Wishmaster (film)
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| Wishmaster | |
|---|---|
 Wishmaster DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Robert Kurtzman |
| Produced by | Pierre David |
| Written by | Peter Atkins |
| Narrated by | Angus Scrimm |
| Starring | Tammy Lauren Andrew Divoff |
| Music by | Harry Manfredini |
| Cinematography | Jacques Haitkin |
| Editing by | David Handman |
| Distributed by | Live Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | September 19, 1997 |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$5,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | US$15,738,769 (domestically) |
| Followed by | Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Wishmaster is a 1997 horror film about a djinn that is released from a jewel and seeks to capture the soul of the woman who discovered him, thereby opening a portal and freeing his fellow Djinn to inhabit the earth. The film stars Andrew Divoff and Tammy Lauren, and features many actors from other popular horror movies. It was the second film directed by Robert Kurtzman in his career. It was executive produced by Wes Craven—the only film of the Wishmaster series with his name attached. Three sequels were made, featuring differing casts and crews: Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies, Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell, and Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfilled.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The Djinn, an evil genie (Andrew Divoff), is awoken when the jewel he inhabits is discovered. If the person who woke him (Alexandra Amberson, played by Tammy Lauren) makes three wishes, his fellow Djinn will be free to create hell on Earth.
The narrator, Angus Scrimm, in his only words in the film, introduces the audience to the creatures called "Djinn" with the following statement:
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 shall be given three wishes. Upon the granting of the third, the unholy legions of the Djinn shall be freed to rule the earth. Fear one thing in all there is...fear the Djinn.
The next scene is set in Persia during the year 1127 A.D. with the Djinn (Andrew Divoff) asking a Persian emperor to make his second wish. The emperor asks the Djinn to astonish him and show him wonders. The Djinn uses his powers to torture and mutilate people in the palace, slamming them through walls and pulling their skeletons from their bodies. Before the emperor can make his third wish, Zoroaster, a sorcerer (played by Ari Barak), interrupts and states that upon the third wish granted to the one who woke the Djinn, a gateway will open between the worlds and the evil race of Djinn can live on earth. The sorcerer then reveals a fire opal and begins chanting, "Nib Shuggarath Bahim". The Djinn is sucked into the jewel.
Fastforward to present day America where Raymond Beaumont (Robert Englund) is supervising workers as they lower a box containing an antique statue of Ahura Mazda onto a ship's deck. The worker who is lowering the crate has been drinking and accidentally drops it from his crane, killing Beaumont's assistant (Ted Raimi) and destroying the statue. It breaks open and a dockworker finds the fire opal inside. He steals and pawns the jewel. The jewel ends up at Regal Auctioneers, where Nick Merritt (the boss, played by Chris Lemmon) gives it to an appraiser, Alexandra Amberson (Tammy Lauren) to examine. She blows on the jewel, waking the Djinn.
Thinking she saw something inside the jewel, Alexandra brings it to her labworker best friend, Josh Aickman (Tony Crane) to analyze. Later, as he is collecting data, light reflections cause the gem to explode and the Djinn is released. The lab is destroyed and Josh is killed.
Alex, thinking the gem has something to do with the explosion, tracks down the antique collector, Raymond Beaumont, who the statue belonged to. Beaumont tells Alex to visit a folklore professor named Wendy Derleth (Jenny O'Hara) to find out more about Ahura Mazda and the gem. He also invites Alex and her sister, Shannon (Wendy Benson) to a party he is hosting.
The folklore professor, Wendy Derleth, tells Alex about a "stone of the secret fire," the Djinn, and its evil history. During this time, the Djinn, who had been in demonic form, enters a school of medicine and removes the face of a corpse in the morgue, taking on the dead man's form and the name Nathaniel Demerest. The Djinn, now as Nathaniel, goes about granting people wishes in return for their souls while he searches for Alex. He finally tracks down Alex's boss and grants him a wish so he can get Alex's address.
Alex is haunted by visions whenever the Djinn takes someone's soul. She goes to Wendy Derleth's house to consult with her again, but Nathaniel has already been there, twisted Wendy's words to make her wish she were dead, removed her face and taken her form. During their conversation, Alex realizes she is really talking to the Djinn. He confronts her and asks her to make three wishes. He even gives her a "test" wish. She uses this wish and orders the Djinn to kill itself. He complies by blowing his head off with a gun, yet he stands like nothing happened. He explains that since he is not really alive, he cannot be killed. However, he does declare that "it hurt like hell!" Alex then uses the first of the "official" 3 wishes. Her first wish is to know what the Djinn is. He teleports her to his terrifying world within the gem, thus demonstrating his true nature to her. Next, she wishes herself back to her apartment, alone. The Djinn had been threatening Alex's sister, so Alex sets about finding Shannon. She races to Raymond Beaumont's party and Nathaniel follows. While talking to Nathaniel at the party, Beaumont makes the mistake of wishing his party would be unforgettable, and Nathaniel begins wreaking havoc by causing the art pieces to attack and kill the guests.
Nathaniel, now in his true face as the Djinn, finally corners Alex and traps Shannon, trying to scare Alex into making a bad third wish. Alex pulls herself together, though, and wishes that the dockworker had not been drinking on the job two days prior, thus undoing all events prior. The Djinn is sucked back into the fire opal.
The dock scene is shown again, only this time the crane operator is sober and has no trouble lowering the crate containing Ahura Mazda. The statue is whole, the jewel stays hidden, and the Djinn remains inside. As we see the Djinn, he sees us and swats us away in disgust, breaking the fourth wall, which is rarely done in horror movies.
[edit] Production
[edit] Casting and Cameos
Wishmaster is notable for featuring many actors who starred in popular horror films. Robert Englund, famous for his role as Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street series, played an antique collector and Kane Hodder, who played Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th series, played a security guard. Also in the film were Tony Todd from Candyman, Ted Raimi from Darkman and Army of Darkness, Ricco Ross from Aliens, Joseph Pilato from Day of the Dead, Reggie Bannister and the voice of Angus Scrimm (both of the Phantasm films), and George "Buck" Flower (who was often used in small parts in various horror-movies of the 1980s and early 1990s, often directed by John Carpenter).
Many crew members, including director Robert Kurtzman (man killed by piano), had small cameos in the film.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Andrew Divoff | The Djinn/Nathaniel Demerest |
| Tammy Lauren | Alexandra Amberson |
| Robert Englund | Raymond Beaumont |
| Chris Lemmon | Nick Merritt |
| Wendy Benson | Shannon Amberson |
| Tony Crane (actor) | Josh Aickman |
| Jenny O'Hara | Wendy Derleth |
| Kane Hodder | Merritt's Guard |
| Tony Todd | Johnny Valentine |
| Ricco Ross | Lt. Nathanson |
| John Byner | Doug Clegg (pawnshop owner) |
| George "Buck" Flower | Homeless Man |
| Gretchen Palmer | Ariella (saleswoman) |
| Ted Raimi | Ed Finney (Beaumont's assistant) |
| Angus Scrimm | Narrator |
| Joseph Pilato | Mickey Torelli |
[edit] Writing
Writer Peter Atkins intentionally made some surnames of characters in the film (Beaumont, Finney, Etchison, Clegg, Derleth, Merritt, and Aickman) match the names of writers of horror and fantasy fiction.
[edit] Reception
Wishmaster was shot on an estimated budget of US$5,000,000 and its total domestic gross was US$15,738,769. During its opening weekend in theaters, September 19-September 21, 1997, Wishmaster made US$6,000,000, putting it in third place at the box office, behind In & Out (which was debuting in first place) and The Game (which was in second place during its second week).[1]
It received a 24% rating from Rotten Tomatoes, qualifying it as "rotten."[2] Critics rated the film an average of 3.4 out of 10.
[edit] Sequels
Unlike the first Wishmaster film, which was released in theaters before going to video, all 3 sequels were direct-to-video. Wishmaster 4 was filmed back-to-back with Wishmaster 3. There was only a weekend between filming the two movies in 2000.
Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies, directed and written by Jack Sholder, was released in 1999. Andrew Divoff reprised his role as the Djinn. To defeat the Djinn in Wishmaster 2, the heroine uses the incantation the sorcerer used to imprison the Djinn at the beginning of the first film.
Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell, directed by Chris Angel, written by Alex Wright, was released in 2001. Andrew Divoff did not return for this film and the Djinn was instead played by John Novak. To defeat the Djinn in this film, the Waker wishes for the aid of the angel Michael and with his sword eventually kills the Djinn.
Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfilled, directed by Chris Angel and written by John Benjamin Martin, was released in 2002. The role of the Djinn was again played by John Novak. In this final movie, the Djinn is killed by the Waker's paraplegic boyfriend through a wish he made to have a weapon that could kill the Djinn. The Waker actually made a third wish early on in the movie, but the Djinn is unable to grant the wish (for the Waker to love him for who he really is since love must be given freely).
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=wishmaster.htm Box Office Mojo data
- ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wishmaster/ Rotten Tomatoes reviews
[edit] External links
- Wishmaster at the Internet Movie Database
- Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies at the Internet Movie Database
- Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell at the Internet Movie Database
- Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfilled at the Internet Movie Database
- Wishmaster 10th Anniversary Celebration on FEARnet
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