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 he full title of "Wishmaster" is actually
"Wes Craven Presents, Wishmaster", and if you believe horrormeister
Craven ("Nightmare
on Elm Street") had anything to do with this movie besides selling his
name for a tidy profit, then I got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell ya.
"Wishmaster" came out at a time when Craven's "Scream" films
were cleaning up at the box office, and the inclusion of Craven's name was
obviously an attempt to associate the movie with Craven. (For those who cares,
the gimmick didn't work, and the movie did poorly in theaters; but like all
horror franchises (and "Wishmaster" is a franchise, having spawned 3
sequels), the film found its audience on cable and video.)
"Wishmaster" is a low-budget horror film (at
least from a Hollywood perspective) about a Djinn, an evil genie, that grants
wishes; seeing as the Djinn is evil, his wishes all have costs associated with
them. What kind of costs, you ask? Your life, for one. This ain't no Robin
Williams genie, that's for sure. Andrew Divoff ("Faust")
plays the Djinn in human form, and the actor is the one good thing about this
movie. (Divoff would return for the first sequel, but gave up on the role in
parts 3 and 4, which shows he has brains as well as a wicked grin.)
The Djinn is apparently trying to give away enough wishes
so he can unleash the dead, open the gates of hell, let evil into the world, or
some such nonsense like that. Let's just say that the effect of the Djinn
achieving his goal is not a good thing for humanity. As the film opens, the
Djinn is about to achieve his goal when he's imprisoned in a red ruby; flash
forward to the present, where the ruby arrives in the hand of jeweler Alex
(Tammy Lauren). Alex has her backstory, but writer Peter Atkins should never
have bothered, because no one cares.
"Wishmaster" is about gore and cheap scares, and
long-time movie special effects wizard Robert Kurtzman ("From Dusk Til
Dawn") definitely knows his gore. "Wishmaster" is oozing with
blood, crazy makeup, and all manner of oddball creatures. The horror in
"Wishmaster" is mostly of the old fashion makeup and prosthetics
variety, and there is very little CGI. As horror films go, the gore in
"Wishmaster" is quite good, and although the Djinn's makeup early in
the film looks a little cheap, the kill scenes are inspired. You gotta love a
movie that gives the audience what it wants. (The sequence in the "hall of
warriors" where warrior statues come to life is just brilliant.)
Unfortunately the characters are all cardboard and the acting
is sub par at best, with only Divoff showing promise. Lead Tammy Lauren is a
bore, and her investigation into the ruby's history is what bathroom breaks are
made for.
I've always believed that the most entertaining horror
films are the ones where you root for the bad guy to win. I rooted for the
Djinn, but as we all know, Michael never won in the "Halloween"
movies, neither did Jason in the "Friday
the 13th" movies,
and Freddy certainly never went home happy in the "Nightmare on Elm
Street" films. The Djinn is all-powerful and can kill with a thought, but
we all know his defeat is a given by film's end.
Movie Grade: 3/5
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Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999) A Movie Review by Nix
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The Djinn is back, and this time he's meaner, leaner, and funnier – which,
incidentally, also describes the film's budget. Since "Wishmaster 2: Evil
Never Dies" is a direct-to-video/cable production, the franchise has now
officially begun its B-Movie Horror run.
The sequel picks up where the original left off, with the
defeated Djinn imprisoned in his red ruby. He isn't imprisoned for long, when a
pair of thieves breaks into the museum and steals the ruby, and during a
gunbattle the Djinn's ruby is broken in half. Unleashed back into the world, the
Djinn continues on his quest to make enough wishes (and kill enough people) in
order to reach his goal. (See the above review for the original for reference
regarding said "goal.")
When you need a lot of condemned souls fast, where do you
go? Why, to Las Vegas, of course! But first, the Djinn gets himself arrested
(yes, that's right, arrested) and is sentenced to a maximum-security
prison where he gets his pick of the prisoners. Of course, this also gives the
Djinn more opportunity to kill people and make bad one-liners, which he does
plenty of both.
On the Djinn's track this time is one half of the thieves
that set the Djinn loose and a priest. The duo talks, investigates (re: bores
us), before finally chasing the Djinn to Vegas where the final battle begins.
Well, actually, this isn't the final battle, because parts 3 and 4 are already
out on video store shelves everywhere.
The budget for "Wishmaster 2" is smaller, but the
kills are still quite clever. It's always fun to try to guess ahead of time how
the Djinn will twist a person's wish around. There isn't nearly as much gore as
the first, and the lead character's investigation and nightmares about the Djinn
are all essentially remakes from the original. Still, despite the Djinn's power
seeming less grand, star Andrew Divoff seems to have a much better handle on his
character, and he's fabulous as the Djinn, who doesn't seem as much
"evil" as he is just wicked.
And if you're like me, you always wanted to see what it
would look like if a man could, ahem, make love to himself.
Writer/director Jack Sholder has apparently always wondered the same thing…
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