You listen to me, you son-of-a-bitch! There’s a kid out there usin’ his car to kill people, not that it’s such a big deal since it seems to be your gang he’s got it in for… so, if you guys try to take the law into your own hands, and that killer turns up dead, I’m gonna see you all sniffin’ cyanide in the Arizona gas chamber.

Some people define wraith as a ghost, however my definition extends to alternate definition b: A fucking odd movie that confused and creeped the hell out of me as a kid.  Not since The Goonies had my intellect and values been so challenged, not to mention skew my perception of mortality.

After a conversation with E. Jacocks, I realized how long it has been since I laid my eyes upon this classic.  Plot is simple enough…gang kills kid, kid comes back as Charlie Sheen, aka The Wraith, and begins systematically killing the gang members one by one using a supernatural hotrod, working his way back to the gang leader, played by Nick Cassavetes.  The return of Charlie is complete with Daft Punk suit and non-descript automobile that has the ability to play chicken with hotrod gangster rides, crash, kill said gang member (however their bodies are intact with rolled back white eyes), and then regroup parts and reform for the next round.

This was one of those movies that I first saw too young, like Where The Buffalo Roam.  I had little idea what the fuck was going on in this film at 7 years old enjoying the newly bought HBO and the relaxed, and possibly misguided, MPAA PG-13 rating on this beast (I miss the MPAA of the 80’s, Monster Squad is PG and shows Dracula getting impaled on a goddamn fence post).  However, keep a look out for this gem that seems to be summer flick on the paid channels…fucking Netflix doesn’t have it.

Reasons to Watch:

1. Excellent cast including Chuck Sheen, Sherlyn Fenn, Clint Howard (The Ice Cream Man) and Randy Quaid.
2. Nick Cassavetes, son of John, has come out of this with a pretty impressive career including writing and directing Alpha Dog.
3. The futuristic “Wraith” car was actually an original design for the movie, the Dodge M4S, that has had gear heads frothing at the mouth in auto forums ever since.
4. Like all truly great movies, a crew member unfortunately was killed during a chase scene…Wraith - 19,  Real World - 0
5. Soundtrack featuring Billy Idol, Mötley Crüe and Ozzy Osbourne