Wes Craven’s Horror Movie With One Of The Best Casts Refuses To Be Stopped On Streaming

Published Sep 27, 2026, 9:08 AM EDT

Hannah Gearan (she/her) is has been writing for ScreenRant for over three years. Her deep cinema love traces back to age 11, when she equipped herself with a spiral-bound notebook, rated all the films she watched, and declared herself a critic. About a decade later, she received a BA from Wesleyan University, where she studied Film, Environmental Studies, and Writing. Hannah’s short film, Toxic Faucets, has screened at numerous film festivals, including the Independent Film Festival of Boston (IFFBoston). As a Movie News writer now, she draws upon her vast experience studying, making, and analyzing film as she approaches dynamic breaking stories. 

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Wes Craven was one of the most beloved horror creators of all time. Horror fans' eyes were on him ever since his 1977 B-movie breakout hit The Hills Have Eyes. He would go on to write and direct the horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street seven years later in 1984. A decade later, he was still making horror classics, helming the first four installments of the Scream franchise. Many of Craven's works became staples of the horror genre over the course of his nearly half-century-long career.

In addition to his writing and directing credits, Craven also supported other filmmakers' work as a producer. One of his most iconic works as a producer was Wishmaster, a B-horror film released in 1997. The movie focuses on a demonic djinn who will be able to summon other demons to earth when his owner makes their three wishes. Wishmaster features a cast including Tammy Lauren, Andrew Divoff, Greg Funk, Jake McKinnon, Robert Englund, Ted Raimi, and Richard Assad.

Wes Craven's Wishmaster Has Been A Global Hit For 2 Straight Months

Now, Wishmaster has been a global streaming hit for an impressive period of time. On Lionsgate+, it has now been in the global top 10 for movies for two straight months. This is a long time for a cult classic like Wishmaster, especially outside of October itself. At the time of writing, it is the no. 8 film globally, and the no. 1 movie in Italy, as well as highly ranked in other regions as well.

This prolonged streaming success would be notable for any film, but especially one that was one of Craven's more overlooked works. Wishmaster was profitable when released in theaters, but at a much smaller scale than something like Scream. It was made on a modest $5 million budget, and ended up making $15.7 million at the box office. While likely enough to turn a profit, it is by no means a box office darling.

The Film's Cast Was Quietly The Avengers Of Horror

Besides the Craven connection itself, another thing Wishmaster had going for it was its stellar cast of horror regulars. Divoff was in the Stephen King adaptation Graveyard Shift a few years before, narrator Angus Scrimm was a regular in the Phantasm series, and McKinnon had just appeared in the splatter horror film From Dusk Till Dawn. Perhaps most notably, Englund was Freddy Krueger himself. That is to say, Wishmaster brought together several horror mainstays, giving the '90s horror film a uniquely stacked cast.