5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A pleasant surprise, November 2, 2000
As I nestled in for Halloween night with a couple of horror flicks, I really didn't expect anything more than the usual cookie cutter blood and slash fare that is to be expected in a watered down genre. What I found in Wes Craven's Wishmaster, was a smart and original film. It revolves around a population of "Djinn" (pronounced like gin) who are supernatural jeannies dwelling in the void between the worlds. The Djinn bide their time till they are able to find some poor smuck willing to make 3 wishes, at which time the door to our world will be opened up and allow the Djinn to rule. I found this to be an original idea for once. I can't remember seeing any other film quite like it. The effects and make up are done nicely and the acting was not too bad either. I didn't think the movie was particularly scary, but in today's time, not many new horror movies are. What it is, though, is an entertaining supernatural thriller. Can't bring myself to give it 5 stars just for the simple fact that I think the filmmakers confuse gore with scary. The gore/death scenes in this film are very reminiscent of the Hellraiser series, with some extraordinarily vivid images of torturous death. However, sometimes its the things we don't see that truly scare us most. All in all, I would recommend this film to most, just be sure you have a strong stomach.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
MAKE YOUR WISHEEUAAAAHHHSSS!!!!!!!!!!, April 24, 2005
Now, I'm not necessarily gonna say that 'Wishmaster' is 'good', in the conventional sense, but damned if it isn't extremely amusing. It's hard to say how we're supposed to take this movie, as it isn't a parody, but it doesn't really seem to be entirely serious either. And frankly, it really never works as a horror movie, but amusing is amusing, and this movie is damn amusing. That's all it takes.
About 4 of the 5 stars go towards Andrew Divoff's absolutely fabulous high camp performance as the Wishmaster himself. Everything about him is great, particularly his ridiculous voice and his whole sleazy, pseudo-high class look and attitude. And the dialogue the give him is absolutely priceless, particularly in the scenes where he must manipulate people into wishing for something. I can't describe it really, but trust me, he's totally great.
Most of the special effects aren't exactly realistic, but they are fun and cool, in a KNB fx sorta way. The big scene at the beginning is particularly sweet, with the crawling snake-monster-man. The big party at the end is pretty cool too, though nothing there matches the snake dude. And, even though the concept itself is pretty stupid, the conceit that a genie can manipulate one's wishes to kill them allows for plenty of potential amusement, which is exploited nicely here. He kinda cheats some, but who the hell cares. And, all the roles and cameos for horror icons are kinda fun too. They got Kane Hodder, Ted Raimi, Robert Englund, Angus Scrimm, Reggie Bannister, Tony Todd, Joseph Pilato and maybe a few others than I missed or forgot.
Yeah, I'm done. This movie rules.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tammy Lauren and Wishmaster, July 22, 2001
A genie is rubbed out of an ancient opal and terrorizes poor Alex Amberson with the visions of his killings. WISHMASTER is an excellent low budget horror flick, one of the best. Complete with bloody special affects and a fabulous performance given by TAMMY LAUREN, not to mention, three horror movie villians (Freddy [ROBERT ENGLAND], Jason [KANE HODDER] , the Candyman [TONY TODD]) and the special appearance of Mini-me [VERNE TROYER]What more could you ask for in a movie? ANDREW DIVOFF does a wonderful job as the infamous Djinn and him and TAMMY LAUREN have a classic predator/prey relationship. It is a shame that his appearances on MARTIAL LAW and WALKER TEXAS RANGER, were missed oppurtunities to have him and Miss Lauren on other works together. When purchasing WISHMASTER be prepared for a bumpy ride and intelligent plot twists that keeps you saying, "What is happening?!" Fear one thing in all there is, Fear the Djinn.
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