Horror Short Review: Be Careful What You Wish for 3 (2022)

The third in the Be Careful What You Wish For series from AMCofficial and writer, director, editor and more, Alex Magaña.

The first two entries in this series were entertaining and there’s ignoring the fact that Alex Magaña has the horror short formula down to a tee. So, it’s no surprise that Be Careful What You Wish For 3 doesn’t exactly take any risks but still turns out to be thoroughly entertaining.

A man (Don Dipaolo) returns home to find his wife (Chey’Anne Harris), son (Paxton Kubitz) and daughter (Charlie Parsells) waiting to surprise him with a birthday cake. He sits down, makes a wish, blows the candles out and of course, the lights go out.

When they come back on, his soft smile turns to one of elation when he touches the cake and it transforms into a massive pile of coins. He tells his wife that they are going to be ok (they have money woes) but discovers that they are frozen in place.

A wish has been granted and there’s a price to play.

Delightfully dark and deliciously twisted, the strength in this horror short comes from the characters reactions to the events playing out in front of them. It’s actually quite horrible and the off-key, jangly music really enhances that feeling.

This might very well be the best entry so far in the series. Check it out yourself below.