Episode 164 - The Wraith: LIVE!

[RyanSz 3140]

I was so sure that Randy Quaid was going to be the mastermind behind the evil gang.

 

Reason being, is that in the opening seconds of the film, the balls of light cause major destruction to the sheriff's billboard.

 

So this tells me that whatever has come back, is sending a message to this particular person that they are back and that they are fucking angry.

 

In fact I thought this idea was going to be paid off when the sheriff showed up unannounced at the gang's warehouse. It's via a POV shot where the viewer is lead to believe it's The Wraith; come to get vengeance on Packard. But it's the sheriff and I thought he was gonna yell at Packard for drawing too much attention to their set up where the gang is winning all of these cars and stripping them down for parts to sell on the black market. I mean Billy even mentions the town has issues with "smugglers" killing kids. So this town is not so innocent.

 

And to further this backstory, what if the last "second opinion" was right and Jamie made a deal with The Devil to trade his soul for those gang members. And if Jamie was in fact not a good person to start with, maybe he was part of the original gang that chopped up cars. My theory in this universe, is that Jamie grew a conscience when a person he raced died in a crash. Now that he doesn't want to race cars anymore to strip for parts, the sheriff tells the other gang members to kill and dispose of the body.

 

What are your thoughts Paul?

 

Cheers,

Pete Scudese

I was coming here to ask the same thing! I for sure thought it was going to be revealed that Quaid was getting a kickback from the stolen cars which is why the gang was allowed to run amuck like they were without repercussions. That, or it was going to be revealed that Cassavetes was going to be revealed to be Quaid's illegitimate son or he was using another name so as to not hurt his dad's re-election as sheriff.

 

Question:

 

Also, did anyone else think that Sheen and Fenn were driving off to the same location Courtney Cox and her boyfriend were going to in Masters of the Universe? It was basically the same thing where they were leaving their fully furnished homes that had no parents inside and they were just riding off into the sunset. As for the missing eyes and disappearing parts of Sheen's suit, I have to wonder if as some part of his deal with coming back from the dead he had to pay it back to whatever deity that allowed him back that he had to offer up pieces of his foes in order to stay in the land of the living?

[FisterRoboto 7499]

 

Here's a question: why even race at all? I know I'm just repeating ChunkStyle here, but just be like "Give us the car or we'll kill you." Instead they are like, "Race us for possession of your car or we'll kill you." The race just seems like a waste of time at that point.

I heard in an early draft of the script that he raced people for pink slips but then he was like...

 

 

 

 

 

[Cameron H. 23786]

During one of the races, the band Lion's song "Never Surrender" is played.

 

 

Now, I don't normally pick on a movie's soundtrack, but in the second verse of the song he sings:

 

"Now like a thief in the night, I've got nowhere to run"

 

I would just like to point out that if you are thief and are shrouded in the enveloping cloak of night - arguably the ideal place to ply your trade - yet still find that you have "nowhere to run," well, you're probably a really shitty thief.

 

Also, considering the Rebel Without a Cause connection, does that make Rughead

 

 

the Natalie Wood character?

 

[The_Triple_Lindy 2482]

Another thing that isn't resolved is why Jake has to be in disguise when he's out wraithing if he already doesn't look like he did when he was Jamie. I mean, he's already in the disguise of a new body, right? And when he shows his face during the scene where he shoots up the garage, he lifts up his visor, but WHY? It doesn't mean anything to the gang to see him in the wraith armor if he is unrecognizable. I think it must be because part of the wraith's mission is to seduce Sherilyn Fenn all over, too, which can't happen if she knows he's really Jamie.

[The_Triple_Lindy 2482]

Building on Tim Baltz's point (that Keri should feel guilty she has fallen in love with Jake, not knowing he's Jamie,) I'm surprised that Jamie wasn't at all pissed that his former girl was so quick to move on and fall for this random guy who she's barely gotten to know. As noted, Keri has not shown any sadness for her dead lover. There should have been a scene where Jake tried to kiss Keri and she would pull back to say she's not ready to fall in love because she lost someone so dear to her.

 

Dude, Keri is remarkably well-adjusted for a person who has gone through what she had -- her boyfriend was stabbed to death while they were fucking, and their assailants kidnapped and beat her and then ... did what, exactly, with her? How did she come away from that event having no idea who was responsible? Did they just beat her unconscious and ditch her somewhere? There's no indication that she was sexually assaulted, although it seems implied from what we see. And all she has to say about it is, "He was my boyfriend. I liked him. He's dead now." She shows no sign that she really acknowledges her own trauma.

[RyanSz 3140]

 

Dude, Keri is remarkably well-adjusted for a person who has gone through what she had -- her boyfriend was stabbed to death while they were fucking, and their assailants kidnapped and beat her and then ... did what, exactly, with her? How did she come away from that event having no idea who was responsible? Did they just beat her unconscious and ditch her somewhere? There's no indication that she was sexually assaulted, although it seems implied from what we see. And all she has to say about it is, "He was my boyfriend. I liked him. He's dead now." She shows no sign that she really acknowledges her own trauma.

It was explained that after the whole thing she was found wandering the road and because of the beating it was assumed she had amnesia. So I'm assuming she just really repressed the memory until the final scene with her in the car with Cassavetes where it apparently comes to her in a flash that the worst guy in her town is the one who killed her boyfriend, beat the piss outta her, and then kidnaps her everyday after her shift.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

Austin BBQ Corner for a second, y'all....

 

1) It's definitely pronounced La Barbecue and not "L.A. Barbecue"

 

2) Don't stand in line at Franklin. Get someone to drive you out to Lockhart for Kreuz (pronounced "Krites") Market or Llano for Cooper's. They're both much better, and you can drive there, eat, and drive back in the amount of time you'd stand in line at Franklin.

[Bumpy 1674]

I miss pre-lost his mind Randy Quaid. Not in this, mind you, just as a general thing.

[The_Triple_Lindy 2482]

I would like to see a Clint Howard biopic where Clint Howard plays all the bit parts. Get someone like Dwight Yoakam or DJ Qualls to play him (I'm open to suggestions), but every character with less than 2 minutes of screen time or fewer than 5 lines would be Clint -- guy at the store, clerk behind the counter, waiter at the restaurant, cop who pulls over a speeder = all Clint.

[KellStarr 39]

I'd argue that it is more likely that a Jacob's latter scenario would apply to Billy rather than Jamie.

And maybe this movie was the inspiration for Fight Club?

Is it possible that this whole movie is Billy's fantasy to cope with his brother's murder? Billy takes on the identity of Jake (much like like a Tyler Durden persona and the director) and takes revenge on the people he knows are responsible. Maybe Keri was so traumatized by the attack that she has surpressed the entire experience leaving her a shell of her former self.

Billy angered by the harmed done to people he cared about, creates Jake to care for Jami and kills the the people who committed the crimes.

And much like Fight Club Billy uses Jake/ the Wraith to beat the gang at their own game slowly killing them off and excusing it has supernatural intervention. Think about it in the end only Billy remains and he watches Jamie and Keri ride off together like they've always should have. He's also left with the murder weapon by Jake like the final FC scene and instead of defeating his alter ego Billy allows Jake/Jamie to pass on. Billy is the only one left with ties to the original crime and like it was mentioned in the episode he knows an awful lot about all that is happening!

 

[Cameron H. 23786]

R.I.P Adam West (AKA "The Bright Knight")

 

[JammerLea 2070]

2) Don't stand in line at Franklin. Get someone to drive you out to Lockhart for Kreuz (pronounced "Krites") Market or Llano for Cooper's. They're both much better, and you can drive there, eat, and drive back in the amount of time you'd stand in line at Franklin.

 

I'M SECONDING KREUZ MARKET IN LOCKHART!!! SOOOO GOOOD!!! SO WORTH THE TRIP!!!

https://www.kreuzmarket.com/

 

("Krites" is such a bizarre way to write out the German pronunciation of "Kreuz" though, my brain is like what.)

[JammerLea 2070]

OKAY FIRST in case the minisode thread wasn't read

 

PAUL, PLEEEEASE DO NOT share more jerking off stories in the Explanation Hopeline! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaase

 

 

 

Second, I'm with Jason on this one. This movie makes no sense, but I LOVE IT.

 

I would like to point out one thing for now.

 

No one pays attention to what cars are at the burger joint. Like there's multiple times where the characters are present at the same time, but don't even notice. And it's not like the gang doesn't have easily recognizable, customized cars. Granted in one scene Packard was parked across the street, but still?? OPEN YOUR EYES. I'm talking to YOU, Keri! If you don't want to run into your asshole kidnapping, self-proclaimed boyfriend, maybe it would be beneficial to watch for his car????

[Cameron H. 23786]

OKAY FIRST in case the minisode thread wasn't read

 

PAUL, PLEEEEASE DO NOT share more jerking off stories in the Explanation Hopeline! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaase

 

 

 

 

I would like to point out one thing for now.

 

No one pays attention to what cars are at the burger joint. Like there's multiple times where the characters are present at the same time, but don't even notice. And it's not like the gang doesn't have easily recognizable, customized cars. Granted in one scene Packard was parked across the street, but still?? OPEN YOUR EYES. I'm talking to YOU, Keri! If you don't want to run into your asshole kidnapping, self-proclaimed boyfriend, maybe it would be beneficial to watch for his car????

 

Maybe that's what they're doing with all these cars. Maybe he steals them so she never knows what he's driving. I have to assume that everything he does is to assist him in his daily kidnapping endeavors.

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

RIP Mr. West. I'm gutted

 

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

The production value in this movie was awful. It's hard to believe it cost even $2 million to make.

 

Felt like a long, bad episode of Knight Rider.

[TallGuyTalksMovies 2]

Did anyone else think that the blonde roller skating waitress was Tea Leoni? She isn't credited, but looks and sounds like her.

 

[JammerLea 2070]

Did anyone else think that the blonde roller skating waitress was Tea Leoni? She isn't credited, but looks and sounds like her.

 

Fixed your images (though I resized them a little sorry)! I don't think dropbox allows offlinking.

 

 

[JammerLea 2070]

Maybe that's what they're doing with all these cars. Maybe he steals them so she never knows what he's driving. I have to assume that everything he does is to assist him in his daily kidnapping endeavors.

 

That would be plausible, except we never see him driving anything else. Also when Packard first points out Jake to Skank and Gutterboy, I thought he was going to tell them to trash Jake's motorbike. He's either the most patient ruthless gang member, or he just has a knack for missing opportunities.

 

Another thing... when The Wraith™ goes into their car barn and shoots up the place, he takes out ALL the cars, shooting at their engines, and also destroys what I assume was the souped up engine Rughead was preparing for Packard... Now I'm no car mechanic, but it feels like they get back on their uh, wheels pretty quickly for the type of damage their vehicles sustained. If Rughead is their main inventor-mechanic, he is clearly in the wrong line of work. Then again, with a cousin like Eraserhead, he's probably doing pretty well for himself all things considered.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

("Krites" is such a bizarre way to write out the German pronunciation of "Kreuz" though, my brain is like what.)

The German pronunciation would be more like "Kroytz," but we're dumb Texans that call it "Krites." In fact, my German professor from college hates going to that place just because she can't stand what people call it (but she'll happily eat whatever we bring back).

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

This movie is troubling on so many levels. Why did Packard and his gang beat on Keri in the first place? And how fortuitous for him that she just happened to get amnesia.

 

So he's not actually kidnapping Keri. She's just dating him, she's as relaxed with Packard in the beginning of the movie as she is with Jake. I don't know if it was intentional or just her performance. But for all her talk of how dangerous Packard is, she really doesn't seem at all fazed or tense around him.

 

Their whole relationship reminds me of that episode of Law and Order where the woman finds out she married the dude who murdered her previous husband.

 

But even after she figures out that he killed Jamie she seems more annoyed than horrified. This movie wants to be those other teen movies where the girl is dating some Jock who is clearly an asshole until she meets Mr. Right. Except that in this movie the Jock is a murderer who beat her until she had amnesia.

 

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

It blows my mind this was the start of a trilogy. What was going to happen in The Wraith Cinematic Universe?

I also like that he was so sure that it would GET to a third one. Sure, the first one didn't do so great, and the script for the second one was picking up dust, but dammit, there's too much story just waiting to be told!

[AdamDriggers 58]

Sherilyn Fenn deserves more credit. The crew said she was cavalier about her dead boyfriend but there is a scene where its revealed she doesn't remember what happened that night because they beat her and left her on the side of the road. Also she confronts Nick Cassavettes and gets him to admit to her it happened, confirming for her that her flashbacks were true and not just nightmares as she previously presumed. But she is admittedly still non-phased by those events.

 

Also, The Wraith seemed to only be able to kill after besting the victim in a contest. This is confirmed by Sheen beating Gutter Boy and Skank in a impromptu motorcycle versus car race then the next day being able to just kill them both.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

 

Also, in the interview, the director mentions that an accident during filming killed a crew member, left another a paraplegic, and badly injured a few others. After the accident, they had to rush production to finish the film.

Because you know what you should do after people have been killed and maimed on your production? Rush. Yeah, nothing else could possibly go wrong...

[TallGuyTalksMovies 2]

 

Fixed your images (though I resized them a little sorry)! I don't think dropbox allows offlinking.

 

 

 

Thank you very much, JammerLea, first post.