I like to go to my local library and browse through the DVD and Blu-ray sections to see what obscurities I can dig up - sometimes I can find real hidden gems. When I found this movie, I was attracted to it not just because of its obscurity, but also it has an old yet irresistible premise - what if your wishes could come true? However, the stories I've indulged in the past with this premise have tended to be SHORT tellings. With a running time of 95 minutes, this telling is stretched too far out for its own good. It's very slow-moving, filled with scenes that serve little to no purpose, and is frankly dull for a lot of the time. Strangely, despite the stretched-out feeling of the enterprise, there are some plot points that come across as murky, suggesting that maybe there was originally more footage that would have explained things better but was for one reason or another cut out. My theory of possible editing may also explain why a couple of key characters disappear for an extremely long time before finally popping up again close to the ending. I admit that I kept watching because the movie made me curious to see how everything would be wrapped up, but to be honest, I didn't find the ending worth the long slog. Reread the classic short story "The Monkey's Paw" instead of watching this movie.
Review of The Final Wish
