A standard spin on W. W. Jacobs’ The Monkey’s Paw (or, perhaps more directly, Richard Matheson’s Button, Button) Wish Bone starts out quite strongly – with better production values than many of the films in this collection – but eventually fails simply because the plot is dragged out to tedious lengths. By the time the third “party montage” comes along, all but the most patient viewers will be looking at their watches. Director Timothy Gaer simply doesn’t capture the spirit that made those original stories – which have already been adapted dozens of times, with “Button, Button” getting a recent Hollywood
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