Needful Things

The young carpenter from Nazareth? I know him well. Promising young man. He died badly.

Needful Things is directed by Fraser C. Heston and is adapted for the screen by W.D. Richter from the novel of the same name written by Stephen King. It stars Max von Sydow, Ed Harris, Bonnie Bedelia, J. T. Walsh and Amanda Plummer. The community of Castle Rock in Maine is all a tizzy when a new curio gift shop called Needful Things opens its doors. The proprietor is the mysterious Leland Gaunt (Sydow), who agrees to part with special goods in return for the buyer playing pranks on somebody in the community. Pranks that will have far reaching consequences for everyone in Castle Rock.

To enjoy Needful Things a number of factors will need to be ta...

What if the devil literally came to town?

What would happen if satan actually visited an American town, albeit undercover? In this case it's a small New England coastal village (shot in British Columbia). Ed Harris plays the main protagonist while Bonnie Bedelia appears as his girlfriend, and Max Von Sydow is on hand as the mysterious shopkeeper who moves into town and causes havoc by selling the villagers their most deepest desires for the price of a "deed." So, what would happen if the devil came to town? Would he make it a heathen paradise? A fun, hedonistic haven? Not bloody likely.

Like all Stephen King films based on his books, "Needful Things" (1993) takes place in a small town and has a comic book air. It borrows the con...

Well.... it has a really good cast, I have to give it that. Max Von Sidow SHOULD have been an Oscar favorite and Ed Harris is always watchable.

... but this is a King adaptation and, IDK, maybe it's because like so many others I read the book first...

... but this stinks. It's higher budget than some of the adaptations of his book, but doe the most part it just falls short time and again.

Maybe it would have worked as a miniseries, but as a movie... stay away.