The first dramatized
iteration of W.W. Jacobs’ 1902 short story The
Monkey’s Paw I became familiar with came in the form of Nickelodeon’s
nighttime Snick series Are You Afraid of
the Dark? with the debut episode The
Tale of the Twisted Claw. A timeless
horror tale spoken of the same breath as Edgar Allen Poe, Bram Stoker and Mary
Shelley, it tells the story of three wishes granted to the owner of the monkey’s
paw with dire consequences following each request. Upon looking up the story I was startled to
learn just how many variant as well as faithful adaptations Jacob’s
supernatural horror fable saw, including the 2013 film The Monkey’s Paw which fared poorly with critics and audiences. It was only a matter of when that this easily
adaptable yarn would get the silver screen treatment for the umteenth time. What I didn’t expect was that the task would
fall onto the director of Mortal Kombat:
Annihilation…oh and Annabelle too.
Aptly named Wish Upon, part time director/full time
cinematographer John R. Leonetti transposes Jacobs’ tale to a Canadian high
school as The Conjuring scream queen
Joey King plays Clare Shannon, a bullied misfit with a tragic past whose role
as the school’s laughing stock soon changes when her father Jonathan (Ryan
Phillippe) discovers a mysterious music box with strange powers. Despite good performances by Phillippe, Sherilyn
Fenn and King’s turn as the leading damsel in distress, this PG-13 horror
venture is predictable and formulaic.
Aside from moody cinematography by Michael Galbraith and a brilliant
electronic score by The Rules of
Attraction composer tomandandy, Wish
Upon is more or less tween horror best suited for slumber parties while
serving up just enough glimpses of death scenes recycled from the Final Destination movies sapped dry of
much in the way of blood and gore that it narrowly evades an R rating.
While not overtly bad, Wish Upon is largely an average thriller
chiller with well drawn characters at the service of a tired and worn
plotline. Curious that this was released
by Broad Green Pictures, the same company that also released the infinitely
better and far more horrific The Neon
Demon. That was, for my money, a
masterful film that burrowed itself so far under viewers’ barriers and comfort
zones that it elicited some of the noisiest vocal reactions to any film in
recent memory. While Wish Upon got a few people to jump out
of their seats and shriek here and there, it’s all based on generic jump scares
with the volume turned to full blast to give those with heart conditions the
kiss of death and otherwise seasoned horror fans yet another thing to roll
their eyes at.
The horror genre and use
of horror in modern film has been as exciting and innovative as ever, notably
with Twin Peaks: The Return breaking
new ground while scaring the Hell out of longtime fans. Moreover companies like Shout Factory and Arrow Video have been reintroducing modern filmgoers to forgotten as well as cherished classics of the genre, further the education of newcomers as well as seasoned consumers of all things horror. With renewed interest in horror masters
including John Carpenter, Dario Argento and everything from
the Grindhouse shocker to the giallo slasher, one can’t help but sigh in dismay
while watching Wish Upon when they
end up with more of the same old schtick yet again. Not necessarily a shoddy production, just one that will travel in one ear and out the other.
Score:
- Andrew Kotwicki