holographic cover. Subsequent sell-thrus resorted to a standard litho-printed cover.For a night in with a pizza and a few mates round, this is a great film.

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".

practically held captive by the leader of the same motor gang that killed Sheen's characterfrom the beginning.Naturally,The Wraith,or Jake as he is called when in human form,takes on these motor thugs one-on-one in some very cool and dizzying death races.In my humble opinion,the best part of this film is the soundtrack.With awesome hard rock from Ozzy,Billy Idol,Robert Palmer,Lion,Honey-moon suite and my personal fav Motley Crue. This film is really like High Planes Drifter meets The Road Warrior,being it combines classic revenge western with action road rage films.My only complaint is that the dialouge could have been much deeper and more serious but then again,this was never meant to be Shakespeare.Randy Quaide needed more screen time as well.All in all ,however,this one is 100 times better than any of those bloated,computer created dumb kiddy rides like Fast and The Furious or Tourque.This is a real road rage film. 4 out of 5 stars.

there are a lot of techniques used in this movie that I haven't seen bettered since. The bit where Jake's scrambler breaks into 4 meteorites still looks great, the tasteful re-animation of the Wraith mobile after crashes nowadays that would probably be done using reverse photography .The action scenes in Mad Max & Mad Max 2 are sped up and look ridiculous. Watch the bit in Mad Max 2 just before he crashes his Interceptor...you'll see. The acting is pantomimish baddies very bad, goodies very good but that is the style of this movie. We know that these actors are capable of more in-depth characterisations, but this is a shallow b-movie. That's all it's supposed to be. Anyone who watches this movie and expects anything other than popcorn fodder is an absolute idiot. Moaning about technical problems and poor acting only makes you look like an idiot. And let's face it, even today's biggest blockbusters are chock full of mistakes and glitches.You don't watch a Carry On movie and then say "Oh, that was quite unrealistic, and the acting is bad." That's the point. It's silly farce. You're not supposed to take it seriously!I'm also aware that Charlie Sheen hates this movie and he must have good reason.Strangely enough, I'm surprised that this movie was not seized upon by the pompous comic book brigade! I guess, if it was a little more Gothic and The Wraith was brooding and had a troubled back story it would have been more accepted. I'm glad it didn't and wasn't.If it was made now, it would have stinking CGI fx and too much back story.It's a bubblegum movie. You don't like it, don't watch it. As a b-movie for it's time, it is a technically superior easy watch which still towers over many newer movies of the same genre. The Crow? Pompous nonsense!Hellboy? Crap!The Wraith? Know's it's place and doesn't try to overstep it's mark!And for people moaning about rubbish acting, check out Matthew Barry's performance when Billy Hankins realises Jake is his brother. It's an amazing, emotionally charged moment. I dare you to disagree and if you do you must be tripping. Stop henpecking this movie.....it's ace, I tell you...ACE!

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?

was the soundtrack. I wish I can find at a used record store or something. I love the song "Hold on Blue Eyes" by LaMarca which plays in the scene where Charlie Sheen and Sherilyn Fenn are making love in the pond. In fact because of that song and other reasons , I thought that was the best scene in the movie. The only thing that I didn't like about this movie was Sherilyn Fenn's annoying performance. If I was Charlie, I'm not sure if I'd really want to return from the dead for her.

Sure it is massively dated, but, interesting none the less. Just a side note.... one of the waitresses at the drive in is a young Brook Burke of Wild On and Rockstar INXS fame!!!

superficial elements: slick car action, hot 80s pop, eye-pleasing girls, etc. Also noteworthy, however, is the colorful supporting cast, including Randy Quaid as the sheriff, and scene-stealing comic relief cretins Skank, Gutterboy, and Rughead the eternally fascinating Clint Howard sporting an Eraserhead 'do .It's amusing to see the wild array of user reactions to The Wraith, ranging from exaggeratedly laudatory "Sheen's Post-Impressionist Masterpiece", whatever that means to dismissive "Really bad 80's cheese" to indignantly blunt "crap!!" . It really depends on how you feel about the wacky decade that unleashed The Wraith, a disposable 80s trash flick par excellence. All you need to know is that this movie is 80s to the max. I might be disposed to dismiss The Wraith as time-wasting crap, myself, if it weren't for the fact that it's such utterly fun and nostalgically classic crap.

Drama, Action Adventure, Science Fiction or horror? It's your choice.