Review of Wishmaster (1997) by Vince K — 15 Mar 2011

Wishmaster is probably as bad as it is good, and if you focus on the good - then it's totally fucking awesome! There's a lot of great things going for it here - we're introduced to a KILLER new villain that's so original heâ(TM)s bound to start a new horror movie franchise, the gore is over-the-top and imaginative, and it's well-written. Not in terms of some kind of Oscar movie, but for what this kind of low-budget horror movie sorely needs. It was actually written by the same guy who did Hellraiser II-IV (Peter Atkins if I remember correctly). And after seeing Wishmaster I noticed a ton of similarities in style with Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, which I originally hated for being the big sell-out, mainstream Hellraiser. Looking back on that one now it's pretty awesome. Thereâ(TM)s those crazy scenes where mayhem breaks out in a closed room. Everyone dies - one after another after another, in horrifyingly unimaginable ways. Wishmaster has the same exact thing that Hellraiser III did in the bar scene in the beginning and end. And for a lover of violence and gore those scenes are exciting as all fuck. Theyâ(TM)re creative as all hell, fantastical, with pretty good (or decent) special effects for the time. You see someoneâ(TM)s skeleton pulling itself out of its body, and then running around attacking people! Now, how threatening can a skeleton be? Well, when it jumps on someone's back and scares the fuck out of them - I think it's pretty much succeeded in what it needs to do. LOL, who cares?! That kind of shit is fun to watch.

Andrew Divoff emerging as the Djinn is awesome. The charismatically handsome actor brings the demon to life in much the same way Robert Englund did with Freddy. (*Cool note - Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, and Tony Todd also have roles in this film.) Wishmaster became a recognizable villain thanks to Divoff. His delivery in the film is perfectly chilling. And keep in mind that his lines were written by the same guy who wrote everything Pinhead said for several movies. Those great, evil, malevolent one-liners that just sound SO COOL! Great quotes here. "Listen to their screams child, listen... to the music... of their AGONY." KILLER! "I especially like... the trapped-animal look in the eyes..." CLASSIC! AWESOME! FUCK YEAH! Andrew Divoff is awesome as fuck in this. It really sucks that they don't give him much to work with in the sequel (and he didn't return for the two others.) To this day Divoff is more recognized for his work as Wishmaster than anything else, and he even played the evil Russian, Mikhail, on Lost (the "Other" with the eyepatch, who kills Charlie.) Anyways, the guy is a total delight on the screen. Iâ(TM)m a fan.

And you've got a lead actress who isn't a complete dumbass, fun to watch as well, easy on the eyes, and a great heroine who "figures everything out". She has a great line at the end when she defeats Wishmaster - "Wish you never met me?" HAHAHAHAHA that's classic! And was the heroine in Hellraiser III a good actress either? WHO FUCKING CARES?!?!

I never understood when people say "Oh, that's SOOO cheesy!" Really? The buckets of blood, over-the-top gore, dialogue, and awesome-as-fuck things going on in the movie are cheesy? Well, from a certain perspective, yes. But you know what? I can't relate to that. Let me say this - please get over yourself. You're missing out on all the fun.