charlie sheen

For the last four years, Alamo Drafthouse programmer Zack Carlson has hosted a late-night horror movie celebration called Terror Tuesday and if you are a lover of horror, both esoterically brilliantly and obscurely awful, this night was invented just for you. The Terror Tuesday Report will dissect the movie shown as well as provide a barometer for the audience's reaction; as many of these films demand to be seen with an audience, this proves a vital component to the evening.

This week's film: The Wraith, directed by Mike Marvin, 1986

Dang, someone at Lionsgate really delved into the vault for this one. Hell, I even saw this flick during its Philadelphia theatrical run in 1986 ... and then promptly forgot all about it. I vaguely remember there being a slick car. The film at hand is called The Wraith, and it's about an spirit(?) from another dimension who visits a small town to wreak vengeance on some murderous assheads. He does it in an ostensibly futuristic sports car, if memory serves.

Initially rated R but released as PG-13 after some trims, The Wraith does boast a pretty colorful cast: Charlie Sheen, Sherilyn Fenn, Nick Cassavetes, Randy Quaid, and (woo hoo!) Clint Howard are all involved somehow. Written and directed by Mike Marvin (whose filmography includes deliciousness like Hot Dog: The Movie and Hamburger: The Motion Picture, with a Six Pack to wash it down), The Wraith is nobody's idea of a cult classic -- and yet I'm very curious to give this flick a re-visit.

According to DVDActive, Lionsgate will unleash The Wraith on March 2, and the DVD (no blu-ray to speak of) will come with interviews, featurettes, and a Marvin commentary. Oh, and according to Dictionary.com, a wraith is "an apparition of a living person supposed to portend his or her death." I hope that's not a spoiler.