Wishmaster (1997) Review

"Careful what you wish for."
-Djinn



Jewelry appraiser Alexandra Amberson (Tammy Lauren) is asked to appraiser a beautiful fire opal.  Unbeknownst to her, trapped inside the opal is an evil Djinn (Andrew Divoff), which is basically a genie.  The Djinn feeds off of wishes, but the wisher usually immediately regrets their wish, as it always come with a terrible price.  Alexandra accidentally frees the Djinn, and now she must prevent him from unleashing legions of Djinn upon the Earth.


What Works:

Wishmaster is a very dumb horror movie.  But it doesn't try to be anything else.  I can respect that.  Once you get past how silly this movie is, it's a lot of fun.  Andrew Divoff is excellent as the Djinn.  He really chews on the scenery, giving a very memorable performance.

The practical effects are really spectacular.  The filmmakers got really creative with most of the deaths and the various tortures the Djinn inflicts upon the wishers.  There is some really brutal stuff and some really creative gore.  I love stuff like this in my horror movies.  It's a lost art.  


What Sucks:

On the other hand of the effects spectrum, the CGI effects are terrible.  Granted, this movie was made in 1997, but ugh.  If you can't make the kill you want to do look good, try something different.

The worst part of the movie is definitely the protagonist, played by Tammy Lauren.  She's really bad. She's not even boring, she's just annoying and bad at acting.  She's no match for Andrew Divoff, which is a shame.  Good horror movies have good protagonists, and that's Wishmaster's biggest flaw.


Verdict:

Wishmaster is a fun, little horror movie with an awesome villain and great gore effects.  Sure, the protagonist sucks and so does the CGI, but I'd still recommend this movie to horror fans.

 6/10: OK 

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