Too much of everything

Sadly Over-hyped

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

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.

As another review once said, "The written word cannot do justice to the comedic stylings and kung-fu antics of Rudy Ray Moore movies." I agree. Petey Wheatstraw is a movie that must (and should) be seen to be believed. The opening is the birth of Petey. After his mother first passes a watermelon(!), the child is born and the good doctor gives him a few smacks on the butt to get him started. However, Petey is no infant, he's an eleven year old boy, even born with underwear. He proceeds to give the doc a beating until his dad steps in. Young Petey lips off to his father about "disturbing" him for the past nine months (get it?) and then goes after him! Such is Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil's Son-In-Law, and it only gets worse (or better?) from here. Full of offensive comedy, horrible kung fu, Moore's rhymes (the original rapper!), and cheap, crazy scenes (Satan's demons have glued on horns, wear red tights, and move like robots), this is a great cult flick not to be missed. FYI, the movie was actually influenced by the real blues artist, Peetie Wheatstraw.

If enjoyably (?) bad movies are your cup of tea, by all means, knock yourself out. I mean, Ed Wood is Stanley Kubrick compared to this garbage. Interestingly, in Croatia the distributors called it just "Devil's Son" (they conveniently forgot the "in-law") and advertised it as a horror movie to lure the unsuspecting (and, I might say, relatively undiscriminating) fans of the genre. And horrible it was: ludicrous plot, the worst acting imaginable, cheesiest fight scenes, the painful musical numbers, the lowest of the low production values (as I recall, Lucipher's mighty scepter was a stick with a ball of tin foil on top)... this one has it all. It is really so bad that seeing it leaves a permanent scar on the psyche. What more can one ask of a movie?

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).