DVD Reviews

The Wraith – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Mar 2, 2010, 17:45 GMT

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

Lionsgate goes on the road with the cult film The Wraith. This time around fans will find their motors purring as the studio has added some special features as well as releasing the film in widescreen for the first times. Start your engines.

Jake (Charlie Sheen) is new to town. He meets up with Keri Johnson (Sherilyn Fenn) and even though he is a stranger to her she thinks he’s oddly familiar. At the local teen swimming hold hangout, Jake also meets up with Billy Hankins (Matthew Barry) who is a fry cook at the local hamburger shack.

Billy is the brother of Keri’s murdered boyfriend Jamie. Packard Walsh (Nick Cassavetes) runs the local gang that includes such characters as Skank (David Sherrill) and Rughead (Clint Howard). The gang’s method is to challenge people to auto races with the losers turning over their car. Packard is also obsessed with Keri and is prone to beat down anyone interested in her. Maybe worse, since Jamie’s murderer has never been uncovered.

Soon a souped-up car and mysterious figure shows up in town and begins to challenge Packard’s gang to races. Races that the gang loses and their corpses have their eyes burnt out with the mysterious car repairing itself. This causes Sheriff Loomis (Randy Quaid) to deeper investigate Packard’s gang and the connection to the unsolved murder of Jamie.

The Wraith is a film with “cult” written all over it. It may appeal more towards gear heads and car enthusiasts. It’s a teen film and features many of the less-than-stellar hallmarks of that genre. The acting ranges from decent to pretty dire.

The film is one of Sherilyn Fenn’s first and she’s pretty wooden here. This was long before Twin Peaks and luckily by then she had improved greatly. Charlie Sheen, currently in the news and in rehab, is decent enough but most of his role is played by a guy in a suit and not exactly a good one as the Wraith is a bit stiff.

Sheen’s career would benefit more from his appearance in Platoon in the same year. Randy Quaid, again in the news recently for being in trouble, is reliable as ever and Clint Howard sports a fright wig and coke-bottle specs. Nick Cassavetes menaces and obsesses well, but maybe not a high career point here as he’s stepped behind the camera with much acclaim.

The Wraith is nobody’s career high but is a fondly remembered sci-fi romp. It may be more remembered by those who can identify all the cars used in the film (not me). The Wraith’s futuristic ride is based on a Dodge prototype sports car; although I’d say that it may have looked really cool in 1986 but seems pretty quaint these days.

Needless to say, what may please me more is that the film is finally given a release in its original aspect ratio and some special features. The film is dedicated to Bruce Ingram, a crew member killed on set in a car chase gone wrong.

The Wraith is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by director Mike Marvin. The 12 minute “Rughead Speaks” is an interview with Clint Howard. The 11 minute “Tales from the Desert” is an interview with Marvin.

The 11 minute “Future Car Reveled” is about the stunts as well as the futuristic car used in the film. Finally, you get the 2 minute theatrical trailer as well as previews for other Lionsgate products.

The Wraith is not going to hop to the top of anyone’s filmography. It is a serviceable sci-fi teen romp but as the film is in middle-age its waistline and grey hairs are far more noticeable than when it first aired. What it does offer though is some nice additions for fans of the film or the cars used in it.