Wishmaster (1997) - I Would Wish for Better Dialogue

 

The very first sparks of my love of collecting box sets or “collection” DVDs and Bluray, which is my primary hobby that costs money these days and one of the biggest things that makes me happy, were looking through $5 DVDs at Wal-Mart and finding collections of low-budget horror films that had at least one or two gems on it. Some of the ones I had at the time (but sadly no longer) included a few Child’s Play sequels, one compilation with the fantastic May (2002) on it, and another that had both Wishmaster and Wishmaster 2 which was one of my favorites. However, it has maybe been over a decade since I have watched either Wishmaster film as most of those DVDs were eventually destroyed by a leak problem in my previous apartment while stored in a closet. After taking a bit of a break with my last few movies on this blog, I figured it was as good a time as any to get back into that b-movie genre garbo I love.

Revisiting it, it is not surprising the series is easily found on DVD compilations and free-with-ads streamers, because it is real mixed bag. So much of the film is shot with this soft focus that makes it feel like a 90s Showtime original or Skinemax production, which is made a whole lot worse by the fact that it’s a rare horror film that primarily seems to be shot during daylight hours there’s always a dull, almost smoky light shining through numerous windows. The film relies on CGI for some of its kills and transformations, and late 90s CGI often hasn’t aged well with bigger budget productions let alone a project like this, it is really bad. The screenplay beyond the core story is really bad, whether it be some of the lamest one-liners and retorts I’ve ever heard, or spending so much of the film just straight dumping exposition in your lap at every turn, or the real hit-or-miss nature of the creativity of each kill. Tammy Lauren as the lead is one of the weakest parts of the film, but I will give her credit in that she has had an extensive television career and seems to be a pro, I’m just going to write it off as being given just zero really to work with both in terms of the script and sometimes scene partners to form chemistry with, with nobody except who is noted below giving much of a performance and some like her boss in the film are just downright awful.

There’s plenty of reasons for a horror/slasher fan to be happy though. It is totally competently directed, with some sequences like the inside of the djinn’s gemstone being really neat and a triumph in set design, lighting, and camera movement. The makeup/prosthetic effects not just on the djinn himself but also in the various kills that don’t rely on CGI is really strong, Executive Producer Wes Craven was likely proud when he saw what they managed to do on gore and creature design, especially in the big climax that takes place in a museum (I may have made a Nightmare in the Museum joke to my groupchat while watching it) complete with statues coming to life and the like.

Andrew Divoff’s performance is the real driver of the film, and while nobody would say he gives a traditionally good performance, he has a devilish grin and hellish deep voice like few others and he relishes when the few actually badass lines in a script short of them come his way. Little scenery is left unchewed, and it is consistently entertaining. The smartest move the film makes is instead of filling its “slasher fodder” roles with a bunch of random people as is the case in most films, they instead call in favors of absolute heavyweights. Buck Flower plays his signature homeless man role with the absolute most entertaining one-liners and insults in the entire film, and he does just as well as always. For horror fans, there’s Robert Englund in a major supporting role and cameos from the likes of Kane Hodder, Tony Todd, and Ted Raimi who all steal every second they are on camera just by pure nature who they are but also giving good performances in the case of Englund and Todd.

Wishmaster is a film that loves horror movies and was one of the first in the post-Scream world to jump on the slasher bandwagon, but it is also pretty flawed in many different ways that make it less enjoyable than some of its brethren of that time. If you love slasher films, then you will probably find enough to enjoy about Wishmaster to make it worth a fairly warm recommendation, lord knows there are countless films in the genre that have a fraction of the fun here. If you want a good overall horror film? You could probably make a lot better choices.