Wish Upon

This movie has it's ups and it's downs. There were some really great suspense scenes, while others where painfully obvious. I feel like they should've spend just a little bit more time on it, to work out the kinks.

Overall I would still recommend you to see it and don't give up on it too soon. There is some really great stuff in there. It's been a while since a movie genuinely had me on the edge of my seat, which completely made up for the bad parts.

I'm extremely confused about the rating. This movie is decent enough to watch. Did too many non-horror fans vote? I found it well made. Did you not like the ending? Duh, shock endings are what's great about movies like this. Give it a watch. It is not a disappointment.

'WISH UPON': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

The new supernatural horror flick about a girl that gets a strange music box from her father, that she realizes will grant her seven wishes. She also later learns though, that there's a very violent and horrific price for every wish. The film was directed by John R. Leonetti (who's also helmed other horror flicks like 'ANNABELLE' and 'THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT 2'), and it was written by Barbara Marshall (who also wrote the horror flick 'VIRAL', from last year). The movie stars Joey King, Ryan Phillipe, Elisabeth Rohm, Ki Hong Lee, Sydney Park, Shannon Purser, Mitchell Slaggert and Sherilyn Fenn. The screenplay was voted to the 2015 Black List, and the film was made on a budget of just $12 million. It's received mostly mediocre reviews from critics, and viewers, but I enjoyed it.

Clare Shannon (King) is a high school student that's constantly picked on by the popular girls at school, and she's also severely embarrassed by her 'dumpster diving' father (Phillipe). Her mother (Rohm) committed suicide too, when Clare was young, and Clare is still traumatized by it. Then one day her dad brings her home a mysterious music box, that he found in a dumpster, which says it will grant her seven wishes. Clare decides to entertain the fantastical idea, and then she's amazed when her wishes start coming true. Then Clare becomes haunted by the box though, when people start dying (seemingly) as a result of her making wishes.

I enjoy horror movies, especially really good quality thrillers, but even B-horror flicks too. This is definitely a B-horror movie, but for me it was a lot of fun. I could really relate to Clare, and the concept of the movie is really interesting to me as well. I'd even go see a sequel (which the film is definitely set up for). The death scenes also reminded me a lot of the 'FINAL DESTINATION' franchise, which I also liked (at least at first). I think this is a horror movie that most B-horror fans can enjoy (like I definitely did).

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Overall not very good but watchable as it moves quickly through all the cliches you can expect in a very uneven manner. Decent backstory, some effective scenes including the end and the cast do their best. Let down often though by poor direction/script and story development. This really needed a lot more work to approach being a good film. However watchable as undemanding B movie horror.

Wish Upon is a horror tale that tells the story of a mysterious Chinese music box that grants seven wishes, but at a price.

Starring the adorable Joey King alongside Ryan Phillippe and Elisabeth Rohm it's an original piece, though clearly influenced by the classic tale of the monkeys paw. Thankfully I like that old tale so was excited to see what new twists they brought to the table, and quite frankly I walked away happy though some influence came from Final Destination (2000) as well.

It's a well constructed, suitably paced movie with a fantastic cast and more than a sprinkle of good ideas. I find Joey King very likeable, not only the fact that she's adorable but she's a competent actress with hopefully a great career ahead of her and it's about time Phillippe returned to form.

If you like alternative horror that doesn't rely on a dude with a knife, ghosts, big scary monsters or demonic themes then this may well be for you. There were elements that left me scratching my head but nothing that wasn't forgivable.

Well worth a watch.

The Good:

Fantastic cast

Solid concept

The Bad:

Dreadful cover art

Couple of loose ends