The Wraith (1986) Review

 

The Wraith (1986)

Following his death at the hands of a drag racing gang, The Wraith follows Jamie Henkins, now Jake Kesey, who returns from the dead as a supernatural roadster hellbent on getting revenge against the gang that killed him. 

In many regards this is America’s autophilic response to Mad Max, a jacked up, adrenaline rush with a tinge of the supernatural for good measure (think The Crow but with cars). With the help Charlie Sheen's lifeless performance; the sheer naffness of the race scenes; an excellent little pop/rock soundtrack; Cassavetes' ridiculously reprehensible bad guy; a collection of annoying comic-book punks with idiotic names and silly mannerisms: The Wraith is perfect for anyone looking for some mindless popcorn action and a bit of a laugh at the expense of the decade that taste forgot. It definitely has it faults, but all of that is swiftly overlooked when taking into account just how fun and off the wall this movie is. 

Anyone who watches this movie and expects anything other than popcorn fodder is an absolute idiot. It’s a cheesy B-movie that is exciting from start to finish, and while the characters are bit pantomime-ish (good is really good, bad is really bad), that doesn’t take away from just how over the top it is, knowing it’s place and never overstepping its mark. 

This also boosted quite a few careers, starring Matthew Berry, Jamie Bozian, Randy Quaid, David Sherrill, Clint Howard, Sherilyn Fenn, Nick Casavetes, and Charlie Sheen. Sheen doesn’t get much to do and is put behind a mask for most of the movie, so so it’s his looming presence and the performances of Casavetes and Fenn who really carry this flick. It was a nice change of pace too seeing Fenn’s Keri show a complete level of disgust for the bad boy (with good reason though, he’s a creepy jerk who just won’t take no for an answer). 

The Wraith, directed by Mike Marvin, is a shallow B-movie, nobody is claiming otherwise. But where some low budget, ‘bad movies’ are just bad, this is actually quite cool and endearing, shooting for the fucking moon with how ridiculous it could get and sticking the landing perfectly. 

8.6/10