Because it just
had to be reviewed. I'm also going to give away spoilers like theres no tomorrow, but I wouldnt be too concerned because even if you havent seen it (and really - why not?) then you wouldnt have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what happens anyway.
We start by going back through the mists of time to young Andrew being about 12 years old and making his weekly Saturday morning trip to Stans Videos on the high street. This was a very basic shop - non of your Blockbuster style chains were around in rural South Yorkshire at the time, and if you wanted a film, then you had to put your name on a list to reserve it. I remember having to wait SIX WEEKS to get my hands on the one and only copy Stan had of Gremlins, but we digress. All the new releases were kept on a shelf above the counter, and one day when I went in, in amongst the big name releases of the time was a very distinctive cover. Medusa had released The Wraith in one of those shiny, metallic look covers, which at the time werent all that common, and so, like a magpie seduced by a shiny bit of silver, my love affair with The Wraith began. Of course, its fortunate that Stan and his staff had absolutely no problem with letting kids hire whatever the hell they liked regardless of age certification.
The movie starts out with some orbs racing through the Arizona desert from four different directions, eventually meeting up in an explosion of electricity. When the smoke clears we see a rather unique looking, if very 1980sesque, car, referred to later in the movie as a Dodge Interceptor Turbo - and it's slightly sinister looking leather clad, helmeted driver. He's all dressed in black to match the car, so we know he must mean business.
We then cut to a young couple in a car who are stopped by a gang of thugs, led by Packard Walsh (Nick Cassavettes) One of Packard's favourite passtimes is to threaten anyone with halfway decent car into racing him for pink slips - the documents which state you own the car - and then cheating to win, if he has to. If the young man doesnt agree to race, packard's gang of unsavouries will do unspeakable things to his girlfriend. I believe that this scene is in the movie to establish the fact, should we not know just by looking at them, that Packard and his crew are a group of giant meanies. Then, Jake Kesey (Charlie Sheen) rides into town and stops to ask Keri Johnson (Sherilyn Fenn) for directions in one of those classic girl-stood-at-the-kerbside scenes. Thinking that Jake is pretty cute and with no thought for the fact he could just as easily be a serial killer, she jumps on the back of the bike to show him the way herself. However, before they can set off, Packard shows up in his car and demands that Keri get. Not wanting to cause trouble for Jake, Keri does as Packard says, but Jake isn't bothered by Packard at all and follows them to the swimming hole where he meets Billy Hankins, a local boy whose brother Jamie had been murdered - most likely by Packard. I say 'most likely' because its not revealed at this point whetehr or not its the truth, although I strongly suspect that Packard could've tattooed 'I KILLED JAMIE HANKINS' onto his forehead and people would still have talked about the crime as being unsolved. Billy warns Jake to stay away from Keri, as he believes that's what got his brother killed. He notices strange scars all over Jake's body, but says nothing. The two become friends. Its almost like they've known each other all their lives...
Despite Packards insane possessiveness of Keri, Jake is not concerned about him in the slightest and wastes no time in making a date with her. Keri also finds something familiar about Jake, but doesn't want to do anything to invoke Packard's wrath. Because he's a tiny bit mental and all. To prove he loves her, he cuts his hand with a knife and scowls a lot.
Packard decides that for giving attempting to give Keri a lift back from work one day, Billy needs to be taught a lesson and is just about to force him into racing for pink slips when the mysterious Interceptor shows up. Feeling that would be a better prize, Packard and his band of thugs head after the car, hoping for a race. One of Packard's crew, Oggie, offers to take the race. The race is neck and neck for a while, until the Interceptor speeds ahead. When Oggie turns the next corner he discovers that the Interceptor is stationary and blocking the middle of the road. There's nowhere for him to go except straight into it. After a huge explosion, we learn that Oggie is dead qnd the mystery car is nowhere to be found.
Packard and the other guys don't seem to be in the least bit concerned by Oggie's death and refuse to co-operate with local hick Sheriff Loomis (Randy Quaid) about the Interceptor. When Oggie's body is recovered from the bottom of the cliff the Sheriff makes a grisly discovery. Despite being killed in an explosion, Oggie's body is devoid of a single burn mark, and his eyes are nothing more than blackened holes. From there, one by one the Wraith begins to pick off Packard's gang, while always conveniently showing up to help Billy or Keri. As the movie progresses the events of the night Billy's brother Jamie was killed become clear, and the identity of the Wraith is eventually uncovered. But you all knew all along anyway, and if you didnt, you shouldnt be allowed to watch films without adult supervision.
This is a Charlie Sheen film without much of Charlie Sheen. If you total up his screen time, its probably less than 15 minutes or so. In fact, he shot this to pass the time (and probably earn some money to spend on drugs and hookers) while he was waiting for Wall Street to start production. The car gets twice as much screen time as he does (and cost more - it was a one of a kind model built by Dodge for the movie at a cost of 1.4 million dollars. The seemingly identical models they used for the crash scenes were made by putting a fibreglass shell over the top of a dune buggy) and was probably one of the selling points for the film for most people.
Packards gang are so ridiculously un-menacing that a class of ten year olds would laugh at them. The first couple of people to die in the crash are so disposable that they're not given a second thought from the second of impact. Thats not to say they're all bad - in Skank and Gutterboy, there are a couple of very amusing sidekicks, who get the best lines in the film, and Clint Howards character, the mechanic Rughead, sports the most outrageous white man afro in the history of film. Whether Nick Cassavettes is attempting to play Packard as a straight out bad ass and failing miserably, or just playing him as a kind of ironic stereotypical throwaway movie bad guy I'm not entirely sure. He scowls a lot, throws threats around a lot and even wears his leather jacket when he's sunbathing at the beach. If thats not enough to strike fear into the hearts of any man, then I dont know what is. Cassavettes' acting career never amounted to much, but he is a director of some stature now, having directed A list Hollywood pics such as The Notebook and Alpha Dog.
Also in the cast we have Randy Quaid, who was already a name of sorts after supporting roles in numerous films since the early 70s, and who has gone on to have a successful career in the 90s and 00s. He's your standard small town sheriff, who knows the truth, but seems unable to actually to catch and lock anyone up. We have Matthew Berry, who really is truly awful as Billy the burger cook. He doesnt act anymore either. Its no real surprise. We also have lovely, lovely Sherilyn Fenn as Keri. True enough, she's not a supremely talented actress, but I could watch her all day. As a bonus, should you still be in two minds about whether or not to watch this film, not only does she appear in a range of bikinis, tight tops and short shorts throughout the film, we're also treated to a brief, yet superb, topless scene. For a while, off the back of Twin Peaks, she was one of The Next Big Things, until Boxing Helena pretty much ruined her career.
As a movie, The Wraith seems to operate on a budget that is 70% car, 20% music licensing and 10% everything else. There's an obvious budget shortfall going on, which is apparent in that there are only four locations used in this film, five if you include the road, and that ten actors pretty much fill all of the major billing plus extras. To tryu and make up for the shortfalls, the director tries to hit all of the magical success buttons for an 80s film. Hot cars? Check. Chicks in bikinis? Absolutely. Incredibly awesome soundtrack featuring Billy Idol, Ozzy Osbourne and Robert Palmer? Thats in there too. Good guys who are whiter than white and bad guys blacker than black? You know it. Hamburger stand with waitresses on rollerskates? That too.
I doubt that even the staunchest supporter of this movie would claim it to be wonderful, but it is entertaining, and sometimes thats all you're looking for in a film. It doesnt tax your brain or leave anything open to interpretation, its just all there on screen to enable you to switch off and watch free from any complications. If I have to be critical, then the best I can manage to come up with is to say that everything doesn't mesh together as well as it should. The Wraith features a number of scenes that rapidly shift in tone, from outright horror and implied violence (and rape) to cheesy acting and slapstick comedy. As an adult, it might leave us watching, unsure of how to really take the movie. Plus, either through time constraints, budgets or whatever, Charlie Sheen (who really is a decent actor once you look past the hedonistic lifestyle) is underused here, and the whole wraith/car situation is definitely not wrapped up enough by the finish, leaving all sorts of open questions in the process. Perhaps it was set up for a sequel that never came along.
As a note of trivia, while filming a chase sequence shot on a mountainside road in the desert outside of Tuscon, a crew member was killed. The film is dedicated to his memory.
However, I'm certainly not trying to get too down on a film that, honestly, doesn't need my approval, or that of anyone elses to be watched. If you like the general 80's feel, the music, the pretty girls, the cool car, the comedy bad guys and watching street racing that ends the exact same way in every race, then The Wraith is calling out to you, and you should answer. Its probably the best film out there to succesfully mix elements of The Crow and High Plains Drifter. Theres no higher praise I can bestow on it than that.
On DVD, its pretty slim pickings. My copy of The Wraith came as part of an R1 double pack with the Ozzy Osbourne film, Trick Or Treat, and is the only release apart from the German disc to be anamorphic and not fullscreen. Its long since deleted anyway. The R1 and R2 releases which remain are the definition of bare bones, and feature no extras at all. Not even a trailer. It does show up on TV with increasing regularity though these days - the BBC have shown it three times in the past couple of years late night. While theres nothing of note to cut, its worth noting the BBC showings are uncut, as opposed to the screenings which aired on BSB (remember them - they had 'squariels' instead of standard satellite dishes) in the late 80s, which were missing a few minutes of footage, including, criminally, Sherilyn Fenn topless.
Incidentally, I picked up a vinyl copy of the soundtrack for 50p in a second hand shop in Manchester while I was at university there in the mid 90s. I saw a copy sell for about £40 on ebay a couple of years ago. Sadly, I havent had a turntable to play it on for more than ten years now...
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