Robert Kurtzman’s “Wishmaster” owes a lot to Clive Barker. While the entire film feels like Clive Barker lite material, everything right down to the premise feels like someone was really admirer of the artist. The premise is right out of “Hellraiser,” while our villain, the djinn, feels like Pinhead, with the design of one of Barker’s Nightbreed from Midian. Kurtzman even includes appearances by a slew of horror heavyweights like Kane Hodder and Robert Englund for good measure. “Wishmaster” is one of the more unremarkable horror fantasies to enter the genre in the nineties.
Tag Archives: Fantasy
The Shorts of Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2017 [Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2017]
The staff at Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival makes a great effort to bring all kinds of horrific, kooky, and fun shorts to their fest. The films chosen are of a wide array and all different from each other. Here are a few shorts reviews for a few of these short films:
Your Date Is Here (2017) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]
During a mother-daughter evening mom dusts off an old game that used to her mother’s that she loved playing as a child. As she and her daughter play the game, something abnormal is going on…
Bride of Frankie (2017) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]
While the Doctor is away, his assistant will play. As the mad-scientist is out, his not-so-mad assistant works on getting his creation a friend. As the friend comes to life, the assistant teaches her how to live and how to love.
Addams Family Reunion (1998)
After the sad death of brilliant actor Raul Julia, the “Addams Family” film series was put to rest, despite both films being big commercial hits for their respective years. Almost immediately, Paramount sold the rights to the series to, baffling enough, Saban Entertainment. Saban, of course, is known for producing cheap but popular kids entertainment like “Power Rangers” and “Digimon.” The Saban label at the opening is almost a black mark on the entire movie, as the reboot of the reboot is a bargain basement third entry in to the series with all the cast replaced save for Lurch. The dark and Gothic aesthetic is missing, and comically sinister tone the series perfects is considerably watered down with the film feeling less like Tim Burton, and more like the terrible pilot to a show that never quite took off.
Addams Family Values (1993)
With the success of the first installment of the nineties “Addams Family” (however minimal), a sequel was only inevitable. The follow up is a turning point for the movies where the writers put the more popular side characters in to the forefront. This time around Fester and the kids get so much more focus, as Barry Sonnenfeld allows Fester more of the spotlight this time around. After the big reveal in the first film, Morticia and Gomez have a baby boy and much to their disappointment, Wednesday and Pugsley hate him. Despite making their feelings quite apparent, they persist in trying to kill their new baby brother, causing more headaches for their parents.
The Addams Family (1991)
Among some of the best adaptations during the odd period in the nineties where every studio was putting sixties shows to film, “The Addams Family” is one of the best. While this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Addams Family together again after the cult series, Barry Sonnenfeld offers up a unique retelling of the Addams Family that works well. The biggest change to the lore is now Uncle Fester is no longer Morticia’s uncle but an Addams’ and Gomez’s brother. This allows the writers to offer up a pretty fun and unique re-visiting of the family where the primary brood is played by some brilliant actors.