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The Wraith | Revenge, Race Cars and 80s Cheese

  • Writer: Forgotten Cinema
    Forgotten Cinema
  • Aug 24
  • 2 min read

Updated: Sep 1

The Wraith

We're going full throttle into the 1986 cult car-fueled sci-fi action flick The Wraith. On one side of the road, you’ve got Field, who insists the film’s goofy charm and neon-soaked nostalgia make it worth a pit stop. On the other side, there’s Butler, who flat-out hates it, calling it the second worst film they’ve covered on the podcast. (Nothing will ever beat Folks!)

Butler’s thinks The Wraith isn’t campy enough to land in Troma-style guilty pleasure territory, and it’s too boneheaded to qualify as genuinely entertaining. Field believes there's something endearingly weird about a supernatural revenge story mixed with drag racing, questionable fashion, and synth-heavy vibes that only the 80s could deliver.


Our latest short film, allows Butler to poke fun at the movie:



The Wraith: A Cult Classic or Cinematic Wreck?

We dig into the movie’s oddball mix of supernatural elements and action tropes, from Charlie Sheen’s one-da of work as the avenging Jake, to the cartoonishly evil gang of car thieves, to the climactic drag races that somehow manage to be both awesome and ridiculous. The storytelling may be clunky, but the energy is pure VHS-era time capsule.

The One Thing We Agree On

Even as they clash over the movie’s merits (or lack thereof), we both come together on one undeniable fact: the car is absolutely badass. Sleek, futuristic, and built like something out of a gearhead fever dream, the Wraith’s Dodge M4S Turbo Interceptor is the real star of the movie.


So buckle up—whether you think The Wraith is a forgotten gem or a pile of cinematic wreckage, this episode is going full speed into one of the strangest cult films of the 80s.



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