the wraith start late one night deep in the arizona desert a what look like several ball of electricity fly along just above the ground eventually they merge together and form a futuristic black car and a shadowy mysterious figure that be the wraith . packard walsh ( nick cassavetes ) be the leader of a local gang of thug who terrorise a small town and force other driver of particularly nice car to race and forfeit their car if they lose and which of course they always do . well they always do until the wraith and his supernatural power turbo charge car turn up and each time one of packard gang race the wraith they end up dead start with oggie fisher ( griffin oneal ) whose car end up take a dive off a cliff and loomis ( randy quaid ) the local sheriff be on the case . if packard ever shrink gang and the ensue police investigation isn not enough for him to worry about a new kid in town name jake kesey ( charlie sheen ) seem to want to date his girl keri johnson ( sherilyn fenn ) . a packard lose grip on the power he have he becomes determine to take revenge on the wraith and however packard isn not the only one with revenge on his mind . write and direct by mike marvin i really do not think too much of the wraith . before i start i should point out that if you read the imdb amain page for the wraith and look at the cast list it give away the suppose twist at the end and not that you wouldn not have guess it within 10 minute anyway but the imdb usually frown upon spoiler doesn not it . the script be as daft a they come and it take itself very seriously and people do not speak like this in real life mike and ok. the terrible dialogue be deliver straight face which just doesn not work when your make a film about a supernatural car . if you think the wraith be a silly concept for a film you would be right and it also a crap concept for a film . nothing be explain and how be the wraith create . why do he get a second chance and no one else . when a couple of dead body be recover from burn car why be the body intact and their eye miss . this happen a few time during the wraith and no explanation be give whatsoever and the plot device isn not even use and at all . why doesn not the wraith just blow packard away with the shotgun when he have the chance . why be the only plot twist in the entire film so easy to see come . what on earth be clint howard hair do all about . why be all the character so dumb and one dimensional . why do charlie sheen get top billing on the credit yet have about 10 minute worth of screen time and all but disappears for 45 minute ( not that i be complain ) . why do they decide to end thing off all happily ever after with plenty of cringe induce sentimentality in a way disney would have have be proud of . to it credit it sort of entertains in a bad grade z sort of way and it move along at a fair pace so at least it never overly boring or dull . director marvin brings little imagination to the action scene and two car race along a virtually desert road start to become tedious after the fourth time . he doesn not seem to know what sort of film he want to make and action and horror and romance and comedy and sci fi or thriller and end up with bit of each that do not gel . the wraith himself look like some sort of stormtrooper reject from star war ( 1977 ) and a very cheap suit and crash helmet and he barely have any screen time either . marvin try to create some style with the use of bright neon colour although completely fails of course . forget about any sort of violence a there isn not any worth mentioning but there be some nudity . with a supposed budget of $ 2 and 700 and 000 the wraith be technically good although nothing spectacular and they should have put more effort into how the wraith himself look . the stunt be ok and there be some decent explosion but it nothing we haven not see a hundred time before and the ting we haven not see before include a car which can magically reform itself be just plain daft and feel out of place . the photography be good and the rock music be highly annoying and add nothing to the film but generally speak it quite well make . the act isn not great and clint howard hair deserve a credit all of it own and sheen and cassavetes also have bad 80 hair do . personally i do not think much of the wraith although it just about daft enough to have a certain charm and maybe have a few admirer . i will give it three out of ten star for some ok explosion and the silliness of it all and and of course and clint howard hair .