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.

This was my first Rudy Ray Moore movie, and it may be my last. I read all of the comments and reviews and figured this would be a fun bad movie, and it has its moments. Overall, however, it's a dud. The 90+ minutes to view it seemed to last forever, and it's really ludicrous. How could the cane given by Satan to Petey be more powerful than Satan himself? And why would Petey break the powerful cane since it was what had saved him time and time again? And how could merely breaking the cane in two render it useless? Why would Petey get into a limo, thinking it's one of his posse's car? There's only so much suspension of disbelief I'm willing to grant. As I mentioned, the film has its moments, like when Petey combs the nappy-headed boy's hair, and the little boy's t-shirt that said 'I'm a little devil' was a nice touch. I also give credit for putting in politically incorrect stuff like watermelon and fat jokes. I did laughed when Petey's mom delivered a watermelon, when the bomb blew up a truck full of watermelons, and when the heavy chick struggled to fit into a lawn chair.The biggest laugh for me came when the club singer's wig flew off. Wig's coming off are always good for a laugh with me. And there are a few hot brothers in polyester suits that show off their fine butts. Props for that.But the parts are much greater than the sum. Rudy Ray seems to have done alright for himself, being ambitious and being in the right place at the right time. I'm happy for him, but I'm just not a fan of this movie.

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!!

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?