Catching Up With My Watchlist

I should have done this earlier in the week but then everything else took over and now, here we are ;o) Which reminds me, I really need to stop making rash promises about catching up with my reading over any given weekend. I want it to happen but it never does; these days, I'm not any good for much more than a Saturday afternoon in front of the telly. And I wouldn't mind so much if the films I watched were any good... Actually, it wasn't too bad last weekend, nothing amazing but nothing truly horrendous either. I'm counting that as a win ;o) Let me tell you about what I watched...


'Wishmaster' (1997)

An ancient hidden opal is found by Alexandra, a gemologist. Unknowingly, she releases an evil Djinn from within, who wishes to take over the world but is restricted until his owner makes three wishes.

Is 'gemologist' a real word? It doesn't feel like it should be but that's what I got when I googled 'Wishmaster' so I'm sticking with it :o) But onto the movie....

For every iconic movie figure, there are dozens who didn't quite cut it... I had a horrible feeling about 'Wishmaster' but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's got enough plot to give the Djinn a little context but not too much to get in the way of what we all came for; a Djinn coming up with new ways to kill anyone dumb enough to make a wish. And there are loads of people dumb enough to make a wish... As far as that went, 'Wishmaster' was a hell of a lot of fun, Andrew Divoff chews the hell out of the scenery as the Djinn and the writers come up with gruesome deaths for people unlucky enough to cross the Djinn. 'Wishmaster' doesn't do any more than that but it didn't really need to so I was happy with it ;o)


'Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies' (1999)

A robbery goes wrong and the Djinn is released back into the world, and...

It's exactly the same as 'Wishmaster', albeit our Djinn now has to find 800 souls before the person who set him can make her three wishes. I have no idea why, I enjoyed watching the deaths (which were as imaginative as ever) but the plot left me cold. Maybe I should have left a week or two between these movies? Maybe... What I do know is that this as far as I'm going with the 'Wishmaster' series. A half decent concept got very old, very quickly.


'Triggered' (2020)

Nine campers wake up with bombs strapped to their chests, each with varying countdowns to detonation. Only one of them will make it to the morning...

I'm always up for a 'Battle Royale' knockoff and the concept on offer looked like it was a safe bet. And it was, up to a point. Not all the characters carry it off (I'm looking at you in particular, 'stoned rocker dude') and it's a real shame that the final girl was a little too quiet to be believable. The plot is definitely tense though, with enough twists to keep me watching. I'll be honest, I'm not sure how much I'll remember in a week's time but it was fun to watch at the time ;o)


'Cooties' (2014)

When a deadly virus transforms some children in an elementary school into bloodthirsty zombies, a bunch of eccentric teachers must work together to escape from the place unharmed.

You know what? I never used to like 'Cooties' but it's growing on me :o) It has a nice mix of slightly odd characters and the zombie infestation is handled very well. Add a few jokes here and there and... 'Cooties' is never going to be 'Shaun of the Dead' but it's not too far away. It's definitely on my 'Re-Watch List' now :o)


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