Wishmaster Reviews

There is no bias in any way against horror. Quite the contrary, and have always actively made an effort not to show any bias against any genre (likewise with towards too) in order to be fair-minded. Even if there are more films that aren't my cup of tea in one genre. Horror is not my favourite of all the numerous film genres, but do still highly appreciate it. It has its fair share of classics with some deservedly iconic characters but has an equal number of misfires.

Was not quite sure what to make of 'Wishmaster'. Was reasonably entertained, it will be said, and there are good things that stop it from being a mess, but would hesitate to call it a good film let alone a classic as there in my mind are a good deal of things to criticise it for. Can see why there are people who have affection for it, at the same time the easy target for criticism is understandable as things here that have been known to annoy even the most open minded of film reviewers are here. Will say though that as far as the 'Wishmaster' franchise goes, this is the best and most watchable one by quite some way from personal opinion.

Lets start with the good things. For low-budget, some aspects don't look too bad. Some of it looks reasonably slick and could tell that some effort had been made doing the special effects as some do look decent and are used creatively. The kills are also pretty inventive visually and in methods, not coming over as too predictable. The skeleton coming out the flesh was a standout in terms of memorable moments. There are moments that amuse and jolt and there is an element of affectionate nostalgia seeing horror icons Robert Englund, Kane Hodder and Tony Todd show up and not in a way that's squandered and its 1980s slasher throwback feel.

Music score may not enhance what happens, but it doesn't detract, didn't intrude or be too obvious and had its haunting moments. The best thing about 'Wishmaster' is Andrew Divoff, both fun to watch and suitably malevolent.

Did feel however that Tammy Lauren was a bit bland in the lead role and the character failed to be well developed or worth rooting for, not because she was annoying or anything but more that the character was sketchy and dull. Not all the production values are great, with some other effects being shoddy and rushed-looking and a good deal of the film has a dreary carelessly put together look. The direction isn't amateurish but doesn't really do anything special and it felt somewhat uninspired.

It's the script and story where 'Wishmaster' fares least successfully. It is very difficult keeping a straight face hearing a lot of the dialogue, which came over as excessively cheesy and stilted. The story had a promising set up and started off reasonably but then felt over-stretched too early, further suffering from a limp pace, the second half drags badly, and favouring overuse of sometimes gratuitous over-gruesome gore (that also looked cheap) over any tension and suspense, neither of which there was anywhere near of. When there is no nail-biting, palm-sweating or heart-pounding, apart from the odd jolt, there is something wrong. It wasn't stupid, intelligence insulting or unintentionally comical that were the problems, it just felt too dull and bland.

Overall, something of a mixed bag here. 5/10

Maybe cliched and a somewhat poorly acted heroine but it’s acting (besides the heroine Alexandra who wasn’t acting good), effects, scares, kills and Andrew divoff will not disappoint.

Im not being ironic when I say I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Wishmaster is essentially a retelling of the great early 1900's story The Monkeys Paw (as popularily spoofed by The Simpsons) mixed with some genie imagery, and it is nothing if not a refreshingly ambitious horror movie. The movie itself is so convinced by its own awesomeness that it actually becomes somewhat awesome. It's as though the filmmakers decided for themselves that the evil Djinn is in fact the coolest thing to ever come alive on screen and so they take multiple chances that the audience will love it just as much as they do. And I've gotta say, it nearly worked. The Djinn, in his early stages, is very inspired by the Emperor of Star Wars, and is so cheeky, corny, and poetically diabolical that he becomes a real joy to watch. His efforts to fool people into making a wish (which thereby lends him more power) are so forced and clumsy that it actually becomes charming in a cheesy, wow, you guys are really trying kind of way. The performances in this film are usually passable or, sometimes, better and the story works if you just let it be what it is without too many critical demands. It's the rare film that lets you tear it apart mercilessly, while secretly knowing all the while that there is some real fun being had. It's almost inexplicable how this movie is any good at all, but maybe the director wished it to be good, and so it came to be.