The Wraith

[Ken Begg]

I saw this in the theater with a whole gang of friends.  How lame is that?  I do remember that the soundtrack was (as Andrew indicates) a very big deal, back in the era where that sort of thing was just starting.  However, if I'm recalling this correctly, the songs are never allowed to finish--they start and then are suddenly clipped off halfway through. I remember being annoyed by that.

Maybe I'm wrong, but frankly I'm not interested enough to take a look at it again and check.

[Greenhornet]

Saw it, couldn't even laugh at it.
Another Thing To Watch For: His shotgun has a metal FOLDING stock and a FIXED plastic stock. You would have to remove one to use the other, so it does NOT "look cool" like it's supposed to.

[Helmuut]

Bad movie... yes, but entertaining... to the extent of being a wonerful Saturday afternoon / family out of town / work caught up / raining outside / eighties flick to fall asleep to on the couch (I do cherish my free time).

But back in the day, Keri... well it didn't get much finer than that when I was a teenager. The bikini/river scene... (looks over shoulder for wifey)... nice is an understatement.

And for a teenager who's into enduros and hopped-up cars, the movie did a half-way decent job of holding a kid's attention...

The "muut meter" says it was an entertaining flick. Might have to go pick this up at the bargain bin. Then again, I'm quite nostalgic.

Helmuut

[onionhead]

That's Sherilyn Fenn, of Boxing Helena fame, as Keri.  Gena Rowlands' and John Cassavetes' son Nick is on hand as the rascally Packard Walsh.

[Shuvcat]

I'm a sucker for evil-demon-killer-car movies.  Only detriment is Sherilyn Fenn acting like a total helpless dingbat, but other than that it's awesome.  The opening sequence looks like it was inspired by every high-school hot-car inspirational-phrase poster, airbrush strokes and all.  And Skank-- a dude who gets high drinking OIL??  Sheesh.  There's an idea...

HOW did the younger kid not realize Charlie Sheen was his brother? For crud's sake, if you're back from the dead why even bother looking like a completely different guy??  Leave the logic at home if you want to enjoy-- and only then you will. :)

[AkiraTubo]

I actually like The Wraith quite a bit.  I give it four slimes, stopping just short of a full five.  The soundtrack is great, the races are fun, and the characters are one-note but serve their purposes well.  Plus, Sherilyn Fenn's rather awesome breasts are in there.

Nick Cassavettes makes the movie for me in many ways.  With his jacket off, he's as intimidating as ... a tall, lanky guy who needs a tan.  However, he is physically bigger than almost anyone else in the movie so he comes off as a credible threat.  He can't act worth a damn but I think he knows it and has fun with it.  His line delivery and tough guy act are so off the mark I can't help but be amused whenever he says or does anything.

On a side note, I got to see the real Dodge Interceptor -- or more likely, a replica -- at a car show shortly after I saw The Wraith in the 80s.  It was just a fiberglass body on a rolling frame (I'm not sure it even had an engine) but, it was the car from The Wraith!  Woo-hoo!

(Note: there are at least two instances when you can see that the blower on the bad guy's yellow Trans Am is a fake.  There is one loving close up in particular where you can tell it isn't turning while the engine is running.  Oops!)

[I luv dolma]

Saw this stinker on the WB when I was 10 or 11 years old (i'm 20 now). It kind of reminds me of Death Race 2000. My grandmother was really into it. She was like, "What's going to happen next? What's going to happen next?" Seriously. But then again, she spends her afternoons watching Spanish soaps...and she doesn't even understand the Spanish language.

[Felicity]

Not as entertaining as it could be, but still 1980s enough to be worth it for me. Charlie Sheen is 1980s. The car is 1980s. The soundtrack is 1980s. The punks are 1980s. As for the rest...meh. Also, it breaks one of my rules: it's set in a small town. However, it gets points for following through on its revenge premise and not copping out with a revenge-is-useless moral.

[moviecollector]

I saw this again like a few months ago, uncut on Showtime.

It was good for what it was. Cool black car.  
Its the soundtrack that is the best thing about this movie.  Great 80's music.

I do hope this is never remade though.

[Daniel]

Eraserhead-ish hairtyle, and a Dune-Kyle MacLachlan lookalike.
Could they be Lynch-fans too?

http://www.badmovies.org/movies/wraith/wraith1.jpg

[patrick starfish]

I thought the characters names were Gutter Boy and Skank?

[Adam]

I give this movie 3 slimes.  Sice I'm a sucker for fast cars, see this movie at least once, this forget about it.

[Cat]

OMG - I got trapped into this movie this past Sunday.  Trapped is what happens when you unwittingly turn on the tv to a movie, and just can't stop watching no matter how bad it is.  You keep watching it like a horrible car wreck, waiting to see just how much worse it can get.

Now while I am a total car chick, I couldn't belive how terribly bad this movie was.

thank you for your page here, as I was able to show to my friends how horrible the movie I got trapped into this weekend really was.

[Jack]

This was one of my earliest DVD purchases.  I got a real kick out of all the crazy characters and the hot cars and the whole ridiculous plotline.  The babe was not bad at all either!  That one guy who was always snorting brake fluid was my favorite.

[mike]

Hey genius, you're aware that the "stock dodge daytona" you mentioned beating a tweaked corvette was actually a stock shelby daytona GLHS. a 16 valve turbocharged cosworth 2.5 liter four cylinder producing 350 horsepower in a car that weighs a little over 2000 lbs is well within the realm of normal beating a 70's corvette. check the research.