Wishmaster (1997)

          A Persian deity, a Djinn, is stuck in an jewel, an opal, who loves to grant people wishes. Of course when they do, he takes their soul. The opal is imprisoned in the statue of Ahura Mazda (a Persian God), who guards the stone. Once the statue is damaged, the opal is freed and soon tested on by gemologists. Needless to say the Djinn escapes, takes human form as Nathaniel Demarest, and begins granting wishes in hopes to eventually take over the world. The rules are that the person who releases the Djinn gets 3 wishes, all others get only one and the releaser must go after the other souls are captured. Here, the Djinn travels through the city to find the right gemologist wrecking havoc on his way. But careful for what you wish for, you might get it.

          Overall: Interesting flick but I can't figure out whether it is really good or really bad. Sometimes the special effects are fairly good and other times it was as bad as the super-imposed scenes in Darkman. The film is just chock full of horror film legends: Tony Todd (Candyman), Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th), Robert Englund, (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Angus Scrimm (Phantasm). Overall I liked the story better than the sequels. The effects aren’t as good but it’s still entertaining.

          In addition, I like the tie-ins of real religious beliefs from Ancient Persia. Ahura Mazda is the prophet from the religion Zoroastrianism and Ahura Mazda is the god (ahura = god, mazda = wise). So the jewel being hid in the statue explains why it never escapes since the religion stresses responsibility and freedom. (although this can be seen as a personal slight against the religion considering the God believes in freedom and taking responsibility for one's actions and then they lock the jewel up until someone sets it free).

          I will say...I’ve seen this film at least 5 or 6 times, including seeing it in the theatre when it got released. Now until March 2006 did I finally realize how much smoking is going on in this film. Basically every scene has our protagonist or Djinn or someone smoking. It just looked so out of place.

          Overall it’s an entertaining film.

          Comparison: Aladdin meets Hellraiser

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