3 wishes are not enough to destroy this series

WISHMASTER 2: EVIL NEVER DIES (1999)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There is one line of dialogue in "Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies" that could have set up for a far more resonant film than the standard-issue horror sequel that it is. A pretty little thief named Morgana wishes to the Djinn for evil to be eradicated. The Djinn reminds her that evil is half of a perfect sphere and without it, good cannot exist. A great line that you would expect a Djinn to say. The rest of this shopworn sequel has little else to give it even a slight lift.

Andrew Divoff still makes for an interesting Djinn but too often he is in human form (as in the original film) and so he merely lowers his head for that insufferable Kubrickian gaze with a Joker smile. It becomes repetitious to say the least. This Djinn is freed from a fire opal during a robbery gone wrong, and he allows himself to get caught by the police! HUH? The Djinn claims some measure of responsibility for the robbery and the rest of the film finds him in "Shawshank Redemption" territory, sneering and provoking prisoners for their ill-conceived wishes. The Djinn's hope is to claim as many souls as possible and destroy humanity. Good luck with that because the logic makes no sense. Good is also half of the sphere and, without humanity, you can't have good or evil - you have nothing. That would make for a boring world, wouldn't it?

"Wishmaster 2" does have one major benefit - Holly Fields as Morgana who is full of guilt over the loss of her lover and the killing of a museum guard. For a brief moment, I sensed the filmmakers (including director Jack Sholder who helmed "Nightmare on Elm Street 2" and "The Hidden") were aiming for a redemptive character study about a woman willing to purify herself for her sins. But the movie dovetails into silliness and aims for graphic gore and stupid gore gags (like a lawyer who gets an anal penetration that is worthy of an SNL skit, not this movie). None of it is memorable or even remotely compelling. I wished this series went away but two more sequels followed. Good movies are only half of a cinematic sphere - crapola has to exist too.