Wishmaster/Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (Widescreen)

In the first Wishmaster movie, we are introduced to the Djinn, an evil genie that has a great amount of power, yet it can only be used in the form of granting wishes. Of course, his wishes do not come without a price. When the person who has awoken the Djinn makes a third and final wish, a doorway between a world of evil and the world as we know it opens, allowing the army of the Djinn free reign of the Earth and it's inhabitants. In this first film, a gem specialist named Alexandra comes across the huge fire opal in which the Djinn resides, and upon inspecting the opal awakens the Djinn (Andrew Divoff). As people's souls are being stolen, and lives are being taken by the Djinn, she investigates the Persian legends behind the creature in hopes of finding a way to defeat him and send him back into the confines of the fire opal. Will she prevail, or will human greed win her conscience and cause her to make all three wishes?

In the sequel to the aforementioned film, a few people break into the esteemed Beaumont collection and steal some valuable pieces of art. In doing so, they sound alarms and are confronted by guards. In a hurried rush to exit the building, one of the thieves knocks over a Persian sculpture (the Ahura Mazda) and finds lodged inside a huge fire opal. Morgana (Holly Fields) grabs the opal, thus awakening to Djinn to again wreak havoc on the world. Cops arrive to find the Djinn disguised as a human, and arrest him for the robbery in addition to the murders of some of the guards. During his time in jail, the Djinn tempts several inmates into making wishes. It's up to Morgana to find a way to send back the evil she unintentionally awoke.

Both of these movies are great, and are definitely some of the better films with Wes Craven's name on them. The effects are spectacular. From the very first scene in the first film, the viewer is cringing in disgust. At the same time, one must laugh at the sick and twisted way the Djinn fulfills peoples wishes. He epitomizes the infamous phrase "be careful what you wish for." There is certainly an excellent balance between gore, scares, and dark humor that is pulled off quite well in both of these films. For B horror flicks, the acting is also superb. Andrew Divoff does an excellent job playing a creepy, evil, twisted genie. There are some notable cameos as well by people such as the "Candyman" (Tony Todd) and Jason Vorhees (Kane Hodder), actors who any fan of the genre can appreciate.

Both of these are great horror films that should be added to anyone's library, particularly if you are a fan of Wes Craven, or even just some great splatter/gore films. When you consider the fact that these are basically two movies for the price of one, I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to go ahead and purchase these films!

WISHMASTER 2 picks up where its predecessor left off: a heist in the museum where the stone-encased djinn slumbers goes awry, causing the stone to be released from the statue, and of course, the young lady who releases it becomes the djinn's quarry. Andrew Divoff returns in the role of the wishmaster, and he's quite good in this role; he throws off his one liners with slick aplomb and obviously delights in his own wickedness. One scene in the prison where two Japanese kung fu guys beat up on their boss (aided by the WM) is hilarious. There are some implausibilities in the script, such as the heroine (although she's killed a security guard, she's still pure of heart..duh!) coming to the discovery of the djinn so quickly. Paul Johansson as the well proportioned priest is also effective, although his abandon of his celibate vows takes him down a notch. The Wishmaster is a sick, sick villain, but the ironies of his granting peoples wishes verbatim makes for unusual results. Bokeem Woodbine (direct to video's Denzel Washington) makes a brief appearance as a casino manager.
I like the Wishmaster series so far, haven't seen 3 and 4 yet; they're original and for shoestring budgets, I feel they do their effects quite well. Since there seems to be a dearth of good horror movies lately (don't tell me 28 Days later--what an overrated baggage), WISHMASTER fills our gap--at least for me!

I first saw this movie (part 1) about six years ago and the part that I remember vividly is the scene in the first fifteen minutes, between a homeless man and a retail store manager. The argument between them was one of the most classic scenes I have ever seen in a movie. I don't want to write too much about it because I don't want to spoil it, but that actor who played the homeless man is awesome! I was flipping through DVDs at the video store the other day and I saw this one, and picked it up immediatley. The rest of the movie was great, but this part alone is worth having...and watching over and over again. Share it with friends! Play it on their answering machine!