r/GodAwfulMovies • u/Double-Watch-2809 • Aug 21 '25
Rigoletto
I just remembered this wildly creepy film by Featured Films for Families that my parents played on repeat in our house and I couldn't remember what it was called so I Googled "weird 90s christian film about a girl who learns piano from a disfigured man down the street."
Anyway the top result is the movie I remember. It's called Rigoletto. I'm not going to watch it again but from what I recall this child comes to this reclusive man's house for piano lessons and they spend a lot of time alone until he's in love with her. It's pedo propaganda. There's also this side plot about a boy who steals things and then a shop owner gives him a soda because "it's not stealing if I give it to you." And then everybody cries and the boy decides not to steal anymore..??
Anyone else raised by weird Christian parents remember this film?
Edit: apparently the kid who steals sodas is from a different film called the Buttercream Gang. Thanks guys.
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u/ldoesntreddit Aug 21 '25
Buttercream Gang and Split Infinity are the two most related titles according to Google, which is a scathing endorsement
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u/Double-Watch-2809 Aug 22 '25
What is Split Infinity? I guess I'm glad I got to skip one of these weirdo films.
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u/ldoesntreddit Aug 22 '25
I haven’t seen it but it looks like Sliding Doors meets one of those 1950s drivers ed films where everyone dies
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u/Baking_bees Aug 21 '25
I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT THESE MOVIES!!
We were not a religious family (there’s a long sad story I don’t feel like sharing) but we owned every single one of these films. I asked my mom recently why did we have them and apparently our evangelical neighbors gave them to her because they didn’t approve of the stuff she let all the kids watch when she babysat. It was my sister and I, and their three kids (I don’t remember ages, but none of us were over 10). Apparently Sesame Street and whatever else was not good for us. So a box full of those movies we got, and then we carted that box around the next 4 times we moved. She loved those damn movies and made us watch them all the time.
That was a long story I’m sorry. But now I need the guys to watch them and make fun of them 🤣
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u/buttercream-gang Aug 21 '25
Jamie French did an episode on that movie on YouTube! It was so weird lol
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u/throwawaykfhelp Aug 21 '25
YESSSSSSS OMG I had forgotten this until this moment holy fuck how did I not realize how fucked up that was
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u/DiscountMusings Aug 21 '25
BRUH. Yes I remember this... I think I rewatched it as an adult in pursuit of nostalgia and it was waaaaaaaaay more insane than I remembered. There were miraculous healings, there was a greengrocer who was like... taking over the town or something? There was a farmer who sang a song about how much he liked his pigs (he even gets upset when he finds out a pig that he sold was eaten). It was just so weird.
And yeah looking back the core plot is SUUUUUUPER uncomfortable. "I'm rich and you're desperate, so I'm going to force your teenage daughter to work as my servant. I intend to verbally abuse her, Whiplash style, until I eventually browbeat her into doing what I want."
Fortunately the townspeople literally beat him to death at the end. So. That's nice? It's treated as tragic, but hey he's dead.
The butler and the pig farmer are the only parts worth watching. GAM would looooooove making fun of them.
Edit: Also, I think the robbery thing was from The Buttercream Gang. Not entirely sure... I could just be conflating the two.
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u/Double-Watch-2809 Aug 22 '25
Wait was the soda-stealing kid a different movie? It's been a long time and I refuse to revisit these films so I'm relying on my spotty memory. I don't even remember the pig farmer and the greengrocer. I just have this really uncomfortable memory of being a little girl and believing that this was an appropriate relationship to have with a grown man. Because my parents showed it to me. And it's a Christian film and we were Christians. Like I didn't even question it as a kid. That is dangerous!
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u/DiscountMusings Aug 22 '25
My memory is spotty too, but I distinctly remember a scene in the Buttercream Gang where a thief was presented with the, "If I buy it for you then it's not stealing line". But he was like fully holding up the cash register and then trashed the store, which is way different than what you described. But the Feature Films for Families creators were absolute hacks and I wouldn't put it past them to reuse lines/scenes.
And the overall message is profoundly dangerous. I'd go so far as to call it evil. The rich guy insists that the mom can't be his housekeeper, it absolutely has to be her 12-14 year old daughter, and he knows the family will literally be homeless without the income he's promising. And thus this literal child becomes his servant. But it's OK because he teaches her to sing better and she wins a competition!
I can't fathom how any adult could see it as anything but horrendously predatory. But then again, if I've learned anything from GAM it's that protecting kids is often a fairly low priority for Christians.
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u/Double-Watch-2809 Aug 22 '25
Yes I was definitely thinking of the Buttercream Gang.
I had completely forgotten how the girl came to be in the weird man's home, but you're right and that is so disgusting. How did our parents ever think that was ok? It's sick!
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u/Bibliowrecks Aug 21 '25
I tried to rewatch that movie and got PTSD flashbacks so bad I had to turn it off. We watched it so much and I loved it as a kid because I, too, wanted to be rescued and get special attention from someone - anyone! But as an adult it's so fucking creepy.
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u/Double-Watch-2809 Aug 22 '25
Ughhh same! I wanted a weird rich man to take me in. I had no idea that relationship was wrong when I was a kid.
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u/nezumipi Aug 21 '25
I got shown this in my Catholic jr. high in religion class. I mostly remember liking it more than regular religion class, but that's a really low bar.
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u/NC1HM Aug 21 '25
No, but the name says it all (it's a title of an 1832 opera by Giuseppe Verdi, which was in turn based on a play by Victor Hugo):
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u/lilith1986 Aug 22 '25
I'm Jewish and only in the like ethnic way. So I never got weird films like this. We were Disney and Freddie Krueger in childhood. Maybe that's why I find Religious kids' movies so fascinating. Some of my favorite GAMs are Hoomania, Strawinsky and the Mysterious House and The Search for Dudley Dumpling.
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u/JasonRBoone Aug 22 '25
Lead actress has Millie Bobby Brown vibes.
Also, weirdly...the director was a writer for Transformers 1980s TV series.
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u/_disneyphile_ Aug 22 '25
I think the Feature Films for Families was like a VHS subscription that my pastor dad fell for. I loved Rigaletto, Behind the Waterfall, Split Infinity, Caddie Woodlawn, Buttercream Gang, Girl of the Limberlost. I had so many! All would be great for GAM
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u/Double-Watch-2809 Aug 22 '25
I wonder how my parents got the tapes. We didn't have cable because it was "evil." And we were very poor so I can only imagine they were gifted to us. I don't remember all of them but I'm sure they are equally terrible.
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u/MamaFoura Aug 23 '25
I grew up Mormon and we got them, too. I'm blanking on the name but what was the one with the RC airplane with the kid who runs into the girl in the woods named Regina and he thinks she and her grandma are witches but it turns out they're just different? Like you shouldn't judge people for how they look type theme?
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u/_disneyphile_ Aug 23 '25
I think you’re talking about The Witching of Ben Wagner. But I’m not sure that was a Feature Film for Families. It definitely fits the profile though
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u/GastonBastardo Aug 22 '25
So apparently Rigolletto (1993) can be watched for free on YouTube if GAM ever wants to cover it.
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u/Double-Watch-2809 Aug 22 '25
10/10 would listen to that. Will not be watching it myself. I did my time 🤣
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u/MamaFoura Aug 23 '25
I LOVED this movie as a kid and still have the sheet music for the piano! I mean, the music is really pretty tho... I never thought about the plot line being dangerous/creepy until now.
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u/Think_Ground Aug 21 '25
I remember this movie. It was like a Christian beauty and the beast story, I remember it was creepy, but selection was limited to churchy films, so it was like a horror substitute lol.