Starring
Joey King, Ki Hong Lee, Josephine Langford, Sydney Park, Ryan
Phillippe, Elisabeth Rohm, Mitchell Slaggert, Sherlyn Fenn, Alice
Lee. Directed by John R. Leonetti. (2017, 90/91min).
While
at the movies with my daughter, Lucy, earlier this summer, we saw the
Wish Upon trailer, which wasted no time establishing the film
as yet-another variation of "The Monkey's Paw." That isn't
necessarily a deal breaker. Originality has never been something the
horror genre nurtures in abundance. Even this year's critical
darling, Get Out, owes a passing nod to The
Stepford Wives.
Though
a big horror fan, Lucy wasn't familiar with "The Monkey's Paw,"
so she was sufficiently intrigued, especially since Wish Upon
swaps the paw for a Chinese music box and puts it in the hands of
Clare (Joey King), a self-absorbed teenager. As a high
school pariah armed with seven wishes instead of three, she proceeds
to improve her life and social status...with unfortunate results, of
course.
 |
| "'Ask again later?' What the hell!" |
Wish
Upon also borrows heavily from a variety of other movies, including Carrie and the Final Destination series, dishing up
enough horror tropes to play like a greatest hits album. Hence, there
are no real surprises or scares to be had (unless you count a few
rats dropping from a crawlspace). While it's refreshing that Clare isn't a helpless waif - she's willing to stand-up to her tormentors - she's not an easy character
to rally behind. Even after learning the box's evil nature - each
wish results in the violent death of someone close to her - Clare stupidly keeps using the box for her own personal gain.
 |
| "Damn, this takes AAA's. We're out of those." |
Still,
Wish Upon has its moments. A few of the death scenes manage to
instill a similar level of dread to those in Final Destination
(Sherlyn Fenn vs. a garbage disposal is a grabber, albeit
ridiculous). The film also captures the trials & tribulations of
high school hierarchy quite nicely, and I suppose one could cynically
argue this is exactly what an outcast teenager would do with
such power.
Admittedly, part of the fun is the film's utter predictability. There
was something almost comforting about sitting on the sofa with Lucy
while she announced every trope and story turn long before it
happened (even its twist ending was inevitable). She's seen more than
her fair share of horror films, and Wish Upon is the type of
thing she and her gaggle of girlfriends would pop-in during a
Saturday night sleepover, having a good time at its expense as they
talk back at the screen.
And
if nothing else, it did make her interested in reading "The
Monkey's Paw." That's gotta account for something.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
FEATURETTES:
"I Wish" (cast talks about what they'd wish for with the
box); "Attic Tour with Joey King"; "Directing
Darkness" (making-of featurette)
MOTION
COMICS: "Lu Mei's Curse" & "Arthur Sands"
(semi-animated promotional shorts of two backstories mentioned in the
film)
THEATRICAL
& UNRATED VERSIONS
DVD
COPY
KITTY CONSENSUS:
NOT BAD...LIKE CAT CHOW
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