I kinda suspect that this box is fudged. The front doesn't match the back (and not just because of the U.K. "18" mark) Since I don't have a copy myself, this will have to suffice.
Regarded as a classic in some circles, The Wraith is the only supernatural/possessed car movie to my knowledge that has in which the driver is visible and actually a character. On the other hand, a couple of months before in the same year, star Charlie Sheen's brother Emilio Estevez was starring in his own truly possessed car film Maximum Overdrive in which all the machines explicitly lack operators.
Keith David is pretty well known these days both for his voice and his physical presence in various mainstream genre films. I always find it interesting to note when well respected actors had somewhat sketchy or sleazy early careers. I'm always interested in the "low class" origins of stars. Some like to distance themselves from it the bigger they get, others are proud of it and never really stop slumming no matter what their salary. Keith David is a great example of this because he had some choice supporting roles in some of the classics of 80’s genre film at the start of his career but still tends to do unusual and offbeat pictures. In case you forgot, here's a rundown of David's early career to enjoy all over again.
The Thing
United States - 1982
Director – John Carpenter
The first starring role for David also broke the mold requiring the black sidekick to die in the act of saving/helping the white hero. After The Thing snuck through, that mold was repaired quickly and put back into service. The Thing is one of those films that is just as good each time you watch it provided you give it enough time. In the interim you can enjoy it vicariously with what I consider one of Ennio Morricone’s best soundtracks which you can find at Illogical Contraption.
Platoon
United States – 1986
Director – Oliver Stone
The first appearance of David and Charlie Sheen together made us think for a second that Sheen might not be a total boner, and Oliver Stone might be a genius. Oops. But it also gave us “King”, David’s character who doesn’t like to perform cunnilingus, but enjoys “sniffing some of that cross mounted pussy down by the river,” whatever that means.
They Live
United States - 1988
Director - John Carpenter
I'm not sure I understand the extent to which people have tried to analyze the messages in this film, they seem neither subtle nor obvious to me. In fact I don't think there are any messages except perhaps for one. Its meta-narrative tells us that over analyzing something can deliver a deep and futile satisfaction, and reveal the total pointlessness of subjective criticism. But hey, that's why we're here.
Road House
United States -1989
Director – Rowdy Herrington
I threw this one in because five is a nice round number and I I'm hoping that the inclusion of the name Swayze will get this page more hits. David plays the bartender who replaces John Doe when the Roadhouse is cleaned up and turned into a soulless nightclub. This is really an 80’s blue-collar version of Fight Club. The scene in which Carrie the waitress (Kathleen Wilhoite) has a spontaneous orgasm at the mere sight of Swayze’s ass is alone worth the spine-tingling price of admission.
Men at Work
United States- 1990
Director – Emilio Esteves
This movie left a mark upon American culture much like a tattoo, blurrier, uglier and more regrettable with each passing day, but nevertheless permanent. It gave us three amazing things: Charlie Sheen with a mullet in full-bore cokehead mode, the end of Emilio Esteves' respectability, and David’s line “Somebody threw away a perfectly good white boy,” which might be a reference to the first two things.
My buddy Daniel picked this up for me in Canada (hence the Canadian distributor) because he and I are both atomic science history nerds and he knows I like war flicks, so props to him. Director Markle also helmed a decent non-reactionary Vietnam flick BAT*21 starring Gene Hackman and Hot Dog The Movie, starring boobs and skiing, before he went on to a career primarily in TV. Estevez of course now trains children to ice skate and his dad is the President and ironically a traitor to his country. In any case this film addresses the very real issue of American atomic testing on its soldiers. For a real life look at this see the excellent documentary called Radio Bikini all of which Randywilharm has uploaded to YouTube.
Martin Sheen is haunted neurologist Alexander Brown, in Las Vegas to observe the surgical implantation of one of his newest devices. At a reception for the event a reporter and some vets approach him to confirm their story of radiation poisoning so they can collect disability payments. Flashback to 1956 where Emilio Estevez plays the young doctor Brown at the Nevada Test site to witness Operation Boom, (I made the name up, the on screen explosions are taken from archival footage) and to run personality tests on some exceedingly dumb GI’s (commanded by Joe Pantoliano) with whom he nevertheless sympathizes.
Hangin' out with his BI buddies at a bar, Estevez/Brown meets another scientist Sally Mathews (a young and stunning Lea Thompson) whom he impresses with his science nerd gee-whiz act.
Later they set up one of the infamous “test houses” that are so well known now (see also The Hills Have Eyes 2006). This is where the movie starts to get interesting because of the historical footage cleanly spliced into the narrative. The whole thing starts to get fairly eerie because (if you’re like me and have a nuclear war fetish) it casts a little “reality” over the proceedings, like this scene, which is obviously leading up to some archival footage.
Not so much with the kissing in the pool which follows, but I won’t complain about that too much since it is Lea Thompson. Estevez/Brown asks the bit actor GI’s more questions that they answer with practiced affectation, and regurgitating a bit of dry camaraderie he marches with them into the infantry trenches to participate in operation Boom 2. Despite Brown’s concerns, orders are to march from the trenches toward ground zero as the dust settles. Estevez/Brown still doesn’t believe that the Army is -as Sally insists- willfully using the men as guinea pigs.
While at base watching some test footage of actual pigs getting fried in operation Boom 3, Estevez/Brown and the grunts start to get a strange feeling of deja-vu. Again, the historical footage woven into all of these scenes gives the rest of the simpleminded made-for-TV pap an air of creepy legitimacy, like a rotten apple spoiling the whole barrel, only in reverse. Which is good, since it distracts me from pulling out my Korean and Cold War uniform books to critique the accuracy and go full-nerd.
Sheen/Brown is coming to terms with all this in Vegas by the way, after years of denial. Convinced all these years that she was sterile Brown’s wife blows up when it comes out that it was his radiation roasted nuts. That’s all it takes for his denial-house-of-cards to begin collapsing. But back at the science banquet just as he starts to come clean publicly and the disabled vets roll in all heartstrings and vindication, the credits scroll leaving this movie about just one guy assuaging his minor personal guilt, and fuck-all for the glow-in-the-dark veterans.
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These are a couple of YouTube videos of segments of the originalarchival footage used in Nighbreaker, the first one from teachertube being the house that is a well known image and the centerpiece of an establishing scene in the film. The second, uploaded by timboo is one that I hadn't seen before and is what really drives the moral agenda of the film home. Below is an alternate VHS cover I got from allmovies.com.
