Part 3 of 4 | Laura’s countdown post to Crypticon Minneapolis
While 1997’s Wishmaster isn’t necessarily an obscure horror movie, it’s not as well-known as the first two movies we’ve covered for this series; I hadn’t heard of it until I stumbled across it in college while browsing Fearnet, a now-defunct video on-demand cable service. That’s why I was surprised when Dad expressed familiarity and excitement after I mentioned the movie; apparently, he’d seen a few clips from Wishmaster 2 on Facebook Reels and was already a big fan of Andrew Divoff’s striking, diabolical performance as the evil djinn. Today’s post is about the original, though, and while Andrew is a major highlight of the film, there’s so much more to enjoy in it that I was excited for Dad to experience.
In Wishmaster, a tragic accident on a loading dock leads to an auction house appraiser, Alexandra (Tammy Lauren), unknowingly releasing an evil djinn (Andrew Divoff), a wish-granting magical being, from the jewel he had been imprisoned in. He immediately starts granting wishes in violent and cruel ways to gather strength, all the while pursuing Alexandra, as her three wishes are the ones that can completely free him to wreak havoc on the world.
While, again, Andrew Divoff is a high point for the movie, with his sharp, gravelly voice and sinister performance, there’s a lot more in this movie to enjoy. Firstly, there are so many cameos from other horror icons. The most recognizable is arguably Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund, as Raymond Beaumont, a rich antiques collector, but there are so many other familiar faces (or voices, in the case of the narrator and Phantasm star Angus Scrimm): Angus’s Phantasm co-star Reggie Bannister; Candyman’s Tony Todd; brother and collaborator of The Evil Dead’s Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi; and the Friday the 13th franchise’s Kane Hodder (in a scene that my boyfriend and I quote every time this movie comes up in conversation).
In addition to a variety of familiar horror actors, the special makeup effects in this movie are done by the remarkable Greg Nicotero, known for his work on The Walking Dead and a myriad of other well-known horror projects, his first being 1985’s Day of the Dead, and they’re so much fun. The djinn’s design is intricate, menacing, and a little slimy, but the highlights are in the opening scene and the party scene toward the end of the movie.
In a film era where cheesy CGI made a lot of movies quickly feel dated, it’s refreshing to see so many elaborate, expertly crafted special effects, especially when so many of them had my dad making sounds of disgust and delight throughout the movie.
Despite Wishmaster being a very obvious product of the 90’s (EVERYONE is constantly smoking cigarettes), it’s a fun, creative horror movie with fantastic practical effects and a memorable cast, and I can’t wait to meet the djinn himself in just a couple of months—and I’m only a little worried that Dad will try to imitate the character when we meet Andrew.
Crypti-Cocktail: Djinn and Tonic
Ingredients
- 1 oz gin
- 1.5 oz Chambord (or another raspberry liqueur or raspberry simple syrup)
- Juice from half a lime
- Tonic water
- Optional: pinch of red edible luster dust
Directions:
Pour gin, Chambord, and lime juice into lowball glass over ice. Top with tonic water, add a pinch of edible luster dust (optional, but it looks SO COOL and gives the drink that “cursed jewel” look), and stir. Add a wedge or slice of lime to garnish.
I am all in on the Djinn and Tonic, Ruth. I have never seen this film, but I’m now gonna check it out when I can. Sounds like it holds up well even after all this time, and the list of familiar faces are mostly all familiar to me!
Hey Bruce! This was my friend and horror correspondent Laura’s post. I haven’t seen this either; I’m not much of a horror fan, though this one sounds like cheesy good fun. The makeup of the Djinn looks hilarious to me 😀
Laura, thanks for featuring this movie. I am definitely going to check it out!
The djinn and tonic turned out SO well! Turns out raspberry goes really well in the classic recipe, lol. Wishmaster is definitely a fun movie- it’s on Tubi if you feel like checking it out!
I’m aging myself here but when I used to work at a video store, this film was always rented out. The store I worked at only has like 4 copies of the film, so people would get mad at us for not having more copies for them to rent. The film was a box office failure, so the store only order small copies. Lol! I know I saw it but I don’t remember much about it, though.
A. I’m so jealous that you worked at a video rental store- that would be so much fun!
B. It’s hilarious that it was checked out so frequently after not doing well at the box office! Goes to show you that horror fans will find fun in some unexpected movies, lol.
Yeah, that’s why so many horror movies gets so many sequels. They didn’t do that well in theaters but on home video, the studios would make millions. People would get mad at us for having like 100 copies of Mission: Impossible but only 4 copies of this film. Lol! I always had to explain the reason why. M: Impossible made over $500mil and Wishmaster only made $15mil. Back in those days, if a film makes a ton of money, it’s cheaper to buy VHS copies. But it’s very expensive for movies that didn’t make a lot of money in theaters. I think studios charges like $100 per VHS copy for films that weren’t huge hits.