The Final Wish (2018)

"Wish it Away!!"

Lin Shaye stars in The Final Wish, a movie co-written by Jeffrey Reddick (who gave us FINAL DESTINATION) and also featuring Tony Todd. It's getting a UK Digital HD release from Signature Entertainment.

Down on his luck lawyer Aaron (Michael Welch) returns to the small town of his birth for his father's funeral. His father collected curious objects and one of them, an ornate bowl found in Iraq, houses a demon capable of granting wishes. Of course, each wish comes at a price, with the biggest horrible surprise reserved for when you've made enough of them.

THE FINAL WISH should be a lot better than it is. Lin Shaye is fine as Aaron's mother, as is Tony Todd who turns up as the expository librarian. The rest of the acting is passable with the exception of Melissa Bolona who really should ask for her money back from any acting classes she paid for. 

Shots are framed well and there's some interesting use of coloured lighting. The reason I'm saying something nice about those things is because the direction on the whole is quite terrible, exhibiting little sense of how to tell a story like this. Scenes of possible suspense are presented more like an advert for washing up liquid, the camera lingers on pointless things for far too long, and the movie quickly veers into 'shout at the screen' territory. 

And that's a great shame because a horror film about wishes going wrong, with those headlining actors and some great design and set dressing (Aaron's father's house looks like something out of Night Gallery or an Amicus film and it's all wasted wasted wasted) should be fantastic and it's just awful. It's taken a while for THE FINAL WISH to get a release and it's not surprising. However, if you're looking for a night of so bad it's good entertainment, this is probably the one to go for this week.

THE FINAL WISH is out on Digital HD from Signature Entertainment on Monday 25th May 2020