourself to be drawn into the film's wacky universe, you may have a thoroughly enjoyable viewing experience.Petey Wheatstraw, in short, is about a kung-fu fighting stand-up comedian who makes an unwise bargain with Lucifer. It's part comedy movie, part horror movie, part gangster movie, part sex movie, and part kung-fu epic with intentionally (I hope) bad choreography. The film bounces breathlessly between these genres, especially in the early scenes, which are disorienting and seem totally unconnected. But soon enough, the story settles into a kind of weird rhythm.Needless to say, the production values are poor (Lucifer's demon minions are men in ballet tights and Halloween masks), the editing is choppy, and the acting is of highly variable quality. The script, however, has a weird poetry to it. The comedy dialog, though extremely crass, is sometimes really funny, and some of the "character" scenes when Petey and Lucifer get together are bizarrely effective.Now I feel all weird, because I'm trying to defend what is, in essence, an extremely tacky bad movie. But it's a *witty* bad movie, and I can appreciate the effort that went into its production. And the film undeniably captures a time -- a place -- a bizarreness. It's sort of hypnotic.Let me put it this way: I bought Petey Wheatstraw as a bargain DVD years ago, hated it on the initial viewing, and almost pawned it. But I never did get rid of that DVD. It survived several years of DVD trading-in, numerous changes of address on my part, and other seismic events in my life that might easily have caused Petey Wheatstraw's demise. But that DVD survived through it all; I still have the movie, still think about it sometimes, still smirk when I see it on my shelf. And that's the best endorsement I can give it.
Nullness This movie is a breath of slapstic fresh air. It combines a ryhming charismatic hero (the devil's son in-law) with 60's Batman-inspired supervillains, hilarious kung-fu battling, black folklore, and a pimp staff with magical powers. I can't think of a better premise. The movie's humor is complete slapstick, the bumbling leroy and skillets doing their best to impersonate the three stooges combined (and they're both fat enough to do it). The acting is terrible, with purposfully, silent-movie style over-the-top expressions and reactions. It's a little bit too long and there are some sound difficulties, but well worth checking out. I would've loved to see a tv show with by R.R. Moore and his group.
Backlash007 This one should have been called Dolemite versus Satan and the Reverend Al Sharpton (Leroy Daniels looks just like the reverend). Rudy Ray Moore stars as Petey Wheatstraw the Devil's Son-in-law in this black action classic. The basic story breaks down like this: Petey Wheatstraw is murdered and makes a bargain with Lucifer to come back and exact his revenge. The only catch is that he has to marry the Devil's daughter, who is a bus station skank. So Petey is given an enchanted pimp cane which gives him superpowers and he begins to plan out his vengeance (as well as a plan to doublecross the devil). In traditional fashion, it's loaded with off the wall humor. For example: Rudy Ray stopping in the middle of the street to comb some kids hair, ridiculous jogging, and watermelon child birth. Petey Wheatstraw is also loaded with the regular Rudy Ray cast, including Jimmy Lynch, Queen Bee, and Sheriff Beatty. Where is Howard Jackson though? It's not quite the masterpiece that is Dolemite, but it does have the greatest sex scene in the history of film. Can you dig it?
