June 9, 1999 -- The "Wishmaster" is the latest (I think) in a series of scary movies by Wes Craven, who is the executive producer of this one, directed by Robert Kurtzman, who has supervised makeup effects on a number of horror films.

As a genre, horror generally ranks near the bottom in terms of quality. There have been few high quality horror films over the years. This one isn't a classic, but it is definitely a cut above the average.

The film stars Tammy Lauren as Alexandra Amberson, a gem expert who accidentally releases a genie from an ancient gem. "This is no Robin Williams type of genie," however, as one character says in the film. It is a member of an evil race of beings called Djin who are waiting to be released so they can conquer the world. All the evil genie (Andrew Divoff) needs is to grant Amberson three wishes and he will be released.

The genie, however, has a talent for granting wishes in the nastiest manner possible. One man asks the genie for a million dollars. His mother's plane crashes, making him the beneficiary of her $1 million flight insurance policy. The genie has a knack, like a flim-flam man, for discovering the hidden desires and weaknesses of people and for exploiting people's hatred and envy. In a sense, he gives some of his victims what they deserve.

There are, of course, a number of very gory makeup effects. There are creatures bursting, Alien-like, from the viscera of people, grotesque creatures galore and lots of blood, wounds and people being skinned. Robert Englund, better known as Freddie Krueger, also has a minor role in the film as rich art collector Raymond Beaumont

The film is not really scary or even creepy, it is sort of a tongue-in-cheek gorefest devoted to that old saying, "Careful what you wish for, you might get it. This film rates a C+.

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