Movie Info
Movie Name: Wishmaster
Studio: Live Entertainment
Genre(s): Horror
Release Date(s): September 19, 1997
MPAA Rating: R
I’m pretty cool looking for a lame movie!
An ancient djinn (Andrew Divoff) is trapped within a stone and hidden within a statue. When the stone is discovered in the statue, the djinn is freed to wreak havoc on the public. With three wishes, the djinn might grant dreams, but those dreams can quickly become nightmares…and the djinn could destroy the world.
Directed by Robert Kurtzman, Wishmaster was a horror monster film. The film was the first of a series and only film in the series to be released to theaters. The movie is available on DVD in a double pack with the sequel Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies.
Wishmaster is one of those horribly generic horror film franchises. The movie was released after the big Scream boom (it was produced by Wes Craven) but feels more like a traditional horror movie than many of the horror films being released at the time. This entry in the series is a step-up to some in that it has lots of homages to other horror films. With an interesting power, the djinn should be a good creature…instead, it is laughable.
Kane Hodder says freeze!
Wishmaster seems pretty desperate for a plot. With all the good monsters used, we get a lame djinn who can even act under his own power. As with all classic stories of wishing, wishing is a double edge and most of the people (even the ones who know he’s a djinn) make possibly the stupidest wishes which could obviously be misconstrued.
The main cast is pretty weak. Tammy Lauren isn’t a very convincing and Andrew Divoff is so-so as the evil djinn. The movie features appearances by horror actors A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Robert Englund, Friday the 13th’s Kane Hodder, Candyman’s Tony Todd, Day of the Dead’s Joseph Pilato, Ted Raimi, Phantasm’s Reggie Bannister and a voiceover by Angus Scrimm. Plus, Verne Troyer of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Goldmember plays the small version of the djinn.
It’s Mini-Me Wishmaster…no really Verne Troyer
The movie is pretty low budget. There are some nice shots (like Kane Hodder stuck in the glass), but for the most part, it is rather low budget effects. This would have worked in the ‘’80s, but Wishmaster came out late enough that it seems like it should have looked better.
Wishmaster isn’t that great of a movie and with a low budget and a rather positive box-office it managed to spin itself into a franchise. Divoff returns as the djinn, but the movie loses the fun cameos. Wishmaster was followed by Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies in 1999.
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