Wishmaster
(1997) 90 Min.
Rated: R (gore)
Country: USA
Director: Robert Kurtzman
Starring: Tammy Lauren, Andrew Divoff, Robert Englund
Links: IMDB | Wikipedia
Rating: ★★★☆☆
A djinn comes out of a jewel and terrorizes the life of a gem appraiser.
Synopsis:
A narrator explains that “God breathed life into the universe…the light gave birth to Angels…the earth gave birth to man…the fire gave birth to the djinn, creatures condemned to dwell in the void between the worlds.” Djinn grant wishes, but after the third wish it will release other djinn to rule the Earth.
In 1127, the djinn (Divoff) is granting the wishes of a Persian king. The king wishes to see wonders and instead the djinn creates chaos and turns people into animals, rips the skin off others, sucks one person into a wall, generally mutilating the people in the palace. The wizard Zoroaster appears and explains the consequences after the third wish. He produces a fire opal and casts a spell where the djinn is trapped inside the jewel.
In present-day America, Raymond Beaumont (Englund) supervises workers lowering a box containing an antique statue of Ahura Mazda onto a dock. The crane operator Mickey Torelli, is drunk and drops the crate onto Beaumont’s assistant Ed Finley and destroying the statue as well. A dockworker quickly steals the fire opal from the rubble and later pawns it. The opal makes its way to Regal Auctioneers. Nick Merritt instructs appraiser Alexandra “Alex” Amberson (Lauren) to examine it. She rubs the jewel, which wakes the djinn. She seems to see something inside the gem and leaves it with her friend and colleague, Josh Aickman, to analyze.
While Josh is analyzing the jewel the machine breaks the gem, releasing the djinn and severely injuring Josh. The djinn asks Josh if he would like the pain to end and Josh agrees, as a result the djinn kills Josh. The djinn leaves in search of Alex and wishes to grant.
The djinn comes across a homeless man who wishes for the death of a drugstore clerk. The djinn grants the wish and kills the clerk with cancer which horrifies the homeless man.
Alex, meanwhile, is shaken up by the loss of Josh. She is still dealing with the death of her parents due to a fire. Her sister tries to comfort her.
The djinn goes to a medical school, takes the face off a corpse to replace his own. He also blinds a medical student. He goes to a clothing store, gets a suit and turns the beautiful sales associate into a mannequin after telling her to wish for eternal beauty. The djinn at this point goes by the name Nathaniel Demerest while in the human skin.
Alex traces the gem back to Beaumont and asks him about the Ahura Mazda statue, he encourages her to talk to a folklorist Wendy Derleth. Alex tries to talk to Wendy who tells her that djinn are serious creatures unlike what the western world says.
The djinn goes to the police station to ask for Alex’s address (knowing that she was associated with Josh). Lt. Nathanson tells the djinn that he will not give out private information. The djinn sees Nathanson looking over at an arrest and asks him what he wants. Nathanson says he’d like to put the man there away for something like murder that everyone witnesses so that he can’t weasel out of it. The djinn smiles and the man steals a gun from a cop and opens fire in the station. While the police are distracted, the djinn sees a card with Alex’s work address.
The djinn goes to Alex’s work and kills a guard who he tricks into making a wish. Nick Merritt is in his office when the djinn appears and offers him money to know Alex’s home address. Nick wishes for a million dollars in exchange for that information. Nick’s mother signs an insurance that names him the beneficiary just as she takes a plane that explodes.
Alex visits Wendy and asks her about djinns and suddenly realizes that Wendy is really the djinn in disguise. The djinn offers her three wishes. He even offers her a freebie. She tells him to kill himself and he shoots his head and it reforms. Alex wishes to know her enemy and the djinn takes her into his jewel world where the souls of people whose wishes he granted are being tortured. The djinn has a throne and dog creatures that start to chase Alex. Alex uses her second wish to return home without the djinn being there.
Alex runs off to a party that Beaumont is hosting to find her sister Shannon. A doorman tries to stop the djinn from entering the building and the djinn offers the doorman an “escape” from his job. The doorman agrees and is now in a tank of water tied in a straight jacket. The djinn then talks to Beaumont to ends up wishing that his party was memorable. The djinn ends up causing chaos and mutilating some of the party guests as well as killing some.
Alex tries to get Shannon to leave the party but they lose one another in the chaos of the party. The djinn tells Alex that she will make her wish she was dead and causes ancient sculptures to attack Alex. A few security guards are killed in an attempt to save Alex. The djinn shows Alex a painting of Shannon trapped in a burning house and angrily asks her to make a wish so that she can save her sister.
Alex things for a moment back to the news articles reporting on the Ahura Mazda statue falling on Ed Finley. She then tells the djinn she wishes that Mickey Torelli wasn’t drinking the day he was operating the crane. This resets the events of the past few days and puts the djinn back into the unbroken jewel.
Alex is happily flirting with her friend Josh while Beaumont is able to collect his Ahura Mazda statue in one piece. Meanwhile inside the gem the djinn waits to be unleashed.
Review:
This film is basically a 90’s popcorn horror film. The rules of the djinn are kind of lax and he ends up asking people to make wishes throughout the film which is kind of silly in itself. The overall concept of wishes gone bad or The Monkey’s Paw type of tales have been covered before in horror, but not without a central menacing creature that is also as charismatic as Andrew Divoff’s Djinn. He is a bit hammy, but that’s somewhat expected of a cruel prankster who steals souls. There are a few lines that are a bit cringey, and sometimes runs into dad joke territory.
It is entertaining enough in the kills and special effects makeup to make it kind of a soft recommend. There’s a lot of chaotic scenes where the practical effects are used and a few early cg attempts that did not age as well.
The film is also laden with horror actor cameos. Here are a few: Angus Scrimm, George ‘Buck’ Flower, Ted Raimi, Kane Hodder, Tony Todd, Reggie Bannister, Ricco Ross, Tom Savini
and Jenny O’Hara.