Wishmaster (1997)

Director:

Robert Kurtzman

Writer (WGA):

Peter Atkins (written by)

Release Date:

19 September 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

Be careful what you wish for.

Plot:

A demonic djinn attempts to grant its owner three wishes, which will allow him to summon his brethren to earth.

Plot Keywords:

Djinn | Fire | Wish | Lifting Person In Air | Explosion

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Tammy Lauren	...	Alexandra Amberson
Andrew Divoff	...	The Djinn / Nathaniel Demerest
Robert Englund	...	Raymond Beaumont
Chris Lemmon	...	Nick Merritt
Wendy Benson-Landes	...	Shannon Amberson (as Wendy Benson)
Tony Crane	...	Josh Aickman
Jenny O'Hara	...	Wendy Derleth
Kane Hodder	...	Merritt's Guard
Tony Todd	...	Johnny Valentine
Ricco Ross	...	Lt. Nathanson
John Byner	...	Doug Clegg
George 'Buck' Flower	...	Homeless Man
Gretchen Palmer	...	Ariella
Ted Raimi	...	Ed Finney
Angus Scrimm	...	Narrator (voice)

Also Known As:

Wes Craven's Wishmaster

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence and gore, and for language.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:R21 | Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Italy:T | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Brazil:16 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Pierre David

Trivia:

Features numerous horror-movie actors, including Robert Englund (the A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) movies), Angus Scrimm (Phantasm (1979)), Tony Todd (Night of the Living Dead (1990), the Candyman (1992) movies), Kane Hodder (various Friday the 13th (1980) movies), Reggie Bannister (Phantasm (1979)) and Ted Raimi (Darkman (1990), Army of Darkness (1992)).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the scene when the camera has a wide shot of the park/play house you can see the camera crane's shadow in the bottom right corner.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[first title card]
Narrator: Once, in a time before time, God breathed life into the universe. And the light gave birth to Angels. And the earth gave birth to Man. And the fire gave birth to the Djinn, creatures condemned to dwell in the void between the worlds. One who wakes a Djinn will be given three wishes. Upon the granting of the third, the unholy legions of the Djinn will be freed to rule the earth. Fear one thing in all there is... FEAR THE DJINN.

Movie Connections:

References Aladdin (1992)

Soundtrack:

Listen to the Heart

Fun, gory slasher thrill-ride

Right from the opening lines by Angus Scrimm, I knew that I was going to love this movie. It doesn't bother to waste any time, gets right to the good stuff within the first few minutes of the film. The gore, which is quite plentiful, reminded me of a mix of Hellraiser and In the Mouth of Madness, which is certainly a good thing. I had a lot of fun playing "spot the horror star" throughout the film; in case you didn't already know, this is loaded with cameos! It also has it's share of references to The Exorcist...the homeless man's line about being an old alter boy, the Pazuzu statues, etc. I thought that was a nice touch, to be honest. Divoff created a classic horror villain, his voice and mannerisms were spot-on. Creepy and beyond cool, he fits right in among Freddy, Jason, Myers or Pinhead. My one problem with the film was the psychic girl. Why oh why did they need to cheapen this film by making her "psychic"? Oh well, it didn't detract too much, I guess. Overall, this is a great film if you like a nice, gory, somewhat original slasher flick.

8.5/10