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Dom Robinson reviews
Digital Entertainment
- Cert:
- Cat.no: DED 6084
- Running time: 89 minutes
- Year: 1986
- Pressing: 1999
- Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
- Chapters: 8 plus extras
- Sound: Linear PCM Stereo
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: None
- Fullscreen: 4:3
- 16:9-enhanced: No
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 5
- Price: £15.99
- Extras : Scene index, Photo Gallery
Director:
- Mike Marvin
(The Wraith)
Producer:
- John Kemeny
Screenplay:
- Mike Marvin
Music:
- Michael Hoenig and J. Peter Robinson
Cast:
- The Wraith/Jake: Charlie Sheen (The Arrival, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Hot Shots 1 & 2, Red Dawn, The Rookie, Shadow Conspiracy, Terminal Velocity, Three Musketeers (1994), Wall Street, The Wraith)
Packard Walsh: Nick Cassavetes (Animal Instincts 2, The Class of 1999 2: The Substitute, Sins of Desire, Twogether, A Woman under the Influence, The Wraith)
Keri: Sherilyn Fenn (Cement, Darkness Falls, National Lampoon’s Don Analyst, Of Mice and Men, The Shadow Men, The Wraith, TV: Twin Peaks)
Sheriff Loomis: Randy Quaid (Bye Bye Love, Caddyshack II, The Choirboys, Get On the Bus, Hard Rain, Independence Day, Kingpin, The Last Detail, The Last Picture Show, Midnight Express, Moving,National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation, No Man’s Land, The Paper, Quick Change, Texasville, Valentine’s Day, What’s Up Doc?, The Wraith)
The Wraithis one of Charlie Sheen‘s earliest films as Jake, who gets offed by neighbourhoodfriendlies and then returns,Spawn-style to get revenge,the pointless death being told in flashback. Released in 1986, knowing that it sounds oddto describe the perm-rock soundtrack as “very 80’s”, but it’s true.
You know the chief bad guy is Packard Walsh (Nick Cassavetes) because he treatshis girlfriend, Keri (Sherilyn Fenn) badly, a girl who Jake was drawn to when he wasa complete human. Meanwhile, Sheriff Loomis (Randy Quaid) is on the case trying toget to the heart of the matter. It won’t take long to work out that the obvious will happen,with good triumphing over evil.
One good thing I can say about this film is that The Wraith gets to drive about in a”Turbo Interceptor”, rather akin to Knight Rider‘s K.I.T.T.
“Oh man, I hope THIS is the right place for the fancy dress party!”
The print is presented open-matte fullscreen and looks like a dull VHS transfer. Althoughthere’s little in the way of artifacts, the print lacks focus and colours are muted.The average bitrate is 6Mb/s, occasionally going over 8Mb/s.
There’s no Dolby Digital logo, so I’m presuming it’s Linear PCM Stereo, although it soundsmore like mono for all the difference it makes – and again the word “muted” could be usedwhen talking about substandards, with music added from the likes of Robert Palmer,Motley Crue and Honeymoon Suite, of whom I still remember.
“KITT and I had an affair but I’ll say no more about it.”
Extras : Chapters :8 chapters. Not enough. The end. Languages & Subtitles :The film is in English, but with no subtitles. And there’s more… :but it’s just a Photo Gallery with a few pics, three of which are replicatedhere in this review. Menu :It’s static, but contains a piece of the music found in the film.
Anusol – as recommended by Baddiel and SkinnerOverall – a poor film, poor picture and sound with scant extras. A definite miss.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.