Movies
Robert Englund Talks ‘Wishmaster’; Franchise “Deserved More Respect”
It’s often said that the 1990s weren’t the horror genre’s best years; that may be true, but let’s not ignore the fact that countless gems were released between 1990 and 1999. One of those gems was Robert Kurtzman’s Wishmaster, which introduced the world to a brand new horror icon in 1997. Full of awesome practical effects and featuring an incredible performance from Andrew Divoff that helped make a pretty good case for the evil Djinn being ranked alongside Freddy, Jason and all the greats, the loaded-with-cameos Wishmaster is a whole lot of fun to watch.
As I write this post, Lionsgate is gearing up to release the 4-film Wishmaster Collection on Blu-ray on March 28th. In other words, it’s the perfect time to talk Wishmaster, and Robert Englund did just that at the recent Emerald City Comic Con. He took part in an hour-long panel where he answered various questions from fans, and the conversation at one point turned to the ’97 film.
In addition to telling a fun behind-the-scenes story about his experience on set, Englund also took a moment to heap some much-deserve praise on Wishmaster. He told the con crowd:
I knew that we were on to something original. I think the Wishmaster movies deserved a little more respect. It’s a great hook, and Andrew Divoff is terrific in those films. I thought it was just a great great hook… a great gimmick for a franchise. That unfortunately didn’t go far enough, I think. I think there was probably at least one more to be made. Would’ve been really interesting.
Englund of course played Raymond Beaumont in the first Wishmaster film, which I call the original “Expendables of horror.” Nice to see him giving it some love, after all these years.
Check out the full chat below. The Wishmaster talk begins at 31:32.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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