one of my absolute favorites!

Let's be realistic.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I'm a child of the 80's, I like cars and heavy metal, yet I never heard of this movie before. I don't know why, because it is a fun movie.I've been watching a lot of low-budget B-movies lately (with the quality that goes with it), and this one was a breath a fresh air. Yes, the story is not that well developed, there are no suspense or surprises in the plot. Apart from NICK CASSAVETES as a psychopath, the acting is often very cold and mechanical. But there is a cartoonish side on the movie that kind of excuses all of that.By reading the comments on IMDb, I was expecting some cheesy car chases with bad editing and bad special effects. Not at all. Very well done, especially knowing it has a limited budget. For the car racing atmosphere, I prefer watching this movie instead of the FAST & FURIOUS series (even the first ones). Yes, there are a lot of unbelievable explosions but, because of the supernatural nature of the movie, everything is possible, right?On the music side, I was turned off at first when the movie began with some cheesy synthesizer music, typical of low-budget 80's movies. Fortunately, this music was just there to announce the supernatural scenes of the movie and soon we are fed with more fun music from Motlëy Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol or Robert Palmer.SHERILYN FENN is astonishingly beautiful in this movie. The young CHARLIE SEEN is good on the eyes for the ladies as well, even though his role is surprisingly thin despite being the hero in the story.Although the main story seems to be about revenge, I like the sub- plots about a guy being jealous of the girl he can never have (completely going wacko which, sadly, happens too often in real life) and about how the hero suggests that you have to stand up to your bully, which do happens later in the movie (the parking lot fight scene and Keri telling off Packard when in the car, going to California).All in all, for me, this movie should be up there with THE TERMINATOR or TOP GUN as a good action movie of the 80's, especially when comparing the budgets of those movies.

"The Wraith" starts out with some promise; a street race on a dark desert highway really sets up some nice '80s atmosphere. And this is a movie with Randy Quaid as a no-nonsense sheriff, Clint Howard in full "Eraserhead" coiffure and an array of gas-guzzling street racers. It's already somewhat bizarre and should have its own energy. Even the soundtrack is pretty good. But it doesn't live up to its potential, in any sense; the characters are thin, the pacing is all off and the stakes are nonexistent. At a certain point, I'd just wanted some more of those rock song car chases, which is exactly what this movie does right. Just not enough of 'em. 4/10

"Bad feelin's don't add up to resurrections buddy." Well this movie is simply pure-80's cheese of high thoroughbred and for the most part, is fast-paced and highly entertaining. 1986's "The Wraith" has a lot going on it: It's part action, with all it's road racing/car fires and shoot em' up sequences, it's part comedy due to a small gaggle of quirky and colorful gang members and it has romance with the Keri-factor, which heavily influences the story. Yes this movie, is quite a riot and very entertaining, rarely is it slow at any point, it's also on "the bleeding edge of hi-tech" due to Charlie's killer wheel's (the REAL star of the movie), plus, his special super-suit complete with full-helmet and dark visor and his magical shotgun, that never needs to be reloaded (I counted over 40 shots! in one scene!) - when all three of these things are working cooperatively, there's simply no stopping Charlie Sheen from getting his revenge; because that's really what The Wraith is all about, Revenge.Undoubtedly one of Charlie Sheen's earliest films, (released just one month before Platoon, a much better movie and winner of Best Picture) in the role of "Jake" a jean-jacket and sunglasses-wearing cool-guy who rides around on a dirt-bike, but really that's just one of his identities. A young Sherilyn Flynn is the "pretty local girl" and in this film she's constantly fought over, by multiple, horny, teen-suitor's - "Jake" and the psychopathic gang-leader "Packard". Packard is the leader of a gang of road-racers/car-thieves who prowl the Arizona highways, looking for hot new wheels to, first race, then steal. They hole-up in their hide-out, a large barn out in the desert, which is 1-part house and 1-part auto-body shop, which is absolutely brimming with auto-mechanical equipment, as this gang is always wrenchin' on and tweakin' their rides, in an effort to maintain their edge over the "hot rides" they race (and ultimately steal) in the desert.Also in The Wraith stars a youngish Randy Quaid in the role of Sheriff G.L. Loomis, who's intent on solving the mystery behind "the black turbo" that's been up to no good, in his eyes at least, out on the desert roads - as the body count keeps rising. My favorite characters in this colorful bit of mid-80's misadventure is Packard's henchmen, Skank, Gutterboy and Rughead - these three are simply a riot, especially Skank. Skank's this hilarious blonde-headed mohawk and make-up wearing punk, who's also a junkie, a mechanic and just an overall scoundrel, who's always up to no good, probably the movies most colorful character. If you listen, you'll notice that this movie packs a substantial amount of slang, primarily heard from Loomis, Skank and Gutterboy, of which some of it is certainly hard to make out, but always colorful and simply flat-out ridiculous. Yes this movies no stranger to corny dialog.One of the high-lights of The Wraith is all the great road racing footage, which is always between two sports cars (with the exception of one scene), roaring down winding, sun-baked, desert roads; the photography and editing of these sequences really make them pop and are quite intense. Also there are some pretty decent visual effects seen off and on throughout the film, which for being a 30 year old film with only a modest budget, have aged surprisingly well all things considered. And with the angle of the super hi-tech car or "black-turbo" as it's known, that's where the Knight Rider similarities undeniably come into play and as iconic as Kit is, Charlie's car, in more ways then not, has Kit beat - sorry Knight Rider fans. Also, seeing as how most of The Wraith's cast are either in their teens or early 20's, serves only to increase the feel, that what you are watching is really: Teen-Knight Rider - made for the silver screen.If you watch attentively you'll notice that The Wraith really has a little bit of everything in it, including reincarnation. But I won't say any more about that, because, as it turns out, that's the whole movie right there. And though The Wraith is a fairly violent movie, it also somehow has the ability to remain light-hearted at the same time. Figure that out if you can. You can simply chalk it up to movie magic I guess.To rehash: Fun 80's teen sci-fi, with romance, a pinch of T & A, lot's of cool cars and gasoline fires, plus the film is breathlessly pushed forward by a near-constantly blaring soundtrack, that's utterly LOADED to the gills, with tasteless, radio-friendly tunes, comprised exclusively of 80's rock and hair-metal selections.Note* The Wraith would be absolutely perfect as a double feature, following Maximum Overdrive.

Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes, Sherilyn Fenn, Clint Howard and Randy Quaid star in this 1986 sci-fi film. This begins one night with an otherworldly figure, a wraith arriving on Earth in Arizona. Meanwhile, a vicious gang led by Packard Walsh (Cassavetes) drag race against a couple and win taking their car from them. Soon, the wraith starts drag racing against Packard's gang members one at a time killing them with his car. Fenn (Just One of the Guys) plays Packard's girl, Keri Johnson who meets Jake (Sheen), a new guy in town and they start falling for each other. Quaid (Vacation) plays police lieutenant, Loomis who investigates why the mysterious driver is targeting Packard and his gang. Keri eventually learns that Packard killed her boyfriend, Jamie Hankins some time prior and is persuaded by Jake to break free from him or she'll become his prisoner. Keri soon discovers the true identity of the wraith after his climatic showdown with Packard. Howard (Evilspeak) plays nerdy mechanic, Rughead who works for Packard. This is an underrated 80's flick that shares the same revenge formula as "High Plains Drifter," "The Crow" and "Mad Max." It features a good cast, neat effects, thrilling race sequences & great score. I recommend this.