Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.0

Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 27, 2017

Note: This film is available as part of the Wishmaster Collection.

What would your three wishes be? It’s a time honored game played by a lot of kids, and maybe even some nostalgic adults: pretend you were someone like Aladdin who discovered a genie in a bottle (since that’s where genies supposedly are invariably found), freed it from its confines and then were granted that magic trifecta of desires. Of course any kid worth their salt makes it clear that their third wish is for three more (or infinitely more) wishes, unless the rules have already been proscribed denying that ability. But at least those first two wishes can be fun to contemplate, for those fond of indulging in such episodes of pretend. You might not want to get to that venerable third wish should you find yourself in an environment like that depicted in the Wishmaster series, since part of this film’s conceit is that the djinn (an Arabic term relating to a class of supernatural beings, one of whom is called a djinni, or as it became Anglicized, genie) are basically just waiting to escape their purgatorial (or in fact hellish) universe to invade ours, and that some poor hapless mortal getting to that third wish is the mechanism by which that event can happen. That’s just one way the Wishmaster franchise skews traditional elements of “genie in the bottle” stories, with another one being that very bottle element: in this formulation, the djinn is imprisoned in a jewel, one that (of course) repeatedly falls into the hands of either unwitting innocents or very witting bad guys, all of whom (again of course) unleash the superpowered being into the human realm, with expected calamitous consequences. The first Wishmaster is fun if hokey, augmented by some nice visual effects work, but this is one franchise that definitely experiences the law of diminishing returns as it goes on.

From some of director Chris Angel’s discussion on the commentary track included on Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell as a supplement, it sounds like the two final Wishmaster films were shot more or less in tandem, which may account for the fact that both of them are at about the same negligible quality levels. Neither film is exactly a paradigm of screenwriting logic, and neither develops the Wishmaster mythology in any meaningful way.

As with the first two Wishmaster entries, a pretty young woman inadvertently wakens the Djinn (played by John Novak in the final two films), leading to all sorts of havoc being wreaked. In this case, it’s the lovely if troubled Diana Collins (A.J. Cook), a college student who is still traumatized by a long ago car accident that had some devastating consequences (care to guess if another mishap involving a vehicle shows up in the film?). Diana at least has the unquestioned support of her boyfriend Greg (Tobias Mehler) to make it through long sleepless nights.

There’s nothing too unexpected that develops in this pretty lamentable enterprise, with Diana, kind of like Morgana in the second Wishmaster outing, trying to invoke a little “traditional” spiritual help at a church, but getting waylaid by the Djinn, who has assumed the identity of a college professor named Barash (Jason Connery, Sean’s son, here playing a character who in his original form can’t get a date—talk about suspension of disbelief).

Made in 2001, Wishmaster 3 at least benefits from some okay looking CGI which helps to up the special effects ante, at least when compared to some of the clunky if quaintly appealing practical effects that were part of the first two films.

Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films' Vestron Video imprint, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. All four of the films in the Wishmaster Collection are within "shouting distance" of each other, quality wise, but I'm grading this film and the first sequel at 3.5, and the last two at 4.0 to indicate some subtle but noticeable differences between these transfers. Both this film and the fourth film have a slightly better overall look about them, with excellent saturation and very little of the variability in the grain field, some of which is perhaps due to CGI replacing more traditional optical or composited effects. Detail levels are generally very good to excellent, though there are occasional contrast fluctuations as the story segues from brightly lit outdoor scenes to some murkier looking interior sequences.

Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Make up your mind already! As mentioned in the Wishmaster Blu-ray review, this collection ping pongs back and forth between DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 tracks. This particular film boasts a decent sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, one that doesn't offer a wealth of impressive separation but which delivers dialogue, effects and score clearly, with no problems and with smart prioritization. I'm at least a little curious as to why this film, shot more or less in tandem with the final sequel, only has a stereo track while the last film has a surround track.

Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Chris Angel and cast members John Novak, Jason Connery and Ouisette Geiss


• Behind the Scenes (1080i; 5:51) is a vintage featurette.


• Trailer (1080i; 1:52)

Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell has some surprisingly effective sequences, but they're dispersed at random intervals throughout the film, leading to a kind of lurching quality that deprives the story of any real suspense or momentum. Performances are about what you'd expect from a low grade offering like this, and some may find unintentional comedy in some of the dialogue. Technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.