The Wraith (1986)

Jamie, killed by neighborhood thugs, returns as a mystical figure named Jake (The Wraith) to gain revenge.

Director:

Mike Marvin

Writer:

Mike Marvin

Stars:

Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes, Sherilyn Fenn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

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 stabs the decent teenager Jamie Hankins to death for being intimate with a girl whom Walsh wants for himself, the mysterious Jake Kesey arrives, an extremely cool motor-biker with an invincible car. Jake befriends Jamie's girlfriend Keri Johnson, takes Jamie's sweet brother Billy under his wing and manages what Sheriff Loomis can not - the methodical and otherworldly elimination of Packard's criminal gang.

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Plot Keywords:

gang | wraith | arizona | police | revenge | 

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Taglines:

If you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to fear.

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Thriller | Sci-Fi | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Aparição

Filming Locations:

2128 East 5th Street - Tucson, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,700,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$3,500,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Century Entertainment Corporation, Alliance Entertainment, Turbo Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although listed as Plymouth Caravelles in other notes. The cop cars and Loomis's car are Dodge 600s as Caravelles have a plain grille and 600s have the cross-hair grille.

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Goofs

When Minti's TransAm rolls over after hitting the Interceptor the right front wheel is completely broken off the axle. In the next shot when the TransAm hits the rocks the right front wheel is perfectly in place.

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Quotes

George in Daytona: Why'd you stop me? What do you want?
Packard Walsh: Well, let's just say it's pink.
Girl in Daytona: Oh, god!
George in Daytona: Forget it pal, no way!
Packard Walsh: I might forget it. I'm a nice guy.
Packard Walsh: [nods to his gang members] But them? They think the title to your car might be worth something.

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Connections

References The Thing (1982)

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Soundtracks

"WAKE UP CALL"
By Arthur Baker, Tina B. and Tommy Mandel
Performed by Ian Hunter

User Reviews

so many things rolled into one cool movie

Maybe if you've seen one 1980s horror/sci-fi/romance, you've seen them all. But you still need to see "The Wraith". It portrays a young guy (Charlie Sheen) riding into a small Arizona town which seems to be nearly run by a gang of hoodlums. The gang leader (Nick Cassavetes) is very jealous of one of the teenage girls (Sherilyn Fenn) and gets nasty if it looks like anyone else is approaching her. But things start to change for everyone once a strange black car starts driving through town.

Think about what all this movie portrays. First off, it stars Martin Sheen's son, John Cassavetes's son, Ron Howard's brother (Clint Howard sports a crazy hairdo and plays the only intelligent member of the gang), and Dennis Quaid's brother (Randy Quaid plays the sheriff and was noticeably leaner back then). Speaking of weight, women in movies were meatier back then; check out Sherilyn Fenn in her waitress outfit (or in another scene)! But another thing is about the definition of the title. A wraith is an apparition, often portending someone's doom (the word comes from Scottish, but I don't know the full origin).

Are the car races the highlight? That's debatable. The road looked very much like the same road that they used for the desert scenes in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", which of course starred another hot babe (I mean Dorothy Provine, hubba hubba).

Anyway, this is one that you're sure to love. And just keep watching the skies.

Back when Martin Sheen's father immigrated to the US from Spain and John Cassavetes's father immigrated to the US from Greece, they probably never guessed that their grandchildren would co-star in this sort of movie. Hell, back in the days when Ron Howard played Opie on "The Andy Griffith Show", people probably never guessed that his brother would star in this sort of movie. I don't know what people would have thought when Randy Quaid debuted in "The Last Picture Show".