Wishmaster

Geez, after reading all the thumbs-down reviews, I feel almost embarrassed. I _liked_ Wishmaster. No, the idea of wishes-gone-awry isn't particularly original, but there are still some interesting elements done with it: a guard says he'd like to see the Djinn go through him and...it does (heh). Tammy Lauren is adequate as the spunky heroine, and Andrew Divoff (mostly consigned to minor B-villain roles - check him out in the Highlander TV series) makes a chilling threat. Jenny O'Hara makes the most of her role as resident supernatural expert. Yes, the gore is excessive, but I'm not sure if that's a concession to the 90's audience, or a directorial conceit - I'm willing to assume its the former. For a supernatural thriller/horror (as opposed to a Scream-type slasher/thriller), Wishmaster strikes me as one of the better efforts to come along since the last Nightmare and the first Candyman.

Wishmaster marks a huge return for theatrical gore. What a splatterfest! That opening scene, are you kidding me? The KNB crew have blown me away again. From chest exploding skeletons to lizard men, it's well done and I applaud them. It's not just the prologue, it's the whole movie. There's one bit in particular where a guy gets his jaw ripped off. It's jaw-dropping (no pun intended). There is someone from nearly every important horror franchise, and some that aren't so important, in this flick. Cast and cameos include Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Tony Todd, Angus Scrimm and Reggie Bannister, Ted Raimi and Dan Hicks, Tom Savini, Ricco Ross, Peter Liapis, Joseph Pilato, and Buck Flower. Not to mention KNB effects group, Harry Manfredini did the score, Peter Atkins wrote the screenplay, Robert (K of KNB) Kurtzman directed, and Wes Craven is producing. This is an unreal cast and crew, a who's who of horror. Let's not forget who's leading this cast: Andrew Divoff. He has the one of the scariest, harshest voices of all time. He is the Djinn and he's cool as hell. I just can't understand why this wasn't as well received by the horror community as it should have been. As for the sequels, what sequels? Stick to the original and you can't go wrong.

Firstly, this is a movie that is defiantly B-Grade, and it shines all the more for it. It has a cast of iconic B-Grade horror movie stars - Tony "Candyman" Todd, Kane "Jason Voorhies" Hodder, Andrew Divoff, Ted Raimi, and of course the greatest (to me, personally) horror icon, Robert Englund. We also get cameos from Verne "Mini Me" Troyer, Angus "Tall Man" Scrimm (albeit only in voice form), John Carpenter staple George 'Buck' Flower, and Ricco "Frost from Aliens" Ross among others.

Despite being a 1997 movie, the special effects feel late-80s, as befitting it's B-Movie status, I guess, but they don't come across particularly bad or dated in any way.

The acting from our lead, Tammy Lauren, is everything you'd expect from a B Movie, but not always distractingly so, and the story is basic enough to bring the gore - an evil Djinn is released and twists wishes immediately, if not directly affecting the wisher.

It's worth a watch, even if just to see the aforementioned horror icons.

"Wishmaster" is better than I expected. It's quite a bit more entertaining than I thought it might be. As a direct-to-video series of horror flicks from the '90s, it had been on my radar for a long time, but I had never heard it spoken of or recommended, which is a shame.

Of course, it raises a flag that the movie was "executive produced" by Wes Craven. A lot of people have been burnt by that; generally people who don't know what an executive producer does, ie. nothing.

I wonder if the presence of the great, forever underrated Robert Englund ("A Nightmare on Elm Street") is owing to Craven's brand, however. And let's not forget the movie also features Tony Todd ("Candyman") and Kane Hodder ("Friday the 13th") in cameos, as well as Sam Raimi's brother Ted, and is narrated by Angus Scrimm, known as The Tall Man in "Phantasm".

The problem with the movie is that is doesn't hold together very well from scene to scene. It has many entertaining moments and good lines, but the story is simplistic, yet told in a confusing way. One indispensable aspect of these mid-'90s horror flicks is that they were made right before CGI came and ruined everything, and the movie has a lot of cool, practical gore effects.

In the beginning of the times, God created life into universe: light gave birth to angels, earth to men and fire to djin, creatures condemned to dwell in the void between the worlds. One who wakes a djin shall be given three wishes. Upon granting the third, an unholy legion of djins are freed through a doorway between the worlds upon the Earth. In 1127 A.D., in Persia, a sorcerer lures and traps a powerful Djinn (Andrew Divoff) in the stone of secret fire. In the present days, a drunken crane operator drops the valuable statue of Ahura Mazda over the assistant of Raymond Beaumont (Robert Englund) on the harbor, and one worker finds the huge and priceless opal red stone where Djin is seized. Alexandra Amberson (Tammy Lauren), who works in an auction house, receives the stone for evaluation and accidentally awakes Djin. The evil creature is released later, charges the stone with people souls and feeds with their fears, while chasing Alexandra to force to make three wishes and unleash the demoniac fiends upon Earth.

The gore and funny "Wishmaster" is good horror movie, with original deaths, great special effects (1997) and a refreshing story. Andrew Divoff, presently working in "Lost", is great in the role of the evil, witty and cynical Djin; the blonde Tammy Lauren performs a smart and clever character, following the Djin's advice ("- Make a wish, but think first") and luring and tricking the demon with her intelligence; and there is homage to horrors movie, with the participation of Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund and Tony "Candyman" Todd. I have watched this film at least four times along ten years and it is still one of my favorites in the genre. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Mestre dos Desejos" ("The Master of the Wishes")