Wishmaster (1997)

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

Director:

Robert Kurtzman

Writer:

Peter Atkins

Stars:

Tammy Lauren, Andrew Divoff, Robert Englund

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 (as Buck Flower)
Gretchen Palmer	...	Ariella
Ted Raimi	...	Ed Finney
Angus Scrimm	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

In the beginning of the times, God created life into universe: light gave birth to angels, earth to men and fire to djin, creatures condemned to dwell in the void between the worlds. One who wakes a djin shall be given three wishes. Upon granting the third, an unholy legion of djins are freed through a doorway between the worlds upon the Earth. In 1127 A.D., in Persia, a sorcerer lures and traps a powerful Djinn in the stone of secret fire. In the present days, a drunken crane operator drops the valuable statue of Ahura Mazda over the assistant of Raymond Beaumont on the harbor, and one worker finds the huge and priceless opal red stone where Djin is seized. Alexandra Amberson, who works in an auction house, receives the stone for evaluation and accidentally awakes Djin. The evil creature is released later, charges the stone with people souls and feeds with their fears, while chasing Alexandra to force to make three wishes and unleash the demoniac fiends upon Earth.

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Plot Keywords:

djinn | reference to houdini | wishmaster | first of series | demon | 

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Taglines:

Don't Make A Sound Don't Make A Move And Above All Else...Don't Make A Wish

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror violence and gore, and for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 September 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wes Craven's Wishmaster

Filming Locations:

Wilmington, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,038,516, 21 September 1997, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$15,719,109, 30 November 1997

Company Credits

Production Co:

Image Organization, Pierre David

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Angus Scrimm: Narrator at the beginning, (voice only).

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Goofs

When Josh and Alex sit down after their tennis match, Josh's tennis racket vanishes from his hands between shots.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits, the Djinn says "Careful what you wish for."

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Connections

Referenced in Half in the Bag: 2017 Movie Catch-up: Part 1 (2018)

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Soundtracks

Listen to the Heart
Written by Lemmy (as Lemmy Kilmister)
Performed by Motörhead
Courtesy of Belleview Sunshine Tours

User Reviews

For 'Fangoria' readers only

WISHMASTER

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound formats: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDS

Aimed directly at the 'Fangoria' crowd, though not much fun for anyone else, WISHMASTER is 'presented' by executive producer Wes Craven and directed by makeup maestro Robert Kurtzman, so it's no surprise the movie emphasizes makeup and visual effects at the expense of plot and characterization. The story revolves around an ancient djinn (Andrew Divoff), trapped in an emerald for centuries and accidentally released in modern day America, whereupon it takes human form and grants various characters a series of 'wishes', all of which backfire in gruesome fashion (and I *do* mean gruesome!). For no discernible reason, the monster targets gem specialist Tammy Lauren whose three wishes can release the djinn's evil minions from the Other Side. Naturally, she resists...

Stuffed full of 'Fangoria'-friendly cameos (Robert Englund, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder, Ted Raimi, Reggie Bannister, Angus Scrimm, etc.) and visual references to earlier, better pictures (HELLRAISER, THE THING, countless others), the movie has the same kind of bland, homogenized script and production design which afflicts many similar movies from the same period, and the results couldn't be less appealing. Content to showcase a series of grisly set-pieces - most of which, admittedly, are ingeniously designed and presented - the movie hasn't an ounce of depth. Lauren carries the picture with her gutsy performance as the imperilled heroine, and Kurtzman orchestrates the mayhem with enough flash-bang-wallop to hide the scenario's shortcomings, but the story is worthless, despite a smart climactic twist. Three sequels followed - beginning with WISHMASTER 2: EVIL NEVER DIES (1999) - all of which debuted on home video.