The Test of Time: The Wraith (1986)

Last Updated on July 22, 2021

We all have movies we love. Movies we respect without question because of either tradition, childhood love, or because they’ve always been classics. However, as time keeps ticking, do those classics still hold up? So…the point of this here column is whether or not a film stands the test of time. I’m not gonna question whether it’s still a good flick, but if the thing holds up for a modern audience.

Director: Mike Marvin
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes, and Sherilyn Fenn

Every so often, someone mentions a movie I've never seen before. Sometimes it's for a reason (like it just looked shitty), sometimes it's pure oversight. Our very own fearless leader The Arrow suggested a 1986 cult classic for this week’s Test of Time. HIs pick falls under the latter, one of those movies that I used to see at video stores (you know, folks used to drive to a store and browse through aisles to pick one out) back in the day. Somehow I never rented this one, but I still remember the cover. So does it end up the perfect choice for this week’s review or does it fail to hold up under the Test of Time?

Under the examination: The Wraith

Looks like Marty from Back to the Future.

THE STORY: In perhaps the strangest Arizona town in the 1980s, a vehicle gang terrorizes a small town (where everyone looks like the 1950s but dress mostly 80s). The only way to settle disagreements isn't a knife fight, but drag racing. One day a mysterious dude who looks like a futuristic cokehead (Sheen of course) appears and stirs things up, causing trouble by winning away the gang leader's girl. At the same time, a mysteriously badass car shows up and it makes a killing at the drags. The only thing standing in the way is the town's sheriff, Cousin Eddie himself. But who is this Wraith?

WHAT STILL HOLDS UP: The Wraith is pretty damn great, the ideal 1980s cult film: violent, goofy, odd, and even romantic. It plays like an odd combination between Mad Max, Repo Man, with a splash of Better Off Dead. Everything feels slightly off, making it difficult to pin it down to a certain era or style. That's pretty great and the reason why I've always loved the Alex Cox classic. Hell, maybe Charlie was jealous of his old brother Emilio and decided he needed his own cult classic. I don't think The Wraith is up there with Repo Man on cult status level, but it's it's one bitch slap away. To me, Repo Man has more social commentary and "lessons" to make it a little more special. 

Oh Clint Howard. 

The actors mostly bring it too. Most people probably only know Nick Cassavetes from his work as a director (Alpha Dog, John Q, The Notebook, and other chick flicks). His old man was a big time director, but Nick acted quite a bit, too, playing Packard Walsh here. Now if you run an auto gang, you’d think his name would reflect a more badass car, but…whatever. He’s good as a typical town thug (though he looks a little old), but he’s got major woman issues as his girl (Fenn) hates him but can’t escape him.

But my favorite characters are Shank, Gutterboy and Rughead, who is played by a manic looking Clint Howard. They all bring that punk rock style that made Mad Max and Repo Man work so well. All three deliever the best lines of the film. At the same time, the film's soundtrack is pretty damn good too with Ozzy, Motley Crue, Robert Palmer, and BIlly Idol among others all providing tracks. If only we all still had quality rock bands to fill soundtracks. 

Then, of course, there's the car itself, which was a Dodge specialty called M4S, made for about $1.5 mil. The thing looks great, and should be as iconic as Marty's DeLorean. It looks that good and doesn't look a bit dated. Anyone would still drive that. 

(Oh, and on a random note: Fenn was Johnny Depp's girlfriend at the time. She looks good. See the picture below. You can't miss it).

See? Told you.

WHAT BLOWS NOW: Well, like any low budget mid-1980’s film, it plays unavoidably dated. It's 1986! Of all the performances, Sheen’s is by far the weakest. He looks like he’s sleep walking through the motions, which is somewhat understandable considering he had five movies released in 1986 (Lucas, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Wisdom, The Wraith, and Platoon). That’s a lot of freakin' movies, and he offers nothing here beyond his name. Hell, he's more memorable as a badass in Ferris Bueller than here. 

THE VERDICT: For the uninformed, it’s time to check out The Wraith. It’s a great piece of punk rock entertainment that needs to be included as a double features for something like Repo Man. If you hate Sheen, don't worry about it. He's star really in name only. All we care about are the punks, the women, and that badass car.  

GET THE WRAITH DVD HERE

Even Randy Quaid needs a break on set. Rest easy, buddy. You deserve it.