Horror Movie Review: Conjuring the Genie (2021)

From writer and director, Scott Jeffery comes Conjuring the Genie, aka Evil Genie aka Devil Djinn. It stars Megan Purvis, Nicola Wright, Ben Reid and Sarah T. Cohen.

Have you ever seen Wishmaster or any of that series’ sequels? If so, then you’ll be very familiar with the set-up for this movie. Hell, it goes as far back as the Monkey’s Paw. If not, well, make a wish and see what happens.

This Djinn is as tricky as the one from Wishmaster. Make a wish and watch it be twisted. The opening of this movie showcases this as woman ends up with scissors in her eye. Just one more soul for this being to take.

We are then introduced to the lead, Morgan (Megan Purvis) who has been struggling since her father died. She won’t speak to her mother and her education (university) is beginning to suffer. To help her catch up, her professor gives her assignment researching urban legends.

It’s that assignment that introduces her to Daniel who does something called ‘urban legend summoning’ which brings forth a ‘wishing demon’. Morgan and her friends are about to discover that not all wishes should come true.

Conjuring the Genie can be best described as a waste of time, one that is lifeless and lacking imagination. You won’t be able to quite predict how the wishes will turn out but that’s only because they often don’t make any sense. It’s not so much the Djinn twisting the wishes as it literally taking huge liberties. Someone wishes to be beautiful? Turn her into a mannequin. Sure, that’s how it works.

The main crux of the story surrounds Morgan and her specific wish which is that her dead father was alive. You’re probably expecting a zombie or something but no, her father is brought back much to the shock and surprise of pretty much everyone.

Why? Well, you’ll have to watch it to find out but take our word for it, it’s not worth it. Boring, an uninspired monster design (the mask’s mouth doesn’t move when it talks) and a really surprising lack of gore, there’s very little to recommend here. At best, the acting is solid enough, but that’s it.