Wishmaster

This was one of my first horror movies (one of many). I first saw it when I was eleven. Back then it was extremely scary, but now, nine years later, it still had those "peekaboo"-moments.

If you want a scary and well made horror movie with a thrilling plot, this is not something for you. But if you want a gory, humorers and easygoing b-movie, this is just what you are looking for.

Although I usually like extremely complex plots, I also like watching movies with plots a three-year old could come up with - like Wishmaster and most action movies. The heroine is cliché - traumatizing past, strong and willful, protective older sister to an impulsive younger. The djinn is also quite cliché, with his cunning and evil ways. He has "I am not going to succeed in my evil quest to enslave mankind" written all over his face.

The movie is all about gruesome and gory things happening to people. Most things that happen are funny and gory. It's not like those movies that look away when the blade meets the neck - here we see everything, the camera even stays to show us what it looks like afterward.

Entertaining - but not much more.

I first saw Wishmaster at a midnight screening at the London Trocadero in summer 1998. I had been awake for nearly 24 hours but needed to kill some time. I was only 17, not old enough to get into the 18-rated movie, and it scared the hell out of me.

As we get older, fewer and fewer movies have the ability to scare us as we all get more savvy and jaded to the formulaic nature of most horror films. I don't know what it was about Wishmaster that spooked me so bad, but I've been a fan of the film ever since.

On a technical level, Wishmaster suffers from shoddy production design and direction that is barely above that of a cheap daytime soap opera. The acting is mostly appalling (with the exception of Andrew Divoff, who ravages the role of the Djinn/Demerest), and some of the dialogue is clunky. But, as a whole, the movie excels on pure energy alone. I mean, not only do you have more in-jokes than you can possibly count but even Jack the Ripper himself turns up before Lemmy sings hard rock over the closing credits.

There's so much potential, imagination, and over-the-top carnage that the film just whizzes by. A lot of the potential isn't taken full advantage of (the 90 minute runtime keeps things to the bare minimum) but it sets up enough mythology to justify three sequels, the first sequel being the only decent one, however.

The plot focuses on the Djinn, that's Wishmaster to you, and his efforts to take over the world. As you can see...it's pure hokum but it's the gory bits in between and the Djinn's wisecracking that make this movie worth the money. The Djinn will never be as infamous or as iconic as Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers etc, but that's not to say that he's not an utterly brilliant character. Divoff is absolutely perfect in the role. Even if all he did was real aloud from phone book he'd be mesmerizing.

If you like gore, ghoulish make-up effects, and don't mind horror humor that feels like it was conjured up by a bunch of drunken frat boys, then you'll find plenty to like about Wishmaster.

Despite being marketed heavily as a 'Wes Craven film,' the horror mastermind neither wrote nor directed this campy nineties splatter-fest. Also, if you were drooling at the thought of seeing Freddy, Candyman and Jason on the same billing (Robert Englund, Tony Todd and Kane Hodder are all in it) then you may be a little disappointed, as their input amounts to just a few cameos here and there. Anyway, minor gripes out of the way, 'Wishmaster' is actually pretty good fun - if you're into this sort of film.

While bringing an ancient statue to America, it accidentally breaks, releasing a big blue cartoon genie, voiced by Robin Williams, who happily makes various pop culture references and grants our plucky young hero the wishes he needs to win the princess' heart. No, not really. This is one genie you wouldn't find in a Walt Disney movie - he delights in making all the wishes he grants impact on the person who made them in the most negatively-bad way possible. Plus he's not half as sweet as Robin William's classic genie - this one has fangs, red eyes and all sorts of weird, slippery appendages sprouting out of him. Now, it's up to our leading lady, Alexandra Amberson (played by a Linda Hamilton-esque Tammy Lauren) to get this genie back in his bottle - so to speak.

I know a lot of hard-core fans objected to the 'change' in the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' films when Freddy started becoming less scary and more comedic, taking pleasure in his kills with a snappy one-liner here and there. Well, if you (like me!) didn't mind this, then you should also enjoy 'Wishmaster.' The titular evil character is certainly a villain of the latter Freddy films, taking his time to mess with his victims, rather than kill them outright. I felt this possibly works better here in 'Wishmaster' than the 'Elm Street' franchise because the Wishmaster himself - technically - can't kill anyone outright. He has to mess with them enough to get them to (inadvertently) kill themselves. Yes, that sounds a bit weird and you'll have to watch the film to see how.

The film has a real 'nineties' feel; it's not just the clothes, scenery and hairstyles, but it was part of the latter half of the decade where horror films really started to make a comeback (largely due to 'Scream' I seem to recall) and they were really having fun with the budget they were given. Yes, there are hardly any A-list actors involved and the script is a little clunky as times, but there are plenty of excellent practical effects, creepy sets and a genuine desire to try and do something (a little) different.

Wishmaster' isn't 'dark and brooding' like today's horror films, but if you're in a forgiving mood and don't expect too much, this one is certainly entertaining enough to keep you occupied for an hour and a half. Plus is spawned numerous sequels (although not as many as Freddy or Jason), but that's hardly a benchmark with which to judge a horror film, is it?

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")

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.