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The Wraith(1986)
Overview
Packard Walsh and his motorized gang control and terrorize an Arizona desert town where they force drivers to drag-race so they can 'win' their vehicles. After Walsh beats the decent teenager Jamie Hankins to death after finding him with his girlfriend, a mysterious power creates Jake Kesey, an extremely cool motor-biker who has a car which is invincible. Jake befriends Jamie's girlfriend Keri Johnson, takes Jamie's sweet brother Bill under his wing and manages what Sheriff Loomis couldn't; eliminate Packard's criminal gang the hard way...
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Cast
Full Cast & Crew
Charlie Sheen
Jake Kesey / The Wraith
Nick Cassavetes
Packard Walsh
Sherilyn Fenn
Keri Johnson
Randy Quaid
Sheriff Loomis
Matthew Barry
Billy Hankins
Clint Howard
Rughead
David Sherrill
Skank
Jamie Bozian
Gutterboy
Griffin O'Neal
Oggie
Chris Nash
Minty
Vickie Benson
Waitress
Peder Melhuse
Murphy
Jeffrey Sudzin
Redd
Michael Hungerford
Stokes
Steven Eckholdt
George in Daytona
Elizabeth Cox
Girl in Daytona
Christopher Bradley
Jamie Henkins
Jeffery Feaster
Teen at Falls (uncredited)
Brooke Burke
Roller Skating Waitress (uncredited...
Richard Alexander
Sandeval
Featured Comments/Tips
Not very interesting. Cheesy revenge movie.
Decent crashes and explosions! the problem is that the gang is a bunch of rejects from some other 80's punk movie.
Surprisingly bad, especially when you consider the cast, plot, etc... You will regret putting this on as anything more than a background watch.
Watched this so many times as a kid and still as good today. Hasn’t dated at all. Luckily the terrible CGI effects of today didn’t exist back then, so it’s all real car chases, crashes, stunts and explosions. Nothing in the past few years has come close to this 80’s epic. 10/10.
A cool fantasy-action movie with Charlie Sheen. The movie has a definite 1980s vibe and is still good entertainment. Have fun.
Cheesy rip off b-movie with greasers, desert highways, sports cars, magic digital tech future car, supernatural love story, synthesisers and pop/rock soundtrack that should all be on the money. Unfortunately it is covered this painful haze of forced American wholesome family entertainment that brings down the experience.
Incredibly cheesy flick which is so bad its actually good as it makes you watch it to the end just to see if the cheesy bad moments can get any worse.
Charlie Sheen is an alien avenger.
Top Fuel champion Leah Pritchett'#39;s favorite movie.
That wasn’t a bad film, as I always say I love the 80s themes and soundtracks. I can’t say I like sheen much but he’s not bad when it’s a good movie or tv series.
At least it had a good soundtrack ;)
Level '#34;Interesting'#34; • 7 :heart: • Entertaining and Good.
Not that bad... Only If you enjoy camp and cheese then, you might enjoy this flick! its got 80'#39;s music so to me the soundtrack is superb!!
80'#39;s at it'#39;s peak. the movie is so cheesy and sometimes no sense, but the overall story wasn'#39;t that terrible: [spoiler] A spirit from a dead boy killed by a gang returns with superpowers to revenge against his killers on their own sick game: illegal car races and to bring confort to his former girlfriend and brother [/spoiler] I would love to see a nice remake with a better script.
Featured User Reviews
I first saw this movie back in 1986... didn't really remember too much about it... decided to watch it again after seeing the car in an episode of Leno's Garage. You know what.. it is actually very entertaining movie... it doesn't suck at all. The bad boy characters are somewhat stupid but fit in quite well... the story is a little simplistic... but sometimes watching a movie that is entertaining and you don't need to think too much about is just what you need. Plus it was a trip down memory lane from 35 years ago. Charlie Sheen was 21, but looked a lot younger!! For the time, the movie had a good look and feel to it. And the Wraith car stands the test of time really well.
**_Hammy 80’s motorhead thriller with Charlie Sheen and Sherilyn Fenn_** A ruthless (but comical) gang terrorizes a town in southern Arizona, forcing guys to drag race in order to ‘win’ their vehicles; that is, until a young man comes to town (Sheen), along with a mysterious black sportscar and driver. Randy Quaid is on hand as the Sheriff. "The Wraith" (1986) is like a meshing of the contemporaneous “Top Gun” with the campiness of “Lost Boys” (which came out the next year), just trade the pilot ace flying with drag racing and the vampires with a thug gang. The hammy approach mainly applies to Skank (David Sherrill), Gutterboy (Jamie Bozian) and tech-geek Rughead (Clint Howard) whereas Nick Cassavetes is more subdued about it as the lead bully, but still cartoonishly exaggerated. Nick, by the way, is the son of John Cassavetes & Gina Rowlands, which is odd since John was only 5’7” while Nick is 6’6”, but I guess it happens. I’m not a fan of the hammy tone and think it would’ve worked better if done more seriously, like “Top Gun.” However, if you can roll with the goofiness, it’s entertaining on several fronts. For instance, the Arizona locations are spectacular, Sherilyn Fenn’s beauty is well captured and there’s a lot of thrilling vehicle mayhem. It runs 1 hour, 33 minutes, and was shot in the Greater Tucson area, including the Sonoran Desert National Monument in Gila Bend, which is 92 miles northwest of Tucson (and just southwest of Phoenix). GRADE: B-
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