Lisa and Sam are in love. They have just bought their first house and things seem to be going their way. Three years and a bad motorcycle accident later, times are tough for our couple. Lisa is trying to get a settlement from their insurance company with the help of their lawyer friend, Steve. Meanwhile, Sam is not dealing very well with living the rest of his life in a wheelchair. When Lisa accidentally breaks a gift given to her by Steve, she releases the Djinn from his slumber. The Djinn then takes the shape of Steve to try and coax the three wishes he needs to free his race from confinement. What will happen when he gets that third wish?

Sounds like a decent story, huh? It was entertaining for the first forty minutes or so. The plot was easy to follow and it was intelligently done.

There was even a very memorable moment with an insurance adjuster who does some very gruesome things to himself. It was all going so well until the Djinn got what he had been waiting thousands of years for...the third wish. From this point on the film took a nose dive into confusion.

There were elements of the story added in that had no basis from any other film in the entire series. A hunter who wields a sword in order to stop the waker from...from...I'm not sure what! Then there was the problem with how the Djinn was perceived. At some points in the film I wanted him to succeed. He was a type of anti-hero for who you were cheering. Then in the next scene he went back to an evil demon. Finally, you were asked to feel sorry for the character. The whole thing left me feeling confused and tired.

I would equate this series to a rollercoaster ride. There were some high points: the first film, Andrew Divoff, and the revival of the third film. And there were definite low points: the second film and the last half of the fourth. Overall, I think this coaster has run its course. I wish this series would end with Wishmaster 4. I just hope there is a Djinn out there who will grant my wish!

4 out of 10 Flaming Strippers