Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell Year: 2001 Director: Chris Angel Written by: Alex Wright Threat: Djinn Weapon of Choice: Sword IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
Wishmaster
Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies
Wishmaster 4

Rish's Reviews
Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell, aka The Sword of Justice, aka majorly disappointing, even after a mediocre Wishmaster 2.
The setting this time around is a college campus, where the evil crystal containing the djinn is discovered among artifacts about to be displayed in an exhibit. A haunted, angry female student accidentally releases the djinn, but isn't there to witness his rebirth. So, he uses his shapeshifting ability to roam around campus, causing suffering and death while looking for her to do that whole three wishes thing.
I spent a great deal of the film trying to find a single sympathetic character. It's certainly not the revoltingly nasty best friend character. Is it our heroine, so emotionally isolated, she makes the Silver Surfer look like a Free Love flower child? Perhaps it's the long-suffering boyfriend, who stays by her side when she's a basket case and about as affectionate as the Coldmeiser crossbred with the iceberg that sunk The Titanic?
What can I say about the cast? Nothing good, I suppose. Oh wait, the lovely Emmanuelle Vaugier appears briefly. The main heroine, played by A.J. Cook, is a beastly thing (Shoo! Shoo!), and I imagine I feel toward her like Cain felt toward Abel, or my pal tyranist does toward Leonardo DiCaprio. The djinn has been redesigned, it appears, and he plays by new rules now. The djinn in the first two films was vastly superior (Andrew Divoff, wasn't it?). This one, played by someone named John Novak, is slightly fatter, less Satanic, less intelligent, and less formidable.
I love the premise of an evil genie who destroys people based on their wishes. Unfortunately, the results never seem as clever as they could be. The ghost of Kevin Williamson haunts the opening scenes of the movie, but it's harder to make witty, self-aware, appealingly tragic characters than these filmmakers seem to realise. I've often said over the past couple of years that I've become much more lenient in my old age. Well, this may well be the exception. I had an itchy Fast-Forward button the whole second half. The word "LAME!" was written at the bottom of my notes. I'm not sure what it could mean.
Even parts that had the potential to be cool, like the Archangel Michael coming to fight the djinn, were ineffectually done. I don't want to get into a religious discussion with you here, but would the general of the Hosts of Heaven really talk like a lobotomized Jean-Claude Van Damme?
Still, how much are we to expect from a direct-to-video sequel? Well, the film had at least some budget, with stunts, two car explosions, special effects, and was shot at a real college, but it just felt cheap. Often what sets apart a good horror film from a bad one is likeable characters who you genuinely care about. You feel afraid for the characters in addition to the scary situation they find themselves in. I don't know if I've ever found a less likeable group of protagonists. Did I remember to use the word EVER?
Actually, one actor, who plays the English professor, that is, British professor, is quite good. Once the djinn takes possession of him, I genuinely wanted evil to win. He belonged in a much better film.
Oh yeah, and this film boasts one of the grossest OTSes I've ever seen.
One more thing about star A.J. Cook: I've seen more likeable main characters in Steven Seagal films. Since I don't remember despising her in Final Destination 2, where she played the lead, I suppose we can lay most of the blame on the screenwriter.
Actually, the script wasn't all that bad, really. Not great, no, but it at least had a semblence of creativity to it. Maybe the fault really lies with me. After all, I rented this thing.
The best part of the film came at the end, when I realized the man who played the professor-slash-villain was the son of the greatest film icon of the last fifty years. That was cool, but it had little to do with Wishmaster 3. There is a fourth film in this series, but if I ever rent it, tyranist will be by my side. He can take that as an invitation . . . or a threat.
I'd Recommend It To: Actually, I wouldn't. This was a turd.
Posted: June 20, 2005

Total Skulls: 21

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?