Director: Timothy Woodward Jr

Writer: Jeffrey Reddick, William Halfon, Jonathon Doyle (Screenplay)

Starring: Lin Shaye, Michael Welch, Melissa Bolona, Spencer Locke, Tony Todd, Kaiwi Lyman, Jonathan Daniel Brown

Plot: After the death of his father, Aaron returns home to help his grief-stricken mother and to confront his past. Going through his dad’s belongings, he comes across a mysterious item that is more than it seems.

Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Struggles to Get Going

Story: The Final Wish starts when aspiring lawyer Aaron (Welch) has found himself struggling for money and when his father dies suddenly, he must return home to help his mother Kate (Shaye), even though they have become distant through the recent years.

After Aaron catches up with old friends, he is involved in an accident, but he starts to notice something strange about the people around him after the accident, with a series of things that he wants to solve before it is too late.

Thoughts on The Final Wish

Characters – Aaron has left his small town to try and become a lawyer, he has all the qualifications, only he got them from a weaker college, whose reputation is holding him back from jobs, he must return home after his father’s death and finds himself dealing with a whole new set of problems including dealing with events he simply can’t explain. Kate is Aaron’s mother that is going through the grieving process, she doesn’t want to lose any of the possession he has gathered through the years and is stuck trying to understand why her son never came back earlier. Lisa is a former childhood sweetheart of Aaron’s she has been supporting Kate through the struggles despite having her own problems to overcome, she does end up helping Aaron try to get to the bottom of the problems he is facing. Colin the expert that does fill in most of the blanks about what is happening to Aaron.

Performances – Lin Shaye brings everything you would expect from her in a horror film, even if she is more of a supporting part in the film. Michael Welch takes the leading role and ends filling the generic role without making his character more memorable that he should have, Melissa Bolona fills the supporting side with ease, while Tony Todd gives us a strong cameo, leaving us wanting to see more from.

Story – The story here follows a young man struggling to make his way in his field of choice that must return home after a family death, only to learn that he has unwittingly connects with an evil item within the house. The story here does follow the routine of seeing a relative returning to a family after a death, meeting old friends and getting a chance to catch up on life. When it comes to the horror side of the story, it does take a while to get into everything, which by the time we get into what is happening, it does feel like a dark Aladdin. We also get a conclusion which does feel like kop out.

Horror – The horror in the film is the weakest part, we do have an idea which could be very interesting, only it takes too long to get to the point of the horror, leaving us wondering more than giving us any scares.

Settings – The film uses the small town setting to show what it would be like to return home after being in a big city, filled with memories, but doesn’t use anything for horror.

Scene of the Movie – The final wish.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Takes too long to get to the horror.

Final Thoughts – This is a horror that does have a very interesting idea, only it doesn’t manage to balance the idea with the build up, leaving us wanting more of the horror and less of the memory lane.

Overall: Slow starting horror.

Signature Entertainment presents The Final Wish on Digital HD from May 25th