Wes Craven Presents Wishmaster (1997)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Jeff "

  
  Wishmaster is an interesting idea for a horror flick. The film presents the viewer with the plot of an evil genie who grants you three wishes, but destroys your life without you enjoying what you desire. The actor playing the Djinn, Andrew Divoff is good here, and he makes the film… More
  Wishmaster is an interesting idea for a horror flick. The film presents the viewer with the plot of an evil genie who grants you three wishes, but destroys your life without you enjoying what you desire. The actor playing the Djinn, Andrew Divoff is good here, and he makes the film better. The film tends to rely on excessive violence and gore to create the horror. In some way it tries to elevate the film a bit. However, it doesn't really work at times. This is still entertaining for what it is, but the script does show its limitations, and you know that it could have been much better. With this film they just stuck with a traditional formula for horror violence, instead of exploring further the concept of an evil genie. I think the film at times lacked focus, and it brought it down a notch. If you're looking for a good film, then this is it. However don't expect anything remarkable. With its interesting idea, I was surprised how under developed the film was. I felt that it was a good flick, but it lacked something to really make it stand out, and be of real interest for horror fans. Expect something good with this one, and you may not be disappointed. Despite its interesting idea, Wishmaster ends up just being another gore induced horror flick. Though entertaining, this could have been a far better film too. For what it is, this is a mindless horror film worth watching because of its interesting ideas. However, you are left wanting more out of this film as well. Aside from lots of gore, which may appeal to the gore hounds out there, this film doesn't offer anything really remarkable in terms of genuine chills and terror.

• moon r

  
  The director began as a makeup artist ... which means lotsa makeup effects, lots of them (its the reason for the film), but with a lame-o script there's not a lot of reasons for them. Still the premise is good even if the execution leaves a lot to be desired, and so its a good… More
  The director began as a makeup artist ... which means lotsa makeup effects, lots of them (its the reason for the film), but with a lame-o script there's not a lot of reasons for them. Still the premise is good even if the execution leaves a lot to be desired, and so its a good night with a bad movie.

• Dean !

  
  A fun idea for a new slasher premise, at least 3 sequels were made. The SFX do look a bit dated now and the gore effects, along with a lot of elements to the film do look a little low budget. With Wes Craven as exec producer and starring Robert Englund and cameos by Tony Todd and Kane… More
  A fun idea for a new slasher premise, at least 3 sequels were made. The SFX do look a bit dated now and the gore effects, along with a lot of elements to the film do look a little low budget. With Wes Craven as exec producer and starring Robert Englund and cameos by Tony Todd and Kane Hodder adds a few nice touches for the horror fans. Andrew Divoff plays the evil Djinn very well and with a dark sense of humour. It is a bit cheesy but has a certain charm to it, one for gore fans and horror buffs will enjoy it more than most.

• Luke B

  
  With all the slashers that came after Scream, it's nice to see a gimmicky supernatural monster doing the rounds. Rather than haunting dreams, this guy grants wishes, but uses a number of amusing play on word jokes, to make sure the wishes end in disaster. It's a bit of fun,… More
  With all the slashers that came after Scream, it's nice to see a gimmicky supernatural monster doing the rounds. Rather than haunting dreams, this guy grants wishes, but uses a number of amusing play on word jokes, to make sure the wishes end in disaster. It's a bit of fun, with some dodgy CGI, and nice practical effects. More for gore than genuine chills. Divoff has a lot of fun as the Djinn, and there are plenty of horror icon cameo's to spot. A fun evenings viewing.

• Conner R

  
  Andrew Divoff (a.k.a Mikael from lost) made this movie worth watching. He is probably one of the best villains, but the movie suffers from cheap effects and a dragging plot. It makes no sense at times, but it has a lot of unintentionally hilarious moments.

• Anthony L

  
  Fun idea. I liked the orgy scene but a lot of the 'Wishes' didn't make sense, like the 'I wish I could escape' scene. Mindless fun.

• Jason S

  
  A plain horror movie that gave way to many sequels. Very straight to video in my opinion.

• Greg S

  
  A malevolent Djinn released into modern times will rule the world if he can trick a woman into asking him to grant her three wishes. Fun enough horror outing that could have been much better if it put as much effort into the cat-and-mouse aspects of the wishing game as it does the… More
  A malevolent Djinn released into modern times will rule the world if he can trick a woman into asking him to grant her three wishes. Fun enough horror outing that could have been much better if it put as much effort into the cat-and-mouse aspects of the wishing game as it does the (admittedly good) special effects.

• Curtis L

  
  Despite the numerous plot holes, silly storyline and equal acting, I must admit this film has great special effects and a high fun-factor. Any movie that can incorporate a guy turning into sand, skeletons ripping out of bodies and killing people, killer statues and the bum from back… More
  Despite the numerous plot holes, silly storyline and equal acting, I must admit this film has great special effects and a high fun-factor. Any movie that can incorporate a guy turning into sand, skeletons ripping out of bodies and killing people, killer statues and the bum from back to the future gets an A in my book.

• Kylie B

  
  Not as cheesy as I was expecting it to be, and some of the special effects are actually pretty, well, effective.

• Emily A

  
  Oh man. I imagine that it's really hard to come up with a really fresh new idea for a horror movie monster, but when you nail it, you've got a new classic on your hands. That's what happened here. A great monster, a really worthy heroine, great effects and a great… More
  Oh man. I imagine that it's really hard to come up with a really fresh new idea for a horror movie monster, but when you nail it, you've got a new classic on your hands. That's what happened here. A great monster, a really worthy heroine, great effects and a great ending. This movie is such a gem.

• Lafe F

  
  The Wishmaster is as great as Freddy Krueger; with his own history and set of powers. It was fascinating to see the gorey ways in which people got their wishes granted. Is a Djinn the same as a Genie?

• Lord N

  
  This is a redo. The more I thought about this film the worse it got. Acting/Characters: I am a sucker for Robert Englund and I enjoyed him in the film. There were a lot of people in here from prominent horror films such as Kane Hodder who played Jason, Tony Todd who played… More
  This is a redo. The more I thought about this film the worse it got. Acting/Characters: I am a sucker for Robert Englund and I enjoyed him in the film. There were a lot of people in here from prominent horror films such as Kane Hodder who played Jason, Tony Todd who played Candyman, Angus Scrimm who played The Tall Man, ect. That was good. But boy were the characters ridiculously stupid. Irritatingly so actually. And by the time they got the starfish off of Angelina Jolie's face, her lips had swelled to twice their normal size. Jon Voight started laughing and that's why they never talk. If you read that last sentence, congrats, you actually read my reviews and I appreciate that. That aside, the Djinn and Robert Englund were the two best characters in the film. The Djinn was good because as a character, he realized how stupid everyone else was and he took advantage of that. Englund is always entertaining. The main character got smarter by the end but overall the acting was sub-par, and the character were stupid. 1.5/10 Plot: Long story short a Djinn (evil Genie) is released from a gem and tricks people into making wishes so he gets their souls. It's not a hard thing for him to do really. The plot is mildly interesting and kept me focused on the movie. It wasn't too generic either which is always nice. I didn't shut it off out of boredom which is a plus (but I've only ever shut off 3 movies). I dunno, it was a fun film at times. 3/10 Screenplay: Pretty much on par with the genre. It was the weakest element. Wes Craven (usually) gives us a good screenplay but here the title is a misnomer. He just produces it. It did nothing more than move the story along. Although, I don't understand why the last word of the Djinn's lines always had to be over-enunciated. It was like a cross between Davy Jones and Reverend Lovejoy. Kind of irritating really. 1.5/10 Likableness: It wasn't so terrible. I enjoyed it for the most part but it wasn't very well made. It had some good special effects and they made the Djinn look pretty cool. But that's it for the most part. It wasn't anything more than that. Like I said before, you could do worse. You could do better. It was just "eeh" and that's it. 2/10 Final Score: 8/40 42% (M) TRIVIA TIME: 1. Characters named Finney, Beaumont, Derleth and Demerest are all references to science fiction or horror writers of the 1950s. 2. Many crew members, including director Robert Kurtzman (man killed by piano) had small roles in the film, some times appearing in different scenes as different characters.

• Leo L

  
  Great!

Read all 14 featured audience ratings