Wish Upon (2017)

A teenage girl discovers a box that carries magic powers and a deadly price for using them.

Review

Another take on the old Monkey's Paw, Wish Upon runs the gauntlet of being another forgetful PG-13 horror film. And to be honest, it's pretty standard. The plot (derived entirely from W. W. Jacobs short story) sees protagonist Clare making rash wishes to improve her life - of which it is painfully obvious to the viewer there is little wrong with, and this is all just a set up to kill off people (as it turns out, ala Final Destination).

Smoshing together Final Destination with a seven wish version of Monkey's Paw is a reasonable idea, but writer Barbara Marshall (Viral) doesn't put much effort into it. The plot is frighteningly signposted, with no real surprises in it, and so generic it's painful. The same can be said for the direction of John R. Leonetti (Annabelle).

The players fair little better with lead Clare being taken on by Joey King (Slender Man). King's portrayal is pretty bland, with far better performances coming from some of the supporting cast, including Ki Hong Lee (The Maze Runner), Shannon Purser (Stranger Things), and Sydney Park (The Walking Dead). Star appeal (coughs) is brought by Ryan Phillippe and Sherilyn Fenn who are given little to do.

The only saving grace is the end of the film which - although is sequel baiting terribly - at least adds some needed rounding to the story.

There is little here to talk about to be honest. It's very vanilla across the board. Watchable, I suppose, but not scary, or even really trying to be. There's better stuff out there.

Oh, and Jerry O'Connell is in it for a cameo - for reasons - and the continuity is shot, but there's no one credited in continuity so that's probably why.