As I write this its April Fool’s Day, so my joke is calling The Wraith obscure! Har har har! But seriously folks, there are a lot of people who haven’t seen this movie and don’t know about it, but, yeah, there aren’t very many gearheads who haven’t seen it! That’s understandable considering the movie’s main star is quite a draw, but before we go into the details about the Dodge M4S, let’s take a look at the flick…
It was November of 1986…ALF and LA Law had just debuted that fall on prime time, The Real Ghostbusters was the coolest new Saturday morning cartoon, and your bumble blogger was about to turn 16 but hadn’t yet, so cars were even more on my mind than usual. In comes this cool movie about a phantom car taking revenge on a gang of murderous street racing car thieves! I’m in! It was cheese, of course; but with elements of supernatural horror, sci-fi, and crash-action, this adrenaline-fueled revenge tale with an eerie, synth-heavy score and a rockin’ soundtrack featuring Billy Idol, Ozzy Osbourne, and Robert Palmer, among others, it was impossible for a teenage gearhead to resist! As if all that weren’t enough, Sherilyn Fenn put it over the top, as the romantic interest of both the pro- and an-tagonist. The casting is solid, with the gorgeous Fenn joined by Nick Cassavetes delivering a menacing performance as the psychotic Packard, and Charlie Sheen-despite his limited screen time-a cool and enigmatic presence as Jake.
In a small Arizona town, a ruthless gang of street racers led by Packard Walsh cons other gearheads into racing for pink slips-competitions Walsh won’t lose, no matter what. One day, a mysterious black-clad figure driving an otherworldly car generically identified as the “Turbo Interceptor” appears from out of nowhere, and begins taking down Packard’s gang one by one in deadly, high-speed duels.
At the same time, a young man named Jake Kesey arrives in town and takes an interest in Keri Johnson, Packard’s reluctant girlfriend. As the vengeful entity behind the wheel continues its rampage, it becomes clear that the driver has a supernatural connection to a murdered teenager, Jamie Hankins, who was killed by Packard’s gang. With the help of his brother Billy (Matthew Barry) and Sheriff Loomis (Randy Quaid), Jake/The Wraith seeks justice, culminating in a final confrontation with Packard. So, yeah: a gang of murderous teenage street racers get theirs: what’s not to love?
But nevermind all that: its the film’s real star that matters! Though never identified as such, even when the movie came out we all knew what the “Turbo Interceptor” was! It was already famous as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 by the time the movie hit the screen, and yet somehow knowing what it was while it was never said made it seem more sinister!
In a age that was lackluster for car lovers, the M4S was mighty impressive! This wild-looking coupe was created in 1981 as a joint project between Chrysler and PPG Industries. A 2.2-liter, fuel-injected twin-turbo Chrysler/Cosworth four-cylinder gave the coupe a heady 440 hp, stunning for such a small engine! This rocketed the M4S from 0-60 in 4.1 seconds, on its way to a lofty top speed of 195 mph. Although it was designed by Chrysler engineers, it was assembled by an assortment of “small shop” tuners who cared about their work, and the finished product, with it’s Lamborghini-esque “scissor” doors and finished with layers of PPG pearl clearcoat over a black base producing a color they called “Root Beer Brown,” was as cool sitting still as it was on the move!
Those kinds of performance figures were almost unheard of in the ‘80s for a street-legal car and especially coming from a tiny 4-banger, but there were plenty of road tests and figures to back up the lofty claims! “Too cool for school,” everyone knew the M4S was never going into production, but 4 fully functional instances of the car were built, and they still exist today.
Six copies of the car were made for use in the film: two stunt cars made from molds of the original car and four non-drivable “dummies” that were destroyed during filming, as the “Turbo Interceptor” is crashed and blown-up multiple times during the movie’s runtime, only to return either hours or seconds later to continue tormenting the gang! During movie production, the real car was used in close-ups and publicity photos only; that original is the same one that was on display at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, MI until 2016, when the museum tragically closed permanently.
Other than the M4S, there are not many exciting cars in The Wraith; there’s an uglified Corvette, a blown late ‘70s Firebird, and several other Chrysler-branded cars of various vintages, but nothing exotic or exceptional. However, there is some spectacular stunt driving and awesome street race sequences with some wicked crashes, and isn’t that why we’re here? Just pay no mind to those close-up shots of the drivers manually shifting their automatics! 😀
So, OK: not obscure? Ehhhh…maybe not. You’ve probably seen it, but if you haven’t, you gotta, because it is an icon of its era and its a blast to watch! It’s not “high art,” by any means: like I confessed at the outset, much of the dialog is pure corn, and while the premise is compelling, the supernatural elements are never fully explained, the romance between Jake and Keri feels rushed, and some of the supporting characters—especially the gang members—are exaggerated caricatures rather than fully fleshed-out villains.
But hey, who cares? You didn’t expect “high art!” Despite its narrative shortcomings, The Wraith is a fun, visually engaging action flick that thrives on its stylish 80s aesthetics, thrilling car chases, and supernatural revenge story. It’s a must-watch for fans of B-movies, car culture, and nostalgic 80s cinema! That’s good enough for me, anyway!
SO…Where can you see it?
Well, as with our last installment of T.o.t.L.O., you can find this one just about anywhere! The Wraith is available as of this writing to screen for free in terrific quality at AppleTV, PlutoTV or Tubi! Its also available on Amazon Prime and Plex, and it has been released on both DVD and Blu-Ray….and VHS as well, if you wanna go really vintage! You’ll have no trouble finding it, so grab some snacks and waste 90 minutes on another trip back to ‘80s!
https://tubitv.com/movies/300846/the-wraith
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