The Final Wish Digital HD Review

3 star sinister but slow supernatural horror.

The Final Wish is written by Jeffrey Reddick (creator of the Final Destination franchise) and directed by Timothy Woodward Jr. (Gangsterland, Hickok). It is available to stream on Digital HD from 25th May courtesy of Signature Entertainment.

“The Universe demands balance. For every yin there must be a yang. For there to be good there must be evil. For there to be life there must be death.”

Aaron Hammond (Michael Welch – Twilight, Z Nation) is a struggling young law graduate. Having left his hometown of Jackson, Ohio to try his luck in Chicago he finds that the law college he attended is not prestigious enough to land him a job. He is being evicted from his flat for none payment of rent. Just when it seems he can’t get any lower, he gets a call from ex girlfriend Lisa (Melissa Bolona – The Institute, Acts of Violence) telling him that his father has passed away and he must return home immediately.

He receives a luke warm welcome from his mother Kate (Lin Shaye – Insidious: Chapter 3, Dead End) who resents his absence and the fact that he didn’t once visit his father as he lay dying. The reception from Lisa is little better, she now has a new boyfriend Derek (Kaiwi Lyman – American Violence, The Amityville Terror) a local cop. He still has two friends, Tyrone (Jean Elie – Insecure) and Jeffery (Jonathan Daniel Brown – Kid Cannabis) but even they feel like he was always too busy to find time for them.

His mother puts her foot down when he tries to hold a yard sale to sell off the artifacts from his father’s antique shop. She demands he stop immediately, but he keeps one item that he is drawn to, an ancient looking gold urn which he puts in his bedroom, planning to sell it on ebay. This is when the weirdness starts, as he makes a wish and it seems to come true immediately although not in the way he would have liked.

At first he is happy, his life is improving and things are looking up but after a trip to see antiquities expert Colin (Tony Todd – Candyman, The Crow) it soon becomes apparent that something sinister is afoot which threatens both him and those he loves.

The Final Wish is an enjoyable film in the vein of The Monkey’s Paw and Final Destination. It is very slow to get going and when it does it’s all rather vague and a bit confused. It doesn’t quite stand up to Final Destination, some of the scenarios just don’t seem plausible (I’m fairly sure it takes longer than a week to be fully healed, without scarring, following facial reconstruction surgery).

There are several twists, not all of which are adequately explained and after a good idea for a story the ending does feel like a bit of a cop out. Having said that, the acting is pretty good and the presence of horror legends Lin Shaye and Tony Todd is quite reassuring. There is also a small but satisfying quantity of gore.

All in all, fans of the genre will enjoy this perfectly passable horror film, well worth a watch.

“Oh, I see Lisa, actually I see a lot of Lisa. And tonight, when she’s very comfortably sitting on my moustache and begging me to guess her weight, I’ll tell her you said hello.”