Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies Reviews

The tacky fright franchise continues with this sequel, in which the titular genie rocks the world of a burglar with a conscience. Morgana (Holly Fields) and her boyfriend, Eric (Chris Weber), rip off an art museum, and Morgana fatally shoots the guard who pops Eric during their getaway. During the course of the heist, Morgana has touched a stone that was dislodged from an ancient Persian statue, unleashing a Djinn (Andrew Divoff) that materializes by subsuming Eric's body. Morgana flees, leaving the police to encounter the Djinn's new embodiment, Nathaniel Demarest. Sent up the river for murder, Wishmaster Demarest begins collecting the souls of inmates; if he can amass 200 souls and convince Morgana to make three wishes, he can unleash the genie hordes from another dimension. Conscience-stricken Morgana seeks the advice of Father Gregory (Paul Johannson), who was her boyfriend before he dumped her to join the priesthood; he's skeptical of her story. Meanwhile, Demarest is granting wishes whose full meaning he usually twists in some horrible way; his masterpiece is forcing an attorney to screw himself! Demarest escapes the big house in the company of fellow convict Osip (Oleg Vidov) and continues his soul-seeking at a casino. Father Gregory accompanies Morgana to the gambling den and confronts Demarest, who responds by crucifying the priest. In order to defeat the Djinn, Morgana must be pure of heart, so her only hope of saving the world is to make a wish that will restore her decency. In Barbara Eden's day genies were benign, but the Wishmaster series blackens their good name; this not-so-grand Guignol effort combines arch dialogue with gory effects worthy of Herschel Gordon Lewis.