13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Divoff makes them worth watching!, May 22, 2002
Yeah, I admit it, they're guilty pleasures. Wishmaster and Wishmaster 2 are low-budget horror films featuring a malevolent genie (definitely not of the Robin Williams variety) who grants people's wishes in wickedly ironic ways, then steals their souls. The scripts are comic-book thin, basically an excuse for us to see what horrible but unintended wish the genie will grant next. You'd think one movie like this would be enough.
That is, until you see Andrew Divoff's performance in Wishmaster 2. This has to be one of the great horror performances in history, up there with Lugosi and Karloff's best. Get this -- Divoff spends most of the film out of makeup, with nothing but his own face to convey a sense of inhuman menace. Somehow, he pulls it off. The guy manages to look terrifyingly feral, inhumanly evil as he grins cruelly and sneers at us with a voice that is part Orson Welles, part Vincent Price. Wow! Regardless of what you think of the plot, special effects, etc., Divoff's performance makes the DVD set worth buying.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"I Can Smell Your Fear.......", May 31, 2004
In the first Wishmaster movie, we are introduced to the Djinn, an evil genie that has a great amount of power, yet it can only be used in the form of granting wishes. Of course, his wishes do not come without a price. When the person who has awoken the Djinn makes a third and final wish, a doorway between a world of evil and the world as we know it opens, allowing the army of the Djinn free reign of the Earth and it's inhabitants. In this first film, a gem specialist named Alexandra comes across the huge fire opal in which the Djinn resides, and upon inspecting the opal awakens the Djinn (Andrew Divoff). As people's souls are being stolen, and lives are being taken by the Djinn, she investigates the Persian legends behind the creature in hopes of finding a way to defeat him and send him back into the confines of the fire opal. Will she prevail, or will human greed win her conscience and cause her to make all three wishes?
In the sequel to the aforementioned film, a few people break into the esteemed Beaumont collection and steal some valuable pieces of art. In doing so, they sound alarms and are confronted by guards. In a hurried rush to exit the building, one of the thieves knocks over a Persian sculpture (the Ahura Mazda) and finds lodged inside a huge fire opal. Morgana (Holly Fields) grabs the opal, thus awakening to Djinn to again wreak havoc on the world. Cops arrive to find the Djinn disguised as a human, and arrest him for the robbery in addition to the murders of some of the guards. During his time in jail, the Djinn tempts several inmates into making wishes. It's up to Morgana to find a way to send back the evil she unintentionally awoke.
Both of these movies are great, and are definitely some of the better films with Wes Craven's name on them. The effects are spectacular. From the very first scene in the first film, the viewer is cringing in disgust. At the same time, one must laugh at the sick and twisted way the Djinn fulfills peoples wishes. He epitomizes the infamous phrase "be careful what you wish for." There is certainly an excellent balance between gore, scares, and dark humor that is pulled off quite well in both of these films. For B horror flicks, the acting is also superb. Andrew Divoff does an excellent job playing a creepy, evil, twisted genie. There are some notable cameos as well by people such as the "Candyman" (Tony Todd) and Jason Vorhees (Kane Hodder), actors who any fan of the genre can appreciate.
Both of these are great horror films that should be added to anyone's library, particularly if you are a fan of Wes Craven, or even just some great splatter/gore films. When you consider the fact that these are basically two movies for the price of one, I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to go ahead and purchase these films!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who says the sequel cant be better !?, July 5, 2001
This sequel is in my opinion a little bit better then the previous one due to the lack of gore and blood that filled the screen until you just could`nt take it any more, dont get me wrong i liked the first one but it kind of felt like the plot all through the movie was based on blood but Wishmaster 2 had more well scripted deathcounts the plot was basicly a lot better although Wes Craven was`nt involved among with a numerous set of actors for example Robert Englund, Kane Hodder and Tammy Lauren
but Wishmaster 2 took the lead in my opinion anyway.
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