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Wishmaster (1997)
Wishmaster (1997)
1997 | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
7
6.8 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
What You Wish For
Wishmaster- is a good horror film. The concept/plot is intresting. Plus it has cameoes from horror icons: Robert Englund, Kane Hodder and Tony Todd.

The plot: A gemologist (Tammy Lauren) unwittingly frees an evil genie (Andrew Divoff) that plays deadly tricks on her friends and acquaintances.

Its a good film.
  
Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999)
Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999)
1999 | Horror
4
4.0 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Well it's not as good as the first I'm afraid, good to see Andrew Divoff back again as I think it was a new actor for the 3rd and 4th films. He hams up the Djin rather well, but the deaths are not as inventive as the first. I didn't think it was quite as gory as the first and it didn't have the dark humour of the first either. If you liked the first you might enjoy this, it just doesn't reach the heights of the first.
  
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Dean (6926 KP) rated Wishmaster (1997) in Movies

Jun 10, 2018 (Updated Jun 5, 2020)  
Wishmaster (1997)
Wishmaster (1997)
1997 | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
7
6.8 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Good Horror Premise
A fun idea for a new slasher premise, at least 3 sequels were made. The SFX do look a bit dated now and the gore effects, along with a lot of elements to the film do look a little low budget. With Wes Craven as exec producer and starring Robert Englund and cameos by Tony Todd and Kane Hodder adds a few nice touches for the horror fans. Andrew Divoff plays the evil Djinn very well and with a dark sense of humour. It is a bit cheesy but has a certain charm to it, one for gore fans and horror buffs will enjoy it more than most.
  
Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell (2001)
Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell (2001)
2001 | Horror
1
3.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
So, Wishmaster started off well enough but Christ, this series really dived head first into car crash mode.

This third entry into the not so beloved franchise isn't good-bad, or fun-bad - it's actually a festering shit pile masquerading as a straight-to-video B-Movie.
The effects are terrible and cheap, the dlailogue is laughable. The main protagonist is the least likable of the series, which is saying something. Every character in this shitty fiasco is poorly written. The music cues are intrusive and out of place, the editing is completely bizarre (surely a lot of the crew had to be drunk just to get through this)...
I'm not sure what I expected to be honest, but my expectations were absolutely exceeded.

It doesn't even have Andrew Divoff in it, the highlight of the first, and the only good thing about the second Wishmaster. He's replaced by John Novak in Djinn mode (who is fine by the way, the three or so minutes of full make up screentime is just about passable) and by Jason Connery (son of Sean) when he's in human mode. I don't recall seeing Jason Connery in anything else, and I'm sure he's a perfectly fine actor, but in this, he is literally David Brent. Once I noticed this, I couldn't get past it, and any evil he may have been trying to convey was lost in his Brent-ness. Unintentionally hilarious, but didn't make the film any less shit.

Wishmaster 3 is terrible. Don't do it to yourself.
  
Wishmaster (1997)
Wishmaster (1997)
1997 | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
6
6.8 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Robert Kurtzman, Wes Craven, and Greg Nicotero - a match made in heaven surely? Not quite it turns out, but almost. For all it's cheesiness and cheap jump scares, Wishmaster is still a load of fun, with some fantastic practical effects and a handful of big name horror cameos.

The effects are what stand out the most - there are some shitty CGI moments spread about but the majority of the gory moments are practical and rightly disgusting. A mere two minutes in, some poor fuckers skeleton becomes sentient and rips out from his body. It's glorious. Other than that, Wishmaster coasts along on the strength of its villain, The Djinn, played by Andrew Divoff. He's suitably creepy both in human form and in full make up, and gives the film a whole heap of credit, even if the way he pronounces stuff becomes a little grating after a while.
Having Wes Craven as a producer clearly pays off, as multiple horror stalwarts pop up throughout the runtime - Robert Englund, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder, Ted Raimi - some top tier cameos for sure. Even Angus Scrimm pops up to do a bit of narrating!

Everything else is a little lackluster. The premise is ok, but full of holes, and the ending feels like a bit of a cop out, and lead actress Tammy Lauren just seems like she's in the wrong film for the most part.

Wishmaster unfortunately never manages to excel above it's ridiculous opening scene, and is pretty mediocre overall, but it still has a lot to offer to horror fans, and I can't help but enjoy it.
  
Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999)
Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999)
1999 | Horror
3
4.0 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Alternative/goth female lead? Check. Atrocious CGI? Check. Casual homophobic slurs? Check. We are deep into shitty 90s straight-to-video territory here.

Wishmaster 2 is a big step down from the first film in almost every way. In its defense, it had a pretty small budget, but Christ it looks cheap. All of the characters are boring and under-developed, the lead character is somehow more irritating than the girl from the first Wishmaster, some of the acting on display is pretty horrific and the sound mix is just all over the place.
I found myself forgetting the general plot as I was watching it - what the fuck was that Russian gangster side plot all about?

If there are some positives to take from Wishmaster 2 (and believe me, there aren't many) then the best one is obviously Andrew Divoff, returning as The Djinn. He hams it up a storm, and provides the only entertainment value this movie has to offer. I will also say that the make up work on his demonic form looks pretty good.
Aside from that, there are a couple of good gore scenes, the guy forcing himself through the prison bars is a particularly gratuitous and bloody moment and the practical effects are decent enough, it's just that these fleeting moments of something resembling quality are few and far between. There's also a bit where a guy contorts his body to literally fuck himself, so there's that...

Overall then, Wishmaster 2 is pretty crap, which is a shame, as the flawed but entertaing first movie showed some franchise potential. Can't wait to put myself through Wishmaster 3 and 4....