You’d think people would know by now. When something grants you several wishes–anything you can think of–it’s probably too good to be true. In fact, you should fucking leave it alone, especially if it’s a weird-looking item with ancient writing on it that plays creepy music when open. In the case of Wish Upon, every time you make a wish, someone close to you fucking dies. Every time you make a wish, you’re murdering a friend or family member.
That’s just cold.
Wish Upon is a poor man’s Final Destination, a PG-13 horror movie that is better than many PG-13 horror movies, but still a shadow of better, scarier, more thrilling horror movies. It wants to be edgy, it wants to be twisted, it maybe even wants to be fucked up, but it can’t quite get there.
Every time there’s a wish, someone dies in a random, seemingly accidental way. Director John Leonetti obtains a moderate level of tension, or at least giddy excitement, as he creeps toward each death, making the audience guess exactly how the next victim will bite the dust. Wish Upon boasts a fun concept, and Leonetti, whose biggest directorial credit is Annabelle, has made a fun movie.
Still, Wish Upon is no horror classic. With exception to one or two, the deaths are largely unimaginative. They remind you of those in Final Destination, but not nearly as exciting, complex or remarkable. There have been worse horror screenplays, but there have been better. And when the movie starts to hint at another flick–Drag Me to Hell–it doesn’t go far enough, unwilling to defy the conventions and constraints of the studio horror film.
Wish Upon is a decent little horror film, but it doesn’t take advantage of its premise in a memorable or imaginative way. Watch it home. Just don’t make a wish.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.