The Wraith (1986)

Director:

Mike Marvin

Writer:

Mike Marvin (written by)

Release Date:

21 November 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Thriller | Sci-Fi | Romance

Tagline:

He's not from around here.

Plot:

Jake is killed by neighbourhood thugs, and returns as a mystical figure (The Wraith) to gain revenge.

Plot Keywords:

Gang | Sheriff | Death | Wraith | Arizona

Cast

Charlie Sheen	...	Jake Kesey / The Wraith
Nick Cassavetes	...	Packard Walsh
Sherilyn Fenn	...	Keri Johnson
Randy Quaid	...	Sheriff Loomis
Matthew Barry	...	Billy Hankins
David Sherrill	...	Skank
Jamie Bozian	...	Gutterboy
Clint Howard	...	Rughead
Griffin O'Neal	...	Oggie
Chris Nash	...	Minty
Vickie Benson	...	Waitress
Peder Melhuse	...	Murphy
Jeffrey Sudzin	...	Redd
Michael Hungerford	...	Stokes
Steven Eckholdt	...	George in Daytona

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) | USA:R (original rating) | Australia:M | UK:15 (2008 TV Rating) | Canada:14A | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

4th Avenue & 7th Street, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Company:

Alliance Communications Corporation

Trivia:

The Song "Never Surrender" by Lion, was used in a race sequence where one of the cars goes over the edge of a cliff thus killing the driver. The drummer of the band died in the same way when he accidentally went over the edge of a cliff racing his motorcycle.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the two cars (Packard's Corvette and the white Dodge Daytona) return from the race in the opening scene, the driver of the Daytona stops and switches off the lights. Later he walks away with his girlfriend and Packard's Gang gets ready to get off, but now the tail lights of the Daytona are on again, although nobody has gotten in already.

Quotes:

Sheriff Loomis: Forget it Murphy. Roadblocks can't stop somethin' that can't be stopped.

Movie Connections:

References The Thing (1982)

Soundtrack:

WAKE UP CALL

Sheen's Post-Impressionist Masterpiece

Very few films past or present stray from the predictable form of a fluid linear narrative. Exposition, conflict, resolution, and possibly an occasional flashback or revisiting of an earlier moment---these are all staples of visual story telling.

Charlie Sheen's late 80's action masterpiece THE WRAITH, however, successfully ventures down a road much less traveled by filmmakers, a road which guides viewers through an assemblage of scenes which seem somehow related, but give no indication of how or why.

Ingeniuosly, the many questions of THE WRAITH, much like the guiding directions in other impressionist images, provide a grander picture of a straight forward story of love, loss, and revenge. Who is the angelic avenger that, one by one, picks off the gang of road-rash-ruffians in a futuristic car? Who, inexplicably halfway through the picture, receives his untimely demise from the ruffians in the trunk of car? Can it be the same character so craftily played by Sheen, a charming young man who both befriends the young short-order chef and knocks boots with the buxomly Sherilyn Flynn?

Thankfully the audience is given a clue to THE WRAITH's avante-garde modus in the air brushed leather jacket of Nick Cassavettes: the skull-among-flames symbolizes many things, maybe most important of which is the picture's dramatic refutation of sensible organization. The line between the beautiful, bone-white skull and the jacket's hot, licking flames, is blurred in the same fashion as the line of narrative arch which threads through THE WRAITH.

80's Action connoisseurs will appreciate the steely-eyed performance Sheen gives, as well as the supplemental contributions of Chuck Howard and Randy "Uncle Eddy" Quaid. From the first moment Flynn appears on the screen, there can be no doubt that Sheen will take her to the mat---or in this case, an Arizona hot spring---and there can be no doubt that Cassevettes and co. will receive their devilish comeuppance. During the course of such a spectacle, the audience must then ultimately ask itself, will we be able to handle the power contained in rest of this film? And if so, more importantly, will we be able to ever again stomach the banality of traditional film?