Review of Wishmaster

Im not being ironic when I say I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Wishmaster is essentially a retelling of the great early 1900's story The Monkeys Paw (as popularily spoofed by The Simpsons) mixed with some genie imagery, and it is nothing if not a refreshingly ambitious horror movie. The movie itself is so convinced by its own awesomeness that it actually becomes somewhat awesome. It's as though the filmmakers decided for themselves that the evil Djinn is in fact the coolest thing to ever come alive on screen and so they take multiple chances that the audience will love it just as much as they do. And I've gotta say, it nearly worked. The Djinn, in his early stages, is very inspired by the Emperor of Star Wars, and is so cheeky, corny, and poetically diabolical that he becomes a real joy to watch. His efforts to fool people into making a wish (which thereby lends him more power) are so forced and clumsy that it actually becomes charming in a cheesy, wow, you guys are really trying kind of way. The performances in this film are usually passable or, sometimes, better and the story works if you just let it be what it is without too many critical demands. It's the rare film that lets you tear it apart mercilessly, while secretly knowing all the while that there is some real fun being had. It's almost inexplicable how this movie is any good at all, but maybe the director wished it to be good, and so it came to be.