Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999)

Good movie but grossly overrated

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

The first must-see film of the year.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This easily falls into the 'so bad it's good' category. If you believe in that phenomenon, add this to your list. If not, avoid at all costs - you will hate it.The special effects are out of this world bad, the plot line is super silly. The love story is laughably inappropriate. Divoff plays an amazing creep in this awful romp - he looks like a cross between Phil Hartman and Jim Carrey with his perpetual goofy grin. Some of the deaths in this movie are just hilarious to watch. My favourite thing is the actors' reactions to them, and how the extras in this movie don't seem to notice anything going on around them.That casino scene was just epic.

WISHMASTER was an affectionate horror B-movie of the late '90s with a nice genre cast and a fun line in gruesome effects. WISHMASTER 2: EVIL NEVER DIES is the straight to video sequel, made with half the budget and half the talent, and it's pretty middling as B-grade horror flicks go. The whole character of the Wishmaster who always grants the wishes of his victims, but in a surprising, negative way, is clearly modelled on late-era Freddy Krueger and nothing more than a cheap imitation. Despite this, I did like Andrew Divoff in the role. Divoff played the villain in the first two films but bailed for the latter two, and he's one of the best things in this one: in fact, given the less-than-stellar calibre of the rest of the cast, he is the one actor who gives a fun turn. Essentially he seems to be trying to wear the same expression throughout the movie – a fixed grin, no less – and he succeeds.The lack of a storyline is lamentable and the film itself a string of gory deaths, enlivened by a larger scale climax in which the patrons of a casino are subject to all kinds of devilish horrors. The special effects are physical rather than computer generated, and they benefit from that in a cheap, rubbery way. I seem to recall that they stick pretty close to those you saw in the first film, but there's no harm in that; after all, this is a film in which the entertainment value comes from seeing how the Wishmaster twists the wishes of his victims, turning them into something horrific. The cell door death is probably the most extreme, but I did enjoy the carnage of the climax and the cheesy effects that accompany it.The female lead is awful and the guy playing the priest wooden in the extreme. The cast boasts cameos from two regular cameo guys: the hulking Tommy 'Tiny' Lister as a prison guard, and Robert LaSardo as a tattooed convict. Genre director Jack Sholder cut his teeth on three notable horrors from the 1980s: ALONE IN THE DARK, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 2, and THE HIDDEN, but his talent seems to have dwindled since those days because he's stuck making films like this.

A troublesome woman named Morgana (Holly Fields) botches a robbery attempt, getting her boyfriend Eric and an innocent security guard killed in the process. To make matters even worse, Morgana awakens the ancient Djinn, ravished four souls to rule the earth. The Djinn takes blame for the murder in human form as Nathaniel, getting Morgana off the hook. Morgana succumbs to her guilt, electing the help of former flame, now religious Gregory (Johansson). OK, I fully admit that this can be cheesy fun at certain junctures. That doesn't mean it's a very good movie. Believe it or not, half of this movie is played for laughs. It doesn't know whether to take itself fully serious or be comedic. The Djinn going to prison storyline was admittedly amusing in doses with some funny jokes. But it felt a bit out of place as well. Think along the lines of Nightmare on Elm Street II: Freddy's Revenge when it comes to this movie, only not as entertaining. The gore is where this movie really delivers, but it is rather obtuse at times. I'm talking some really outlandish things. Ever seen someone literally "F" themselves before? How about somebody violently being forced through a jail cell? If that doesn't wet your appetite, we also get the finale in the casino, which is fun times. The oddest thing has to be a woman crapping out a bunch of gold tokens. The acting is decent. Andrew Divoff is fun as the Wishmaster. The makeup is starting to get too elaborate and corny, but he fires off one-liners with the best of them, "He needed to chill out" Holly Fields is excellent as the lead. She's a bit unsympathetic at times, but she ultimately won me over with sheer talent. Paul Johansson is a bit bland as the religious love interest. That was a major complaint of mine. They could have gone really deep with the love story between Morgana & Gregory, but it was done in a haphazardly way. It was far too rushed for me and the potential was there for something memorable. I didn't care for the contrived "happy" ending either. I didn't buy it at all, it was forced. This could have been a memorable sequel if they played their cards right. What we get in lieu of that is a passable STV sequel that ends up being completely run of the mill. It is fun in a cheesy way at times, just make sure you prepare for a lot of stupidity4.9/10

I watched the first movie and I watched this sequel movie yesterday. Of course, an excuse was needed to free the Wishmaster again... what were the chances to free him again? Anyway, I was expecting to find many creative gory scenes. One was cool and another one was funny... but in general, it was a huge disappointment. The first movies seems to show more of those. At least they were better. The first wish was an obvious contradiction if it was taken literally (that was supposed to be the fun of the accomplishment of the wishes: they were taken too literally). It reminds me the disappointment when I watched the second Elm Street Nightmare...There were many limitations I don't remember to find on the first movie. For instance, the djinn now has to collect 1001 souls before the last 3 wishes. Since there isn't a good creative story, the writer just made up that excuse to fill the gap between the preamble and the "final fight". More of those when the main character starts to make some wishes, although one of them is understandable.The God, Devil, priest and Christian values don't mix well with the story, based, supposedly, on Babylonia or Persian beliefs. Is it a mockery of Christians? The djinn just looks like a pervert with that silly smile. I don't know when he's mocking or doing something else. Bad acting, bad story, bad movie.