The original Wishmaster film was a pleasant surprise. Director Robert Kurtzman and writer Peter Atkins cleverly married very traditional old-school horror movie plotting and contemporary FX laden gore-splattering. The film benefited from a sense of humor, and had a fairly rapid pace that kept one distracted from any flaws.
The direct-to-video sequel, by contrast, shows no savvy at all in it's plotting, its (very limited) use of FX, or its pacing. For most of the film, the monstrous Wishmaster is confined (in his human form) in a prison, where it takes the longest time for him to get anyone to ask for a wish. This prolonged prison scene might have been salvageable if the dialogue were witty, but it basically reduces to:
Wishmaster: "I grant any wish, ask for something." Prisoner (or Guard): "F*** you!" Wishmaster: "No really, just ask."
If such is your idea of snappy dialog, this movie's for you.
Holly Fields is mighty pleasing to look at, but there's nothing much for her to do, so they decide to toss in some "inspirational" Christian redemption drivel into a story involving ancient Persian mythology - huh? - oh, never mind, it's not worth the effort.
Andrew Divoff, who did a fine job in the first Wishmaster film, stumbles around looking for something interesting to do, can't find it, and stands around and sulks instead. We would certainly feel pity for him if we hadn't grown numb from boredom.
The direct-to-video sequel, by contrast, shows no savvy at all in it's plotting, its (very limited) use of FX, or its pacing. For most of the film, the monstrous Wishmaster is confined (in his human form) in a prison, where it takes the longest time for him to get anyone to ask for a wish. This prolonged prison scene might have been salvageable if the dialogue were witty, but it basically reduces to:
Wishmaster: "I grant any wish, ask for something." Prisoner (or Guard): "F*** you!" Wishmaster: "No really, just ask."
If such is your idea of snappy dialog, this movie's for you.
Holly Fields is mighty pleasing to look at, but there's nothing much for her to do, so they decide to toss in some "inspirational" Christian redemption drivel into a story involving ancient Persian mythology - huh? - oh, never mind, it's not worth the effort.
Andrew Divoff, who did a fine job in the first Wishmaster film, stumbles around looking for something interesting to do, can't find it, and stands around and sulks instead. We would certainly feel pity for him if we hadn't grown numb from boredom.