10 Most Underrated Horror Movie Villains

By the late nineties horror was in the midst of a resurgence thanks to the popularity of Wes Craven's Scream. In response to that runaway success studios quickly flooded cinemas and Blockbuster shelves with several identikit, yet far-less inspired offerings.

For many genre fans this glut of movies, including I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend, were merely a Disneyfied update of the slasher trend of the eighties. All featured attractive teens suffering tame demises at the hands of characterless and interchangeable antagonists. Real gorehounds were going hungry. But in that same year they were offered a treat by effects specialist Robert Kurtzman and writer Peter Atkins (Hellraiser II, III & IV) in the form of a demonic genie who always claims a terrible price for granting wishes.

Accidentally unleashed upon (then) present day America, this evil genie sets about world domination, with resistance only from the jewel appraiser/basketball coach who freed him (Tammy Lauren). The Djinn is almost a dual role for the charismatic Andrew Divoff. He's skin-crawlingly slimy yet suave in human form and when working under the extensive demon make-up and prosthetics he's outright menacing. But whichever shape he's in, it's always amusing to see how he'll interpret an innocuously phrased wish to fit his wicked agenda.

The movie also features a number of established horror icons, from Robert Englund, to Kane Hodder, to Tony Todd, all serving to raise this new monster on their shoulders. Sadly, the Wishmaster didn't reach the popularity enjoyed by his peers, with some fans actually taking umbrage over the way he dispatched the men who played Freddy, Jason and Candyman, as if it were some form of insult.

Three sequels followed, with Divoff replaced in the title role by John Novak for parts III and IV. However, the original stands as the best execution of an entertaining concept.