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

Genre : Horror
Country : USA/Canada

Cast :
Joey King : Clare
Shannon Purser : June
Sydney Park : Meredith

Director :
John R. Leonetti

My opinion on “Man Down”

“I just found it at this fancy place.
It’s got Chinese writing on it.
Figured since you’re taking Chinese…
Just consider it an early birthday present.”

It feels as if it’s centuries ago, but I can still remember me and my wife (when our relationship was not yet sealed by the lifelong ritual called marriage) going to the cinema to watch “Final Destination“. Nothing special according to you? Well, I told her that it was just an ordinary thriller. Just to put her at ease, since she isn’t such a fervent fan of horrors. Even worse. This genre gives her restless nights full of nightmares. Believe me, she was terrified the whole movie. That was the first time she was terribly angry with me (and it wouldn’t be the last time). I admit it. I love films where the principle of “what goes around comes around” causes bloody situations. And if I compare “Wish upon” with the “Final destination“-franchise, this would be a better choice for my wife to watch. Because to be honest, even though it’s not a bad horror at all and I had fun watching it, it’s not in the same league as “Final destination”. So next to soft-porno for men to gaze at, they’ve invented soft-horror for teen girls.

Only seven wishes ? Bummer.

This is not about a group of teenagers who outsmarted Death. It’s about a teenage girl names Clare (Joey King) whose life looks more like a horror than the film itself. Her mother committed suicide when she was still young. Her father (Ryan Philippe) has a job as a garbage man. And she’s very ashamed about that. And she herself isn’t very popular at school and is being bullied on a daily base by some bee-yatches at school whose families are rich folks. The only support she finds is from her two best friends Meredith (Sydney Park) and June (Shannon Purser). Until her father finds a mysterious looking box with some mysterious Chinese text while going through some garbage. Thanks to her Chinese lesson in school, Clare can decipher that she is allowed to do seven wishes. And believe me, she starts doing that without blinking.

I wished her wishes wouldnt be so obvious.

As I said before, this is the softer version of “Final destination“. I didn’t think it was creepy. And the fatal results of Clare’s wishes weren’t portrayed explicitly. When I think of “Final destination“, I still can imagine the scene on the motorway vividly. Those spinning tree trunks penetrating the front window of a car and squashing everything that comes in its way. Plus all the crashing vehicles in slow motion. I’m sure I won’t remember much of “Wish upon” in a week or two. And that’s because of the lack of impressive images. The story itself is also extremely predictable. The wish-list of Clare is limited to meaningless things as status, financial freedom and making sure the popular boy from school will be hopping after her in a hopeless way. It all feels a bit standard and teeny. And to be honest, my feelings of compassion for Clare soon were replaced by an aversion because of her naive egoism. Lets say I didn’t feel sorry for her in the end.

Teen Horror.

Are you a teenager and still a newbie when it’s about horror? Well, I can only recommend to start with this one. Nothing as cozy as a film to go and see with your best friends where things that concern you at your age are covered. The fact someone dies everytime there’s a wish, probably is a side issue. Hopefully there isn’t a figure standing at the exit of the cinema, all dressed up in black, holding a huge sickle, waving with a bony index finger and warning you that greed can have unpleasant consequences sometimes. Well, that’s the moment you should start screaming and run away as fast as you can.

My rating 5/10
Links : IMDB