Wishmaster is awesome. It’s fun, it’s creepy, and it has a legendary villain. Not to mention, the opening sequence is one of the coolest I’ve seen.  For me, it is a classic metric to measure other wish-based movies against. So, let’s get into why. 

.Directed by: Robert Kurtzman

Written by: Peter Atkins

Starring: Tammy Lauren. Andrew Divoff. Angus Scrimm

Wishing for More Wishes

I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve done a wish-based horror movie. When they are good, they are fun and complex. When they are bad, they are cheesy and honestly, they cheat. Wishmaster avoids some major traps while still handling the magic elements in a fun and frightening manner. 

The plot kicks off when a drunk dockworker drops a crate and shatters a statue revealing a gem where a Djinn is imprisoned. The Djinn goes on a wish-granting rampage in order to collect souls. In the end though, he needs the person who freed him to make three wishes in order to take over the world. It’s a little convoluted but wish movies need rules. 

Wishes and Consequence

There is something appealing about the failure of easy answers. For all its popcorn appeal, I feel like Wishmaster nails it.  My favorite moment is after a man wishes a brutal death on a pharmacist, the Djinn asks him, “was it worth it?”  He knows it wasn’t, and knows the cost of wishing so horribly.  The Djinn enjoys it, however. It’s what makes him so fun to watch. We don’t get a lot of villains like him any more: true agents of chaos and evil with no sympathetic backstory.  He’s helped by a fantastic vocal delivery by Andrew Divoff. 

In Wishmaster, Djinn use people’s fears and anger to grant wishes in order to take control of souls and eventually the world. The movie shows us that it’s not that hard to get people to want bad things. It’s pretty easy, actually. I find this to be realistic. There are so many people in real life who cheat and lie to go down the easy path.  

It’s also a little bit about not thinking through consequences.  A simple idea gets twisted easily by an evil mind. It’s fun!  Word your wishes carefully people.

Why I love 90’s Horror

So many characters in Wishmaster are terrible people. It’s a snapshot of the late ‘90s, probably one of the more cynical times in my life. This feels like a reminder of cosmic retribution for our past greed.  Maybe we’re due for another reminder.  

As far as final girls go, Alex is a pretty good one. She’s got a whole personality outside of what is happening. She coaches basketball for kids and plays tennis.  She has an exploitable trauma that she eventually moves past to defeat the Djinn. 

The Paradox of Time

This is my favorite wish ending because it accurately identifies the correct way to undo the chaos.  It’s a bit of a paradox, with time travel and everything.  Alex seems to remember the events that occurred afterward, probably since she made the wish. The movie ends before we can really dig into this. 

I haven’t seen any of the sequels, so I’m not sure if they get more into better ways to undo the Djinn’s chaos.  

Cast

Wishmaster has an amazing cast.  Robert Englund is a sleazy antiquities collector. Ted  Raimi gets deservedly flattened in the first act. Kane Hodder is a security guard, and Tony Todd is a bouncer. Angus Scrimm is the narrator. 

But the all-star contributions don’t end with the cast. Greg Nicotero worked on creature effects. Wes Craven and Robert Kurtzman executive produced. 

The amount of effort that was put into Wishmaster was in hopes of creating a franchise, but it wasn’t well-received at the time.  It’s found a bit of a cult following in later years, in part due to the insane party sequence and over the top performance from the Djinn. 

Final Thoughts

Wishmaster is a fun time. It’s not the smartest script, but it gets the job done. If what you want is a monster that just wants to have fun being evil, this delivers. If you want elevated horror, look elsewhere. 

Wishmaster is available on Tubi.