Wishmaster

Directed by Robert Kurtzman, Wishmaster details the violence and chaos that breaks out after a malicious djinn (Andrew Divoff) makes his way to present-day America and begins pestering a woman (Tammy Lauren’s Alexandra Amberson) into making the three wishes that will unleash him on the world. It’s a seemingly foolproof setup that’s employed to distressingly erratic effect by Kurtzman, as the filmmaker, working from a screenplay by Peter Atkins, delivers a sluggishly-paced endeavor that’s dominated by long, drawn-out stretches of exposition and backstory – with, as a consequence, the 90 minute running time stretched to its breaking point throughout. And although the picture thankfully does boast a handful of compelling kills and special-effects sequences, Wishmaster suffers from a low-rent, styleless atmosphere that eventually becomes oppressive and, in a far more troubling development, diminishes the impact of the balls-to-the-wall finale. (There are some visceral thrills to be gleaned from this stretch, at least, with the decapitation by sentient piano wire surely a highlight within the entire proceedings.) The end result is a periodically compelling yet mostly underwhelming creature feature that generally feels like it could and should be so much better, which is a shame, certainly, given the effectiveness of the movie’s premise and lead performance. (Divoff is at his mustache-twirling best here, undoubtedly.)

** out of ****