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

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Taglines:

Magically powerful. Supernaturally evil.

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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

Tony Todd: as museum doorman at museum gala, Johnny Valentine.

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Goofs

Early in the movie a phone booth is shown with the Pacific Bell logo. After Alexandra wishes to be back in her apartment, the phone rings and a camera shot of the phone shows a Bell South logo.

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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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Alternate Versions

German TV version and some DVDs (rated "Not under 16") are heavily cut for violence, obtaining most of the gore shown in the party-scene near the end of the movie. VHS and DVD releases (rated "Not under 18") are uncut.

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Connections

Featured in Wish List (2017)

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Soundtracks

Down
Written by Shannon Crawford
Performed by Cellophane
Courtesy of Virgin Records America, Inc.

User Reviews

"Fear the Djinn."

Wishmaster marks a huge return for theatrical gore. What a splatterfest! That opening scene, are you kidding me? The KNB crew have blown me away again. From chest exploding skeletons to lizard men, it's well done and I applaud them. It's not just the prologue, it's the whole movie. There's one bit in particular where a guy gets his jaw ripped off. It's jaw-dropping (no pun intended). There is someone from nearly every important horror franchise, and some that aren't so important, in this flick. Cast and cameos include Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Tony Todd, Angus Scrimm and Reggie Bannister, Ted Raimi and Dan Hicks, Tom Savini, Ricco Ross, Peter Liapis, Joseph Pilato, and Buck Flower. Not to mention KNB effects group, Harry Manfredini did the score, Peter Atkins wrote the screenplay, Robert (K of KNB) Kurtzman directed, and Wes Craven is producing. This is an unreal cast and crew, a who's who of horror. Let's not forget who's leading this cast: Andrew Divoff. He has the one of the scariest, harshest voices of all time. He is the Djinn and he's cool as hell. I just can't understand why this wasn't as well received by the horror community as it should have been. As for the sequels, what sequels? Stick to the original and you can't go wrong.