Retro Movie Review: The Wraith

I remember when I was still a kid, I saw this film with a indestructible car and a guy in a space suit. It was way back then. I remember watching the darn thing in betamax format. I it was when I was watching Star Movies when I actually came across this movie again. I actually forgot it was a Charlie Sheen movie. When I saw it again recently, it was still as awesome as it ever was.

The Story
A small town has been harassed Packard Walsh and his thugs, in where they will force you into a street race them and take your car if you lose. Then out of nowhere a new guy named Jake Kesey shows up and so does a mysterious black car which challenged Packard's gang and kills them one by one.

Opinion
Some people may find the movie incredibly simple and cheap, but in my opinion, its actually one of my favorite movies, until now. It was actually more of a revenge movie than a super hero movie. But the way they made it is definitely like the Japanese tokusatsu genre.
I suddenly remembered Saban Entertainment's attempts to make a non Japanese tokusatsu by making "The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog". Apparently, they never realized that there was already one in the American market. And it was done way back in 1986 when the tokusatsu genre was still unknown to majority of American viewers.

What makes it a Tokusatsu?
This movie has every element that makes it a great tokusatsu flick. Here is what I found out.

A Cool Protagonist - Charlie Sheen was still a new and fresh during that time. I guess he is the best choice for taking the role of Jake Kesey.

Nice hair.

An Awesome Opening Sequence -  Something that would introduce the hero of the movie. I believe the screenshot below is enough to show that.

Kinda reminds me of those eye-catch sequences.

A High-Tech Vehicle - If the Masked Rider had the Cyclone, Seiun Kamen Machineman had the Machine Dolphin. The main hero used the Dodge M4S which they called the "Turbo Interceptor" in the movie. The M4S was a prototype vehicle created by the Dodge division of Chrysler Motors and PPG Industries. It kinda reminds you of another prototype vehicle used for another movie by Michael Jackson. Although that one was the Lancia Stratos Zero.

It still looks futuristic until now.

A Cool Weapon - Almost every tokusatsu hero has one. In this case it was a Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun, with a folding stock. It's a 12-gauge tactical shotgun made in Italy, and has the unusual property of functioning in both pump and semi-automatic modes. The odd hook on the weapon is for firing the weapon one-handed with the stock extended, as it wraps around the forearm.

Yep, there's Christmas lights on the gun.

Special Effects and Explosions - this is what pulls people into watching tokusatsu features in television, and this movie has a lot of those.

Can anyone say Ka-Boom?

Colorful and Nasty Villains - Jamie Bozian (Gutterboy) and David Sherill (Skank) did a really great job portraying Packard's thugs in the film. Nick Cassavetes who played Packard Walsh was actually the main antagonist in the movie, he did an awesome job portraying that role as well.

Gutterboy and Skank

A Hot Leading Lady - Sherilyn Fenn was big during the 80's. She was still dating Johnny Depp when this film was made. Depp was present during filming and was living in the film crew's hotel along with Fenn.

Wow! And I'm not talking about World of Warcraft

A Great Soundrack - One of my favorite tracks was Tim Feehan's "Where's the Fire" which was the song for the opening and ending sequences. There are a lot of other great 80's tracks played during the races.