Wishmaster (1997)

Wishmaster is a good example of 90's horror. But depending on how you choose to take that, it could also not be a good example of 90's horror. I feel that at some point in the 90's, every cultural thing took a shift sharply downward, including horror. But all of the things that didn't descend completely were still significantly different. With horror films, the style that had worked so well for so many years had suddenly became stale, and was no longer approached with heart and respect. Over time, it had became a game of money and not for the love of the genre. So whenever this point occurred and this particular style of horror was no longer viable, filmmakers searched for a certain direction to go in. So because of this, you had all kinds of horror films being made; some good, some bad. In my opinion, more bad than good. But Wishmaster was one of those films that I found to be really good, for what it was. It was made by an all-star team, with a particularly star-studded cast. Having been written by Hellraiser II, III and IV writer Peter Adkins, directed by horror legend Robert Kurtzman, produced by Pierre David, cinematography by Jacques Haitkin, music by Harry Manfredini and executive produced by Mr. Wes Craven. Starring Andrew Divoff as The Dginn, doing an absolutely fantastic job; Tammy Lauren as our protagonist, Alex, and a stream of horror legend cameos, including Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Kane Hodder (Friday The 13th), Tony Todd (Candyman), Chris Lemmon (Just Before Dawn), and Angus Scrimm and Reggie Bannister (Phantasm). Yes, this film had an excellent opportunity to be great, and it was. Sadly, though, it will probably never really get the attention and credit it deserves, unfortunately. Certain aspects of the film are rather silly, such as, again, the bad CGI effects, which is probably why it'll forever be one of those great films that will always be discredited for small things about it, like bad CGI. But that's really the only negative thing I found about the film. I don't think it deserves to be dismissed so easily because of this. Of course, within the horror community, it may just as well be looked highly upon. I don't know. But there are folks out there who are willing to completely shit all over a movie just because of one thing they didn't like about it, so that being said, I know there has to be people out there who refuse to like Wishmaster because of the very few scenes with bad CGI. It's certainly one of the best horror films of the 90's, I would say. I thoroughly enjoy it as a whole; nothing compared to my love of Leprechaun, but not many films can compare to my love of Leprechaun, so perhaps that's an unfair judgment. It certainly has its own intelligence and it's own charm that is absolutely undeniable, and is worth a chance. So if you haven't seen Wishmaster, Uncle Jesse strongly recommends that you do.

"Run, insect. Run and tell those you will, what you will. Tell them there is something loose in their city which feeds on wishes. But tell them quickly, while you still have a soul.."

J. L. Pilkins