Eric and Morgana Truscott (Holly Fields) break into a museum. Eric gets shot and Morgana escapes. A gem is split open and the Djinn escapes. It grants Eric a wish and he wishes to never have been born. The deadly wishes keep coming. The Djinn turns into his human form, Nathaniel Demarest (Andrew Divoff). Morgana is hounded by nightmares of the Djinn and seeks help from her ex-turned-priest Gregory (Paul Johannson).

The problem with wishing is that it's not the most thrilling or intense in terms of horror. It does have some minor fun in twisting around on the wisher. It's not the most exciting first half. The movie does pick up when Morgana can't die. That's really the key. The Djinn should have done an exposition dump early in the movie which forces Morgana into trying and failing to kill herself. That would raise the stakes a lot earlier although it can never get that intense. Torturing Gregory is probably the most compelling part. Pooping out gambling chips is the funniest. The basic premise remains problematic.

Three small time crooks robber a museum and after a shooting with the guards, one of them dies, the other one is wounded and the last one, Morgana (the gorgeous Holly Fields) survives and accidentally releases the evil Djinn (Andrew Divoff) from a stone. Djinn assumes a human form as Nathaniel Demerest, takes the blame for the crime and is sent to prison, where he intends to collect one thousand and one (1001) souls. In accordance with the prophecy, after Djinn accomplishes his intent, Morgana shall ask him for three wishes. Then, his race will domain earth, destroying human race. Morgana and her friend, Father Gregory (Paul Johansson),try to avoid Nathaniel to be successful in his objective. This sequel was a great surprise for me, since I did not expect such a good story without the name of Wes Craven in the credits. Further, the beauty of Holly Fields, with lips that recall Liv Tyler's, is impressive. A good entertainment, combining humor, horror and special effects, unfortunately underrated in IMDB User Rating. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): `O Mestre dos Desejos 2' (`The Wishmaster 2')

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.