The 1997 cult classic slasher film Wishmaster features a slew of cameos by some of horror's all time greats, and here's a full rundown. Wishmaster is one of those movies that few horror fans would attempt to champion as the best the genre has to offer. That said, it's still a lot of fun, and is an unapologetic B-movie in the best possible way. It's got gory kills. cool monster effects, well-done makeup on villain The Djinn, an original premise, amusing one-liners, and best of all, a reverence for the genre.
This reverence is made clear by the large amount of cameos made by genre icons in the film, and the loving way in which many standard horror tropes are played with or indulged in during Wishmaster's runtime. That's largely due to it being the directorial debut of Robert Kurtzman, the K in celebrated special effects studio KNB. Kurtzman's horror resume coming into Wishmaster was full of genre classics, including A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, Evil Dead 2, In the Mouth of Madness, and Scream. In short, he knew his stuff.
Kurtzman's horror background also certainly played a role in his ability to get so many iconic genre performers to appear in Wishmaster, as he likely formed friendships with most of them by that point. The recent film Death House may have dubbed itself The Expendables of horror, but the Wishmaster cast comes close.
Every Horror Icon Who Cameos in Wishmaster
The most notable horror icon to appear in Wishmaster is actually the only one of the bunch to have a bit more than a cameo. Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger) appears as rich art collector Raymond Beaumont, whose attempt to import the statue containing the fire opal The Djinn (Andrew Divoff, himself a horror regular) resides in leads to the creature being released to grant horrific wishes. Beaumont throws a party near the end of the film that sees The Djinn massacre dozens of people in creative ways after Beaumont wishes for the gathering to be unforgettable.
Now, to the proper cameos. Angus Scrimm (Phantasm's The Tall Man) provides the opening narration that reveals The Djinn's backstory. Tony Todd of Candyman fame plays doorman Johnny Valentine, who drowns due to a wish gone wrong. Kane Hodder, the only actor to play Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees multiple times, plays a security guard who The Djinn ends up literally walking through. Another Phantasm alum, Reggie Bannister pops up as a pharmacist who dies of fast-acting cancer thanks to a wish made by a bum, played by another horror mainstay, George "Buck" Flower (They Live). Finally, Ted Raimi (the Evil Dead franchise) appears as Beaumont's assistant, who gets crushed when a box containing The Djinn's statue is drunkenly dropped on him by a dock worker, played by Joe Pilato (Day of the Dead's Captain Rhodes). Wishmaster is truly a horror gathering for the ages.