In the beginning of the times, God created life into universe: light gave birth to angels, earth to men and fire to djin, creatures condemned to dwell in the void between the worlds. One who wakes a djin shall be given three wishes. Upon granting the third, an unholy legion of djins are freed through a doorway between the worlds upon the Earth. In 1127 A.D., in Persia, a sorcerer lures and traps a powerful Djinn in the stone of secret fire. In the present days, a drunken crane operator drops the valuable statue of Ahura Mazda over the assistant of Raymond Beaumont on the harbor, and one worker finds the huge and priceless opal red stone where Djin is seized. Alexandra Amberson, who works in an auction house, receives the stone for evaluation and accidentally awakes Djin. The evil creature is released later, charges the stone with people souls and feeds with their fears, while chasing Alexandra to force to make three wishes and unleash the demoniac fiends upon Earth. Written by

Plot Synopsis:
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The narrator, Angus Scrimm, in his only words in the film, introduces the audience to the creatures called "djinn***" ***(which are actually mohammedian efreets; correction should concern every following mistake)." with the following statement:

Once, in a time before time, God breathed life into the universe. And the light gave birth to Angels. And the earth gave birth to Man. And the fire gave birth to the Djinn, creatures condemned to dwell in the void between the worlds. One who wakes a Djinn shall be given three wishes. Upon the granting of the third, the unholy legions of the Djinn shall be freed to rule the earth. Fear one thing in all there is...fear the Djinn.The next scene is set in Persia during the year 1127 A.D. with the Djinn asking a Persian emperor to make his second wish. The emperor asks the Djinn to show him wonders. The Djinn uses his powers to torture and mutilate people in the palace. Before the emperor can make his third wish, Zoroaster, a sorcerer (Ari Barak), interrupts and states that upon the third wish granted to the one who woke the Djinn, a gateway will open between the worlds and the evil race of Djinn can live on earth. The sorcerer then reveals a fire opal. The Djinn is sucked into the jewel, where he remains captured.

In present day America Raymond Beaumont (Robert Englund) is supervising workers as they lower a box containing an antique statue of Ahura Mazda onto a ship's deck. The worker who is lowering the crate is drinking on the job and accidentally drops it from his crane, killing Beaumont's assistant (Ted Raimi) and destroying the statue. It breaks open and a dockworker finds the fire opal inside which he steals and pawns. The jewel ends up at Regal Auctioneers, where boss Nick Merritt (Chris Lemmon) gives it to appraiser Alexandra Amberson to examine. Her examinations of the jewel wake the Djinn.

Thinking she saw something inside the jewel, Alexandra takes it to her labworker best friend and potential love interest, Josh Aickman (Tony Crane) to analyze. Later, as he is collecting data, light reflections cause the gem to explode and the Djinn is released. The lab is destroyed and Josh is killed, upon his wish for relief from his physical pain.

Alex, thinking the gem has something to do with the explosion and subsequent death of Josh, tracks down Beaumont, to whom the statue belonged. Beaumont tells Alex to visit a folklore professor named Wendy Derleth (Jenny O'Hara) to find out more about Ahura Mazda and the gem. He also invites Alex and her sister, Shannon (Wendy Benson) to a party he is hosting.

The folklore professor tells Alex about the jewel, the Djinn, and its evil history. Later, Alex learns that the Djinn needs to power the gem with the soul of humans, and then grant her three wishes before he can unleash the Djinn on Earth. During this time, the Djinn, who had been in demonic form removes the face of a corpse in the morgue, taking on the dead man's form and the name Nathaniel Demerest. The Djinn, now as Nathaniel, goes about granting people wishes in return for their souls while he searches for Alex. He finally tracks down Alex's boss and grants him a greed-inflicted wish so that he can get Alex's address.

Alex is haunted by visions whenever the Djinn grants a wish. She goes to Wendy's house to consult with her again, but Nathaniel has already killed her and taken her form. During their conversation, Alex realizes she is really talking to the Djinn. He confronts her and asks her to make three wishes. He even gives her a "test" wish. She uses this wish and orders the Djinn to kill itself. He complies by blowing his head off with a gun, yet the wound heals instantly; as the Djinn is immortal, he cannot be killed. Alex then uses the first of the "official" three wishes: Her first being to know her opponent, the Djinn. He teleports her to his terrifying world within the gem, thus demonstrating his true nature to her. Next, she wishes herself back to her apartment, alone. The Djinn had been threatening Alex's sister, so Alex sets about finding Shannon. She races to Beaumont's party and Nathaniel follows. While talking to Nathaniel at the party, Beaumont makes the mistake of wishing his party would be unforgettable, and Nathaniel begins wreaking havoc by causing the art pieces to kill the guests.

The Djinn finally corners Alex and traps Shannon, trying to scare Alex into making the ultimate third wish. Alex wishes that the dockworker had not been drinking on the job two days ago undoing the events that followed (and presumably reviving the Djinn's victims back to life) and trapping the Djinn in the opal. The dock scene is shown again and the now sober operator has no trouble lowering the crate containing Ahura Mazda. Alex goes to see Josh at the lab. He notices that Alex is strangely pleased with herself, but she will not say why.

Back on the statue of Ahura Mazda, which is now in Beaumont's private collection, the camera zooms inside the jewel and shows us the Djinn on a throne, waiting to be released.

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Backlash007 from Kentucky
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Wishmaster marks a huge return for theatrical gore. What a splatterfest! That opening scene, are you kidding me? The KNB crew have blown me away again. From chest exploding skeletons to lizard men, it's well done and I applaud them. It's not just the prologue, it's the whole movie. There's one bit in particular where a guy gets his jaw ripped off. It's jaw-dropping (no pun intended). There is someone from nearly every important horror franchise, and some that aren't so important, in this flick. Cast and cameos include Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Tony Todd, Angus Scrimm and Reggie Bannister, Ted Raimi and Dan Hicks, Tom Savini, Ricco Ross, Peter Liapis, Joseph Pilato, and Buck Flower. Not to mention KNB effects group, Harry Manfredini did the score, Peter Atkins wrote the screenplay, Robert (K of KNB) Kurtzman directed, and Wes Craven is producing. This is an unreal cast and crew, a who's who of horror. Let's not forget who's leading this cast: Andrew Divoff. He has the one of the scariest, harshest voices of all time. He is the Djinn and he's cool as hell. I just can't understand why this wasn't as well received by the horror community as it should have been. As for the sequels, what sequels? Stick to the original and you can't go wrong.

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Gislef from Iowa City, IA
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Geez, after reading all the thumbs-down reviews, I feel almost embarrassed. I _liked_ Wishmaster. No, the idea of wishes-gone-awry isn't particularly original, but there are still some interesting elements done with it: a guard says he'd like to see the Djinn go through him and...it does (heh). Tammy Lauren is adequate as the spunky heroine, and Andrew Divoff (mostly consigned to minor B-villain roles - check him out in the Highlander TV series) makes a chilling threat. Jenny O'Hara makes the most of her role as resident supernatural expert. Yes, the gore is excessive, but I'm not sure if that's a concession to the 90's audience, or a directorial conceit - I'm willing to assume its the former. For a supernatural thriller/horror (as opposed to a Scream-type slasher/thriller), Wishmaster strikes me as one of the better efforts to come along since the last Nightmare and the first Candyman.

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Shawn Watson from The Penumbra
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I first saw Wishmaster at a midnight screening at the London Trocadero in summer 1998. I had been awake for nearly 24 hours but needed to kill some time. I was only 17, not old enough to get into the 18-rated movie, and it scared the hell out of me.

As we get older, fewer and fewer movies have the ability to scare us as we all get more savvy and jaded to the formulaic nature of most horror films. I don't know what it was about Wishmaster that spooked me so bad, but I've been a fan of the film ever since.

On a technical level, Wishmaster suffers from shoddy production design and direction that is barely above that of a cheap daytime soap opera. The acting is mostly appalling (with the exception of Andrew Divoff, who ravages the role of the Djinn/Demerest), and some of the dialogue is clunky. But, as a whole, the movie excels on pure energy alone. I mean, not only do you have more in-jokes than you can possibly count but even Jack the Ripper himself turns up before Lemmy sings hard rock over the closing credits.

There's so much potential, imagination, and over-the-top carnage that the film just whizzes by. A lot of the potential isn't taken full advantage of (the 90 minute runtime keeps things to the bare minimum) but it sets up enough mythology to justify three sequels, the first sequel being the only decent one, however.

The plot focuses on the Djinn, that's Wishmaster to you, and his efforts to take over the world. As you can see...it's pure hokum but it's the gory bits in between and the Djinn's wisecracking that make this movie worth the money. The Djinn will never be as infamous or as iconic as Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers etc, but that's not to say that he's not an utterly brilliant character. Divoff is absolutely perfect in the role. Even if all he did was real aloud from phone book he'd be mesmerizing.

If you like gore, ghoulish make-up effects, and don't mind horror humor that feels like it was conjured up by a bunch of drunken frat boys, then you'll find plenty to like about Wishmaster.

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wazzuk3000 from United Kingdom
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Let me begin by saying this film is not as bad as it's been made out to be sure it's a gore-fest at points and yes the dialogue is cheesy but surely that is what a B-movie is meant to be? The film has more substance than sequels that seem to spawn in the realm of horror movies. The film concerns a Djinn, Arabic for genie, who escapes from a statue to wreak havoc onto the world. He can sustain a human form if he can give someone 3 wishes. Andrew Divoff is delightfully malicious as the evil Djinn. The main cast give fair performances which can only be expected in a,remember, B-Movie. At times the film tries a bit to hard to please horror fans with various winks to other horror icons, Candyman and Freddy Kruger to name a few (Tony Todd and Robert Englund, respectively). But if you want a half decent horror movie to watch and don't care too much about substance then this film will not disappoint.

Conclusion.

A fun B-movie and a must for all horror fans. Though it does nothing to forward the genre.

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Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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In the beginning of the times, God created life into universe: light gave birth to angels, earth to men and fire to djin, creatures condemned to dwell in the void between the worlds. One who wakes a djin shall be given three wishes. Upon granting the third, an unholy legion of djins are freed through a doorway between the worlds upon the Earth. In 1127 A.D., in Persia, a sorcerer lures and traps a powerful Djinn (Andrew Divoff) in the stone of secret fire. In the present days, a drunken crane operator drops the valuable statue of Ahura Mazda over the assistant of Raymond Beaumont (Robert Englund) on the harbor, and one worker finds the huge and priceless opal red stone where Djin is seized. Alexandra Amberson (Tammy Lauren), who works in an auction house, receives the stone for evaluation and accidentally awakes Djin. The evil creature is released later, charges the stone with people souls and feeds with their fears, while chasing Alexandra to force to make three wishes and unleash the demoniac fiends upon Earth.

The gore and funny "Wishmaster" is good horror movie, with original deaths, great special effects (1997) and a refreshing story. Andrew Divoff, presently working in "Lost", is great in the role of the evil, witty and cynical Djin; the blonde Tammy Lauren performs a smart and clever character, following the Djin's advice ("- Make a wish, but think first") and luring and tricking the demon with her intelligence; and there is homage to horrors movie, with the participation of Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund and Tony "Candyman" Todd. I have watched this film at least four times along ten years and it is still one of my favorites in the genre. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Mestre dos Desejos" ("The Master of the Wishes")

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medic249a2 from Langley, Canada
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'Wishmaster' puts a new spin on most people's perception of genies. Most people think of a genie that fulfills your greatest wishes. But asking the Djinn to do so could have horrible consequences, as he twists your wishes in order to steal your soul.

It begins in the 12th century when a Persian king is locked into a pact with the Djinn, who unleashes unholy suffering on the King's people. A man is frozen into a wall; a woman turns into a tree; another man's skeleton bursts through his skin and walks around; and another man turns into a crocodile. It is only through a magician's work that this suffering ends, as the Djinn is imprisoned in a fire opal that is then buried inside a statue.

Fast-forward to the present day, when the statue is being unloaded at a Los Angeles dock for a collector, Robert Beaumont (Englund). An accident, however, kills Beaumont's assistant and breaks the statue open, revealing the opal. One of the dock workers steals it and turns it over to a gemologist, Alexandra Amberson (Lauren) for appraisal. During her examination, she unwittingly wakes the Djinn inside, and soon he is on the loose. First, he starts collecting souls by granting a single wish to certain people. One of the first is a homeless man, who sees a nasty pharmacist (Reggie Bannister of 'Phantasm') die a violent death from cancer after wishing for it. The Djinn then takes on a human appearance, sneaking into an anatomy lab and peeling the face of a cadaver off then plastering it onto his own face. Now he is Nathaniel Demarest (Divoff, who also plays the Djinn), a classy man-about-town. As Demarest, he continues his mission of misery by collecting souls - including that of a young sales girl by turning her into a mannequin.

Eventually, he tracks down Alexandra to her place of work, and after taunting & killing the guard ('Friday the 13th's Kane Hodder) after the guard challenges Demarest to "go through" him, he confronts Alex's boss. He eventually obtains Alex's home address after granting her boss's wishes, and shows up menacingly in her apartment. Alex, meanwhile, has found out through a friend of Beaumont's that the Djinn are truly evil creatures who are devious & not to be trusted. When Demarest reveals his true identity, Alex is horrified when the Djinn starts asking her to make her wishes. When she wishes him to destroy himself, the Djinn fires a pistol into his head - which instantly regenerates! He taunts Alexandra by warning, 'That which is eternal cannot die. But if it's any consolation at all, sweet Alex - THAT HURT LIKE HELL!!' Alex is then taken by the Djinn into his hideous red world, where she learns about his origins. When she returns to her apartment, she heads immediately for Beaumont's party where her sister is.

Demarest arrives just behind Alex, where he is confronted by Johnny Valentine (Tony Todd, star of 'Candyman' & 'Night of the Living Dead' [1990]). Valentine warns Demarest to leave, but Demarest tricks him - 'would you like to "escape"?'. When Valentine says yes, he finds himself chained in a steel-and-glass box filled with water! 'Houdini did it in 2.5 minutes,' Demarest says as he walks in.

The party soon becomes a horror show, starting when one woman turns into a glass statue and then explodes. Demarest reveals his real identity to Beaumont, who backs up against a wall then flees. As Alex makes her way through the halls of the museum she is attacked by statues of historical warriors, including a Roman Centurion & Genghis Khan. The Djinn then tries to extort Alex's third wish from her - after which he will be able to rule the world. To give Alex some incentive, he shows her sister trapped in a fire, the flames licking at her back. Through some creative thinking, Alex words her wish to suck the Djinn back into the fire opal - the same way he had 8 centuries earlier.

While the Djinn had some particularly bizarre ways of dispatching his victims, he also showed a demented sense of humor in doing so. Wishmaster also brought together several prominent horror film actors (Angus Scrimm & Reggie Bannister of 'Phantasm', Robert Englund of 'Nightmare on Elm Street', Tony Todd of 'Candyman' and 'Night of the Living Dead', and Kane Hodder of 'Friday the 13th') together.

This is an original take on horror since most of us don't consider genies to be evil. It offers more than the standard slasher fare the dominated 1980's horror.

8/10

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knifeintheeye from Canada
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Wishmaster is a movie that promises the world and only delivers a continent. It's not a bad movie, in fact, it's a very good horror movie. It's just that the premise was great, but the payoff wasn't.

Andrew Divoff played the title role of the djinn very well, and hammed it up as the human host, Nathaniel Demerest. Good IL' Freddy K, also known as Robert Englund, had a small role, but played it well. I actually don't recall much else of the cast (sorry people, it's been a couple of months since I saw the movie). The make up on the djinn was neato-keen and the special effects are better then average.

If ever a movie was made for the villain to win, it was this movie. I suppose the ending was fine, but oh how I wanted the evil djinn to win. I know I'm human and I should root for the human but I was hoping to see the djinns take over the world.

Why won't film makers, if the main character is a villain/monster let the guy win?

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Liakot Ali from London
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Wishmaster is a clever horror film, with a different storyline from the others. The movie is about a evil Djinn that grants Wishes and leaves an evil impact. Who ever makes a wish, the Djinn takes their soul. The movie has cameos from many Famous Horror legends. Some include Robert Englund of Freddy Krueger, Kane Hodder of Jason series, Tony Todd of Candyman etc. Andrew Divoff gives a Great performance as the Wishmaster. If you have seen all 4 Wishmasters, you will know in part 3 and 4, There is a different actor playing the Djinn. Andrew proves he is quite talented. Part One is the Best of the Lot. Part Two was pretty good. The others were a complete nonsense. One weakness with the film is the final wish, I'm sure they could think of a better and clever ending then that. The lead actress should of just wished for him to go to Planet Neptune and never return to Earth. She could of tried saying, I wish for you not to grant me this wish. I wish for more wishes. Anyway enough with that, i can go on for ages. The movie was entertaining and worth the watch.

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Vampenguin from Canada
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Right from the opening lines by Angus Scrimm, I knew that I was going to love this movie. It doesn't bother to waste any time, gets right to the good stuff within the first few minutes of the film. The gore, which is quite plentiful, reminded me of a mix of Hellraiser and In the Mouth of Madness, which is certainly a good thing. I had a lot of fun playing "spot the horror star" throughout the film; in case you didn't already know, this is loaded with cameos! It also has it's share of references to The Exorcist...the homeless man's line about being an old alter boy, the Pazuzu statues, etc. I thought that was a nice touch, to be honest. Divoff created a classic horror villain, his voice and mannerisms were spot-on. Creepy and beyond cool, he fits right in among Freddy, Jason, Myers or Pinhead. My one problem with the film was the psychic girl. Why oh why did they need to cheapen this film by making her "psychic"? Oh well, it didn't detract too much, I guess. Overall, this is a great film if you like a nice, gory, somewhat original slasher flick.

8.5/10

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FlashCallahan from Leicester, United Kingdom
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In ancient Persia, an evil creature called the Djinn wreaks havoc on a local kingdom before being sealed inside a fire opal.

Centuries later, the stone, encased in a statue, is discovered when the statue is broken apart in a loading accident.

A young gemologist, Alex, examines the jewel to appraise it. But she unwittingly awakes the Djinn inside.

Soon the Djinn is loose on the streets, twisting people's wishes and and killing them so he can steal their souls.

Eventually the Djinn disguises himself as an elegant man-about-town, Nathaniel Demarest.

In both human & Djinn form, he pursues Alexandra to trick her into making three wishes, to enable his unholy legions to conquer the Earth...

Even thought the film is as subtle as a sledgehammer, it's the nearest cinema has had to a new Jason/Freddy/Michael Myers in a very long time.

Ignore the Presented by... moniker, it's for status,and get ready for some proper B-movie cheese. Divoff is excellent as the titular character, and chews his lines with glee. ##Kills are inventive, but beyond these two aspects, the film is just you average horror.

The inclusion of (at the time) horrors greatest stars, is a little cringe worthy, and the effects are really bad, even for the limited budget.

But if you can overlook, these little flaws, it's quite an good spin on the horror genre, with something original, which was lacking at the time of release (hello ironic horror).

Features numerous horror-movie actors, including Robert Englund (the A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) movies), Angus Scrimm (Phantasm (1979)), Tony Todd (Night of the Living Dead (1990), the Candyman (1992) movies), Kane Hodder (various Friday the 13th (1980) movies), Reggie Bannister (Phantasm (1979)) and Ted Raimi (Darkman (1990), Army of Darkness (1992)).
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Characters named Finney, Beaumont, Derleth and Demerest are all references to science fiction or horror writers of the 1950s.
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Many crew members, including director Robert Kurtzman (man killed by piano) had small roles in the film, some times appearing in different scenes as different characters.
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Many instances of the film pay homage to the series The Twilight Zone, the characters name Beaumont (Charles Beaumont was a frequent writer of the show), the Djinn's line "going my way" when he stops Alexandra in the car is a reference to the episode "The Hitch-Hiker" where a mysterious man continually plagues a female driver with the line "I believe you're going, my way" and the scene with the shop assistant wishing for eternal beauty is transformed into a mannequin echoes the episode "The After Hours" where a female shopper is revealed to be one of the stores mannequins made human.
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During the party scene, a woman wearing a green dress can be seen lying dead on the floor, a few scenes later we can see her alive and running out of the house with the crowd.
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Early in the movie a phone booth is shown with the Pacific Bell logo. After Alexandra wishes to be back in her apartment, the phone rings and a camera shot of the phone shows a Bell South logo.
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When Josh and Alex sit down after their tennis match, Josh's tennis racket vanishes from his hands between shots.
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Towards the end of the Beaumont party scene, Alex and the security guys are in the hallway with the killer statues. One of the security men falls to the floor and his earpiece falls off. Throughout the scene, it keeps changing position from being on the floor next to him, to back on his ear, to being on his ear in a different position.
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After the explosion in the laboratory, Josh is laying on the floor, injured. His face is covered in blood, however during the scene the amount of blood on his face keeps changing. In close ups of his face his lips are free of blood, but in wider shots his lips are covered in thick amounts of blood.
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When the tramp presses himself up against the drug store window, the positions of him arms change from up or down between shots.
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In the scene when the camera has a wide shot of the park/play house you can see the camera crane's shadow in the bottom right corner.
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Security is trying to help Alex escape. Each security guard is using a semi-automatic pistol, and when the clips are empty, the gun is heard to be making a double click sound. No semi-automatic pistol will make a double clicking noise when the slide is drawn back, as these are shown to be, when the clip is empty.
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When the security guard orders the Djinn to leave, he goes away with discontent, but then the guard says that would love to see how Djinn'd go through him. Djinn fulfills the desire. But this is impossible, as ordinary people have the right for only one wish. The first was fulfilled when the genie was gone. To go through a security guard - is the second wish.
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As the camera pans down the front of the Seaside Pharmacy, on the left you can see the actor playing the bum waiting for his cue to walk across the screen.
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djinn|reference to houdini|wishmaster|first of series|demon|genie|independent film|fire|wish|sitting|stabbed in the stomach|shot to death|severed head|jaw ripped off|intestines|head bashed in|gash in the face|face ripped off|violence|bloodbath|blood and guts|blood|lifting someone into the air|sister sister relationship|painting|drunkenness|cult film|crushed to death|multiple monsters|lizard monster|eye|gore|decapitation|skeleton|gem|basketball|explosion|

AKAs Titles:
- Wes Craven's Wishmaster
Argentina - El amo de los deseos (Wishmaster)
Bulgaria (Bulgarian title) - �“о�пода�€��‚ на желани��‚а
Brazil - O Mestre Dos Desejos
Spain (Catalan title) - El senyor dels desitjos
Spain - Wishmaster
Finland (video title) - Wes Craven's Wishmaster
Finland (DVD box title) - Wes Cravenin Wishmaster
Finland - Wishmaster
France - Wishmaster
Greece (video title) - I piso porta tis Kolaseos
Hungary (alternative title) - Hal�lmester
Hungary - Hal�loszt�
Italy - Wishmaster - Il signore dei desideri
Mexico - Wishmaster, el amo de los deseos
Poland - Wladca zyczen
Portugal - O Senhor dos Desejos
Serbia - Gospodar želja
Russia - �˜�полни�‚ел�Œ желаний
Turkey (Turkish title) - Tilsim

Release Dates:


Certifications:
Argentina:16 / Australia:MA / Brazil:16 / Finland:K-16 / France:-12 / Germany:18 / Germany:BPjM Restricted / Hong Kong:III / Iceland:16 / Ireland:18 / Italy:T / Japan:R-15 / Mexico:B / Portugal:M/16 / Singapore:R21 / South Korea:18 / Spain:18 / Sweden:15 / UK:18 / USA:R (Certificate #35576)