THE WRAITH (1986)

"Looks like a dork to me."

Despite only having six members, each dumber than the next, a murderous gang of car thieves have free rein to do anything they want in a small Arizona town. The town has police force, led by a useless sheriff (Randy Quaid) who spends all of his time tailing and investigating the gang, but never actually doing anything. It’s weird. Enter into this bizarre small town drama, one Charlie Sheen who rolls into town on his dirt bike and within 45 seconds he’s got Sherilyn Fenn riding on the back. This doesn’t sit too well with the hyper-jealous leader of the car thief gang, Nick Cassavetes, who has the hots for Sherilyn. So much so that he recently murdered Fenn’s boyfriend back when he was a pre-ghost. Huuuumm. And speaking of vengeance-seeking ghosts who drive around in a stealthy ghost whip murdering bad guys…why is Charlie Sheen never around when the ghost whip shows up? Unless, of course, you’re talking about the scene on the movie poster which doesn’t even make sense.

I remember renting this on VHS when it was a New Release, but only watching it a few times and not being super impressed. Revisiting it now though, it’s actually better than I remember. Probably a 5.5 out of 10. Or, maybe I’m just being nostalgic. Steady pace, only explosion kills (yawn), cool 1980’s fashions (I was dying over the waitress’ outfits), non-threatening bad guys (…except for that one dude who sliced his own hand open and wasn't even wearing a bandage in his next scene, dude’s healing powers are off the charts!), a shotgun with blinking red lights on it, two very quick topless glimpses, a few mildly watchable race scenes, boring desert town setting, okay acting but it was fun seeing a younger Charlie Sheen and a pre-Twin Peaks Sherilyn Fenn. I don't know if there's ever been a remake, but I'd love to see one. I know if I wrote the script, it'd have way more scenes at Big Kay's Drive-In!

Post-review thought: If you think about it too much THE WRAITH is kinda like a weird retelling of THE HEAVENLY KID. And PHANTOM OF THE MALL: ERIC’S REVENGE is the same basic story as THE WRAITH, just with a mall instead of cars.

Second thought: I like how the newspaper ads mention music by “Ozzy Osbourne, Honeymoon Suite, Bonnie Tyler, Tim Feehan”, but nothing about Motley Crue, Billy Idol or Robert Palmer.

THRASHIN' (1986)

Amateur skateboarder Josh Brolin is working his way to becoming a pro by competing in different skateboarding competitions around Los Angeles. At the same time, he starts seeing a girl only to find out that she’s the sister of his biggest rival. It really is a small world after all.

Watching THRASHIN' back in the 1980’s, it was just another teen-oriented film that was mildly entertaining thanks to the quick pace and interesting Los Angeles scenery. Personally, I was also intrigued by the various fashions (including band t-shirts for everybody from JFA to Siouxsie and the Banshees), the giant movie poster for THE HITCHER and Pamela Gidley’s awesome hair. Re-watching it now for this review, I still enjoyed that stuff, but I also noticed that this movie has something in common with the film LADY TERMINATOR! Just like LT, THRASHIN’ also features a still photograph earlier in the film of an event that happens later on in the film itself! How bizarre. This time around it’s one of Brolin’s buddies. There is a photo tacked to the wall…of him at the big race that takes place at the end of the movie. Same clothes and everything.

I doubt that THRASHIN’ is gonna change your life or anything, but it’s an enjoyable enough film. Very simple with almost no story, yet it still has a certain nostalgic charm to it.

Pointless trivia: THRASHIN' director David Winters also directed the 1979 SHAMPOO clone RACQUET.

Even further pointless trivia: Out of the current 29 RACQUET photos that IMDb has placed ads on on their site, 25 of them come from my ad-less review. Nice. Glad that my work can help you make money.