To me, this movie is perfection.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Another typical clichéd horror outing boasting "Wes Craven Presents" before the title (at least it's not as bad as MIND RIPPER though), WISHMASTER is a painting-by-numbers affair which is slick, superficial, and instantly palatable. The story is your usual one of murders and serial killers, with a slimy genie taking the place of scarred Freddy Krueger. No originality exists in the film, so you're coming to the wrong place if you're looking for that. Scenes have been taken from ALIEN 3, HELLRAISER 2 and HELLRAISER 3, even BRAINDEAD, and the laughing at the end titles is more than slightly reminiscent of the end of EVIL DEAD 2.The film does, however, boast an extraordinary cast of horror film actors, and it's fun playing 'spot the actor', just like in THE DEMOLITIONIST. Angus Scrimm narrates, while Danny Hicks and Josef Pilato turn up in tiny, blink and you'll miss 'em roles. Reggie Bannister also appears (Phantasm's ice cream man), and I'm even sure I saw Tom Savini in there somewhere. However, main interest lies in appearances of four "luminaries" (at least in some quarters) in the horror genre. Kane Hodder (all-round stuntman and actor inside Jason's hockey mask) has a brief and ill-fated appearance and is at the receiving end of the Djinn's curses. Similarly, Tony Todd has another small role as a bodyguard, and makes the most of his material. Just to emphasise the links to Craven's earlier works, Robert Englund has a large role (slight bias here?) as an antiques dealer, who vomits up something nasty. And the fourth actor? That'll be Ted Raimi, who has made fleeting appearances in more films than I can remember, who is killed right at the beginning (when is this guy going to get lucky?).Tammy Lauren is sadly totally annoying and incompetent in her large role and overreacts and screams a lot (just like the obnoxious Penelope Ann Miller in THE RELIC), while Andrew Divoff is a suitably charming but purely evil bad guy who gives us the typical wisecracks (and also is strangely reminiscent of the Emperor from RETURN OF THE JEDI. What was I saying about originality?). Apart from watching out for the actors, there's also a lot of gore (a heck of a lot of gore, and the film is uncut...ironically, however, it's far more gory than some of the video nasties were). The various deaths throughout the film are well staged, while the torture parties are excellent, with blood spraying and internal organs coming out. The highlight is the skeleton at the beginning of the film which pulls itself out of someone's body and attacks another innocent victim! (ARMY OF DARKNESS anyone?). There is also a good scene with statues coming to life (although rather too JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS for my liking), and obviously CGI plays a big role again, but is not too noticeably bad here. WISHMASTER is a popcorn movie, nothing more, but it's entertaining enough for what it is and it could have been a lot worse (just thinking of MIND RIPPER gives me a headache). And I never thought I'd say this, but it's good to see a monster movie instead of the wave of boring slashers filling the cinemas at the moment.

According to this movie, genies (otherwise known as Djinn) are neither cute nor funny as 'I Dream of Jeannie' and "Aladdin" would have us believe. They're an ancient evil species that exist "between worlds", and only grant wishes because that's their obligation. One such Djinn (a delicious Andrew Divoff) is freed from his captivity inside a precious gem, and wreaks havoc on assorted Los Angelenos. His primary goal is to find the jewel appraiser, Alexandra Amberson (Tammy Lauren) who inadvertently freed him. If he grants *her* wishes, his kind will then have the ability to take over our world.The mythology is most amusing in this smorgasbord of special effects that marked an early directorial effort for makeup effects expert Robert Kurtzman. He and screenwriter Peter Atkins are obviously having fun; it's nice to see a movie for horror fans made *by* horror fans. (Atkins names a few of his characters after celebrated sci-fi and horror authors.) A steady supply of cameos from familiar performers in the genre is just one drawing card. Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund, Tony "Candyman" Todd, and Kane "Jason Voorhees" Hodder are just a few of them.There's a certain sadistic fun in watching people wish for things only for their wishes to backfire on them. And the movie is fun overall - nothing special, just solid, lively, well paced entertainment. And those plentiful effects are most certainly *not* gratuitous. The practical gore supplied by KNB is supplemented by a lot of great digital gags.Lauren is okay in the heroine role. Hers is a reasonably strong female character - she plays tennis, coaches girls' basketball - but she's also haunted by a tragedy in her long ago past. Englund is a hoot as a pretentious collector, and Chris Lemmon, Wendy Benson, and Tony Crane are fine in supporting parts, but it's Divoff who really commands most of the attention. He's wonderfully hammy, laying on the charm as well as the malevolence. Director Kurtzman cameos as the dude killed by the piano.Followed by three sequels, one with Divoff reprising his role and two without him.Eight out of 10.

One of those B movies that simply doesn't know its place, that gets better with each successive viewing. I am not going to give the credit to Craven, a talented director whose track record shows that, to milk yet more sequel out of a successful franchise (in this case, Wishmaster #2 to #4) he conveniently forgets the meaning of restraint (along with another word he forgets in his sequels, "quality"). But this was the first in the series, the best and the brightest, and I believe in its own way it has become a quiet classic. The actors all do their jobs, but it is Andrew Divoff as the genie who steals entire scenes from even more seasoned names. The man's voice is, in its own way, as unique as James Earl Jones and moreover his wacky diction ("wishes" becomes WISH-SAYS, with accompanying malevolent grin) gives his character an entirely new order of menace. High recommended. Avoid the sequels. And, needless to add, avoid the Djinn.

In ancient Persia, an evil creature called the Djinn wreaks havoc on a local kingdom before being sealed inside a fire opal.Centuries later, the stone, encased in a statue, is discovered when the statue is broken apart in a loading accident.A young gemologist, Alex, examines the jewel to appraise it. But she unwittingly awakes the Djinn inside.Soon the Djinn is loose on the streets, twisting people's wishes and and killing them so he can steal their souls.Eventually the Djinn disguises himself as an elegant man-about-town, Nathaniel Demarest.In both human & Djinn form, he pursues Alexandra to trick her into making three wishes, to enable his unholy legions to conquer the Earth...Even thought the film is as subtle as a sledgehammer, it's the nearest cinema has had to a new Jason/Freddy/Michael Myers in a very long time.Ignore the Presented by... moniker, it's for status,and get ready for some proper B-movie cheese. Divoff is excellent as the titular character, and chews his lines with glee. ##Kills are inventive, but beyond these two aspects, the film is just you average horror.The inclusion of (at the time) horrors greatest stars, is a little cringe worthy, and the effects are really bad, even for the limited budget.But if you can overlook, these little flaws, it's quite an good spin on the horror genre, with something original, which was lacking at the time of release (hello ironic horror).