The Wraith

 Watched July 4, 2025

 

1986

Starring: Charlie Sheen, Sherilyn Fenn, Nick Cassavetes, Clint Howard

Director: Mike Marvin

 

Magical lights come out of the night sky to create a car! ... the Turbo Interceptor!

 

A couple is night driving when Packard (Nick Cassavetes) and his gang stops them and forces them to race for the car or they hint at raping the girlfriend. He loses the race and the gang takes his car, leaving him and his girlfriend on the side of the rural highway. 

 

Keri (Sherilyn Fenn) is walking out of her house when Jake (Charlie Sheen) rolls up on his motorcycle asking for directions. She offers to show in the way but then her not boyfriend Packard shows up. They all go to the local swimming hole. Jake meets Jamie's little brother Billy, Jamie was killed a year ago but they never found the murderer. Packard threatens everyone and forces Keri to be his girlfriend, but she isn't, she likes Jake.

 

The Interceptor shows up and the car gang tries to race it. The Interceptor stops and the other racer crashes into it! Huge explosion and goes down a hill. Lots of cars explode in this movie!

 

Officer Loomis (Randy Quaid) shows up and talks to the gang. The recovered body isn't charred, it's clean with the eyes gouged out.

 

The car gang has a sweet garage hang out. Rughead (Clint Howard) is the tech guy with Skunk & Gutterboy being the punk dirtbags. There are a couple more guys in the gang. Billy works at the drive in burger joint where Keri is a roller skate server.  

 

The Interceptor shows up again and another guy is dead. The mysterious helmeted dude gets out of the Interceptor and shoots up the garage. Then he blows up a bunch of cars. Rughead is the first one to call the helmeted figure a wraith.

 

One night Skank and Gutterboy see Keri on the back of Jake's motorcycle. They follow and try to shoot him but they total their car instead. Packard watches Keri and Jake kiss, then the Interceptor shows up and pushes them into the cemetery where Packard's headstone is.

 

Jake and Keri go swimming and make out.

 

Packard grabs Keri at work to take her. Billy stand up but gets punched. In the car, Keri says she knows it was Packard and his gang who killed Jamie. Jamie was her boyfriend.

 

The Interceptor shows up and races Packard,  with the cops following. A hauler car trailer is run into, lots of car explosions. The Interceptor runs into Packard and he's dead. Each time this happens the Interceptor is fine.

 

Jake says bye to Billy who now knows he's Jamie. Jake gives Billy the Interceptor. Jake and Keri ride off into the moonlight on his motorcycle.

 

Keri's outfits are great! Clint Howard's hair and outfits too. Lots of rad car explosions and great stunts. Well shot on location in Tucson, Arizona. The mystery of the wraith isn't much of mystery. It seems pretty clear when the new guy in town Jake shows up at the same time as the mysterious car. You are just waiting for each time the Interceptor to keep chipping away at the gang that killed Jamie. I couldn't find this one for awhile and was psyched to find a DVD widescreen at a thrift store. I always looked at the poster/video box art and though the wraith would ride a motorcycle because he always wears a full face helmet.