Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell

Director - Chris Angel (The Fear: Resurrection, Dexter: Season One - Witnessed in Blood)
Starring - Jason Connery (Brotherhood of Blood, Alone in the Dark II), A. J. Cook (Dead Like Me, Final Destination 2), and Tobias Mehler (Disturbing Behavior, Carrie)
Release Date - 2001
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Evil feeds off your wishes"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Now we are getting into trilogy territory.  There are a lot of great trilogies out there.  You have the Maniac Cop trilogy, Basket Case trilogy, Slumber Party Massacre trilogy, and so many more.  So many great films find themselves becoming a trilogy but the third film in a serious tends to be the worst.  Hell, even the classic Day of the Dead was panned upon release before finding a cult following.  I had never seen the third Wishmaster film nor did I really have interest in it.  The first two films are decent at best and when I saw Andrew Divoff was not involved I knew I would not be a fan.  Divoff is what made the first two films enjoyable.  I still tried to be open-minded but the film still very much let me down.

     The film follows college student Diana (Cook) who has been working closely with her college professor Dr. Joel Barash (Connery).  She accidentally awakens the evil djinn who wants her to make her three wishes so he can free all the other djinns from their hellish dimension.  He starts a bloody campaign across campus to get to Diana.  She partners with Greg Janson and the pair try to stop the djinn at all costs and even summon the archangel Michael to inhabit Greg's body to do so.

     I'm going to be completely honest and say I had very low expectations for this film.  I'm usually open to most sequels but not having Divoff really turned me off to the film.  He was great as the djinn and brought a lot of charisma and character to the film.  Without it, the story alone was enough to sink the ship.  The acting in this one is not the best.  The cast has a lot of on screen talent but they have a hard time not overreacting.  They, once again, feel like stage actors on Broadway which makes for a very awkward film experience.  The biggest disappointment is Jason Connery.  He's not a bad actor, not at all, but he is a very flat customer that is one dimensional.  He doesn't come across as a threat and he doesn't steal the show like Divoff.  This was very poor casting.  The story for this one is exactly the same as the first two films.  We once again follow a young woman who accidentally awakens the djinn who starts killing family and friends to get to her to make her third wish.  The only difference is that this one is set on a college campus.  This film lacks originality from the characters down to the kills.  The story is the same and after watching all three films back to back you will find yourself not interested at all.  Finally, the film has several kills scenes that are not as clever or as entertaining as the first two films.  The kills use great practical effects but are just as boring as the film itself.  Overall, Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell is very lackluster.  The film uses the same formula as the first two in the series and makes very minor changes.  The kills are just as boring making one film that is very forgettable.