Editorials
Make Your Wish: Robert Kurtzman’s ‘Wishmaster’ Is Just as Fun, Fearless and Frightening 26 Years Later
The horror genre thrives upon cautionary tales where arrogant individuals believe that they can outsmart some supernatural force for their own gain. It’s for this reason that the greed-quenching Djinn and parables where people learn to be careful what they wish for, usually in the most morbid ways possible, are popular horror tropes. Djinn are a fascinating concept, but they’ve struggled to truly make their mark in cinema between largely-forgettable films like Jinn, The Djinn, Wish Upon, and even George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing. But Djinn stories can still be fun and effective in the right context. And Robert Kurtzman’s Wishmaster is still the premier djinn horror film over 25 years later.
Wishmaster is a movie that understands the unabashed joys of a big, dumb plot where there’s a giant magical gemstone that’s the key to the Djinn’s powers because why the hell not? It doesn’t matter if the story is ludicrous because the practical and special effects are so impressive and it really aims for innovation when it comes to its kills, which it understands is what the majority of audiences care about the most. Wishmaster is not wrong and every death is so ludicrous and creative that it’s easy to look past any storytelling shortcomings or lackluster performances.
Likewise, the way in which the Djinn takes on a human form is by ripping the face off of a corpse and fashioning it to himself, which magically gives him the entire body of a human. It’s wonderful nonsense and just another excuse to show off impressive, stomach-churning practical effects rather than clever plotting. It’s the Djinn’s human metamorphosis that coincides with when Wishmaster really starts to get wild. Wishmaster is produced by Wes Craven and it feels like the movie cashes in on all of his connections. Wishmaster’s Djinn is the only slasher icon to claim the lives of Kane Hodder, Tony Todd, and Robert Englund.
Wishmaster is actually Robert Kurtzman’s second feature film as a director after 1995’s The Demolitionist, but Wishmaster didn’t open doors for Kurtzman as a director as one would hope. He wouldn’t direct another movie until The Rage and Buried Alive, a decade later in 2007. Robert Kurtzman’s misunderstood genius with Wishmaster isn’t dissimilar to Stan Winston’s failed trajectory as a director following Pumpkinhead, despite how it has similarly been revered as a cult classic. Curiously, Wishmaster 2 isn’t directed by Kurtzman, but instead Jack Sholder, who’s no stranger to horror sequels and responsible for A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, and the Tales From the Crypt episode, “Fitting Punishment.”
Wishmaster is undoubtedly best remembered for its off the wall intro that’s like a sizzle reel of what KNB EFX Group (Robert Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero, and Howard Berger) can do when they’re allowed to really run with something. The Angus Scrimm-narrated introduction is on a whole other level and crams a movie’s worth of spectacles into five minutes. There’s a skeleton that literally rips itself out of someone’s body and it’s not even the craziest thing that happens in this prologue showcase. It’s a sequence that cinema has struggled to top more than two decades later. It’s almost like a practical version of Cabin in the Woods’ monsters unleashed sequence that manages to be even more satisfying and grandiose. There’s an equally outlandish massacre in the final 15 minutes that bookends Wishmaster in these exceptional effects showcases where everything from wine glasses to piano wires weaponize themselves into macabre murder tools.
Additionally, the final act in the Djinn’s realm feels like it’s something from one of the better Hellraiser movies (it’s likely no coincidence that both films are written by Peter Atkins), but if it was directed by Tim Burton. There’s such creepy and evocative set design in this organic artery-looking labyrinth that Alexandra finds herself in while others are lost in a purgatory of never-ending torture, all of which is set to a haunting score by Harry Manfredini (Friday the 13th, House).
Kurtzman operates with such confidence and expertise here and every original monster, Djinn or otherwise, is at a Pumpkinhead-level of unique grossness that’s rare for the genre. All of Wishmaster’s accomplishments become even more impressive after learning that the movie was made on a shoe-string budget of approximately five million dollars. Wishmaster would go on to triple this with its domestic gross of $15.7 million, which makes it understandable as to why it would lead to three direct-to-video sequels.
Not only does Wishmaster look great, but it has such a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor that will delight any hardcore horror fans. Jason Voorhees himself, Kane Hodder, gets Djinned into glass and shatters, which is wild, but looks even more insane because of how much it exudes the late ’90s. These effects date Wishmaster in the best possible way. It almost plays out like a Fatality from a PlayStation/N64 era Mortal Kombat game. Tony “Candyman” Todd’s demise is the result of a near-impossible Houdini underwater escape act. Robert Englund’s Mr. Beaumont gets taken out by a Thing-like creature that feels like it’d be more appropriate in a horror anime. Plenty of other B-movie horror icons like Ted Raimi also become memorable cannon fodder for the Djinn. All of these are grisly deaths that would make Freddy Krueger, Candyman, and Jason Voorhees wince.
Wishmaster’s first half-hour is a little slow (beyond the tour de force introduction) and it takes some time to find its footing. Once the Djinn is out to play, Wishmaster never slows down. On that note, Andrew Divoff really works his ass off as the Djinn/Nathaniel Demerest, relishes every second of the role, and often makes Wishmaster work in spite of itself. Divoff’s performance is easily on par with Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees and he’s able to take this character to even wilder heights in the film’s excellent sequel (do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a double feature). So much of the movie is just Divoff egging people on to make unreasonable wishes so he’s able to magically and karmically murder them.
Many of these individuals haven’t done anything wrong and don’t even understand what they’re doing. The most outlandish example of this involves a character who wishes that they were rich, only for Wishmaster to then deliver an extended cutaway sequence where the person’s grandmother signs her will, only to then blow up in an airplane so that her grandson inherits the money and has his wish come true in the most roundabout way possible. Wishmaster isn’t a story about the Djinn punishing those who are greedy and deserve to be taught lessons in humility, but more so a chaotic tale where a Djinn abuses the unique circumstances of his powers so that he can destroy as many people as possible, regardless of their guilt or innocence. It makes for a villain that’s both terrifying and entertaining where it often seems like it’s impossible to defeat. That’s a difficult tightrope walk for horror films to negotiate, but Wishmaster finds the right balance so that the Djinn can wreak chaos without compromise until when he’s suddenly stopped.
Wishmaster is very much a two-hander between the Djinn and Alexandra Amberson (Tammy Lauren). Unfortunately, much of Alexandra’s material pales in comparison to the Djinn’s unhinged hijinks (although her role as an intramural girls sports coach is an effective piece of character development). Alexandra’s psychic visions are the weakest part of Wishmaster and they sometimes feel like they’re from a completely different type of horror film. However, they’re never too big of a distraction in what’s already such an outrageous movie. Alexandra’s visions become an easy conduit to deliver the Djinn’s twisted crimes as soon as they happen and then repeatedly bombard Alexandra for greater effect as the film continues.
Wishmaster is strangely a horror movie that feels as at home in 1997 as it does in 2023. There’s too much fun going on here for Wishmaster to be denied (its sequels, not so much). Andrew Divoff has said that he’d happily return to the Djinn role on the one condition that Robert Kurtzman has directorial duties. Legacy sequels for Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, and even Orphan are now viable cinematic avenues. Everyone loves an IP and it’s not that difficult to imagine Wishmaster: Legacy bringing Divoff and Kurtzman back together.
It also wouldn’t hurt to make the wish explicit to any giant opal gemstones that are within earshot.
‘Wishmaster’ is available to stream for free on Tubi, PlutoTV, FreeVee, and Vudu.
Director Sébastien Vaniček has been set to helm the next Evil Dead movie, and it’s easy to see why with his feature debut, the spider horror movie Infested. Playing like a cross between Attack the Block and Arachnophobia, Infested makes you care about its characters while delivering no shortage of skin-crawling spider horror moments.
Available now on Shudder, Infested follows Kaleb (Théo Christine), a lonely 30 year old who’s estranged from his best friend and at odds with his sister over their crumbling apartment. His dreams of opening a reptile zoo get drastically thwarted when he brings home an illegally acquired desert spider, one that happens to be gravid, and it gets loose. One hatched egg sac gives way to hundreds more, plunging the apartment building into a visceral arachnophobic nightmare.
It’s not just that Infested employs real spiders for many of the skin-crawling horror moments that make it so effective, though that certainly is a factor. Or in the way the spiders’ venom inflicts a painful, grotesque demise. It’s in the constant escalation of the horror and the way Vaniček captures the arachnids on screen. These eight-legged terrors may not exist in the real world, thankfully, but the movements look authentic enough to make you squirm. That authenticity, the high octane energy, and the constant rise and fall of palpable tension as the spiders skitter about and wreak devastation are enough to leave viewers curling into the fetal position.
While Infested offers no shortage of arachnophobia-inducing moments, from tiny shoebox origins to giant garage encounters, we’re counting down six of the most skin-crawling moments of spider terror. Warning: some plot and death spoilers ahead…
6. Shoe Babies
Poor Toumani (Ike Zacsongo). He finally gets a shiny new pair of coveted sneakers after wearing his to the point of falling apart, only to get bit by a spider when he tries them on. It’s a move straight out of Arachnophobia. Director Sébastien Vanicek draws out the tension in this unsettling scene; the audience knows there’s a spider somewhere in that box as Toumani struggles with the light switch (hell, foreshadowing) before finally giving up to test his new kicks on the stairwell. That his sweet canine companion is with him heightens the suspense as we wait for the metaphorical shoe to drop. Vanicek doesn’t give his audience a reprieve when Toumani smashes the culprit behind his bite, though. A second look inside the shoe reveals the spider had a host of small babies that skittered across Toumani and inflicted even more spider trauma.
5. Air Duct Infestation
Madame Zhao (Xing Xing Cheng) is introduced as the tough building custodian who tirelessly works to get the crumbling building in order, which is no easy task. That makes her one of the first to notice the infestation as she carefully picks up a smashed spider and arms herself with bug spray, and she notices telltale signs of webbing. Zhao uses caution when handling the carcass and even more when attempting to clear the vents with her spray. In a normal world, the pesky spider problem would’ve been handled or at least slowed until professionals could show up. But this isn’t a normal spider situation and the moment Zhao pokes her head up into the vent to check the aftermath, she’s face hugged by a venomous arachnid. Vanicek ensures this terrifying moment comes with maximum suspense. We know what’s going to happen, and that makes it all the more excruciating to watch.
4. Never Put Your Face in a Spider Hole
Vanicek paints a visceral picture of what happens when you put your face in a spider hole in the film’s opening sequence. That brutal lesson lingers as Infested unfurls one of the most intense spider invasions on film in a long while. Seeing the consequences of an illegal trapper getting face hugged in the intro makes what happens to Moussa (Mahamadou Sangaré) all the more skin-crawling. His attempt to squash a giant spider lurking on his bedroom wall creates a hold in the wall, and Vanicek again slows time to an unbearable degree to let Moussa discover the hard way why some dark crevices, holes, and hidden spaces are better left alone.
3. Prime Time TV Watching
When the infestation has fully taken root, and the dire situation has convinced the protagonists to finally flee, Kaleb insists they also attempt to save the long-term residents that were there for him and Manon (Lisa Nyarko) when their mom died. It heralds a harrowing montage that demonstrates the physical and emotional devastation the spiders are causing. Most unsettling of which highlights the fate of Claudia (Marie-Philomène Nga), a parental figure to the siblings. Kaleb and Mathys (Jérôme Niel) enter her dimly lit apartment and find her seated in front of the TV. Though she appears to be sleeping peacefully, Vanicek terrifies with the sudden burst of spiders from the back of Claudia’s head. A quick shot later reveals that Claudia was infested from the inside out, and the image is pure nightmare fuel.
2. Bathroom Attack
Lila (Sofia Lesaffre) is deeply arachnophobic, so she understandably freaks out when she spots a giant spider while she’s using the bathroom. She screams for her boyfriend, Jordy (Finnegan Oldfield), to rescue her, who gallantly brings a glass to collect it. Of course, it doesn’t go well. Jordy eventually gives up and smashes it, scattering the babies on its back everywhere, just in time for dozens more to bubble up from the shower drain. Vanicek dials up the intensity of this scene from the start by showing the audience that there are far more spiders lurking about than an oblivious Lila knows. Keeping her in the dark lends unpredictability, but the anxious screaming from everyone, including nervous friends in the hall, only increases the stress of the unexpected attack. The constant misdirection and frenetic camerawork ensure this sequence gets your heart pumping out of fear.
1. Bad Timing in the Webbed Corridor
Early foreshadowing made it clear that the building’s broken timer on a crucial light switch would become a problem later. And boy does it. When the protagonists come upon it in their bid to escape, they find it now transformed into a webbed tunnel filled with an obscene amount of venomous spiders. The only path forward is through it, but the faulty timer leaves them vulnerable to death when the lights go out. Naturally, Vanicek wrings as much dread from this scenario as possible, leaving Manon (Lisa Nyarko) very nearly caught. The group hits a dead end, forcing them right back into the webbed corridor, which leads to one of the film’s most emotionally painful scenes. Everything about this particular hallway is a skin-crawling nightmare, from the close brushes with spider bites to the dizzying way Vanicek captures the sheer scale of the infestation within this hall alone.
Infested is now streaming on Shudder.
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