Review of Wishmaster 3: Devil Stone

Introduction

The Wishmaster of the title is a member of the Djinn, a really evil genie looking to grant his waker three wishes so that he can destroy mankind. Did I miss anything out? This is an appallingly trite storyline and the film only goes to show how poor it actually is.

Video

The 1.85:1 anamorphic video transfer is simply awesome and I was stunned by the quality. Everything from the colours, the contrast, the blacks, it was all really well balanced, clear and sharp. There were a few scenes which appeared a little soft but this is a minor detraction.

Audio

Wishmaster 3 is presented with DD2.0 so the sound isn`t spectacular which is a shame. Scary movies need to utilise good sound just to help it along, provide ambience etc, so the limited soundstage here is quite disappoininting. I noticed quite a few moments where I was supposed to get jumpy, but either the audiocue failed to work or the film didn`t work well in that area. The music isn`t bad, but it`s not memorable and certainly isn`t frightening. The dialogue is clear and I could hear pretty much everything.

Features

There are a few extras. Apart from the usual Scene Selection, there`s the trailer which is the usual nonsense and of course gives too much away, so much so that it`s enough to stop you from watching the film itself. Production notes are little more than five pages of text from the director and the main cast with their thoughts on the film and what their intentions were. I read it and laughed, the film resembles nothing like a classic 80s horror movie. Biographies covers five cast and the director which is brief and uninteresting. Lastly there are 14 pics in the Photo Gallery which I thought was utter rubbish.

Conclusion

I hope you don`t mind if I don`t spend too long on this DVD review. The storyline is contrived, predictable and dull; the characters remain flat and boring and I found myself wincing in places; some of the special effects were quite good, and others were poor. The cast weren`t convincing in the slightest and made me wish for the end of the film. Oh, and watch out for Jason Connery, he was marginally better in Urban Ghost Story, but only just.

The fighting scenes were third rate with poor choreography. You wouldn`t think that mankind was about to be destroyed, would you? While I`m all for using my imagination to suspend my disbelief, I didn`t enjoy this film at all.

There are no scary moments in the film at all, just gross moments. I can`t believe that this movie is only rated 15 for some of these strong moments and found myself covering my mouth a few times. I`ll give credit for the Djinn being frightening to look at with his makeup and I have to confess that I don`t like the front cover of the case, it gives me the creeps. Where are the innovative camera angles? Where is the ambient sound gone? This movie just doesn`t work, at all.

To think that this movie was actually made and that those involved with it like it is beyond me. I can`t believe a film like this gets a great video transfer either. Wishmaster to me seems to be trying to cash in on the teen scary movie genre and to be honest I hope no one buys it. To say it`s a disappointment is a huge understatement. The only frightening thing about this DVD is the front cover and your only wish should be to steer well clear of this film.