Review of Needful Things (1993) by Stuart K — 01 Feb 2011
Based upon Stephen King's 1991 novel, and directed by Fraser C. Heston, (son of Charlton), this is an amusing and quite effective supernatural morality tale, about how far we would go for what we truly want.
Despite it's tricks and twists, it does have one good lead performance. Set in the town of Castle Rock, Maine, a new shop opens up, dealing in antiques called Needful Things, ran by the mysterious and charismatic Leland Gaunt (Max Von Sydow).
It doesn't look like a store from the inside, more like a posh house, but things for sale are dotted around, most of them are of great personal worth to the residents of Castle Rock. The first customer is young Brian Rusk (Shane Meier) who see's a baseball card he's always wanted, Gaunt lets him have it, but he has Brian performing tricks on local residents.
Doing so, Gaunt is able to turn the residents of Castle Rock against one another, by having them perform horrible tricks on one another. With the town going to pot, it's up to Sheriff Alan J. Pangborn (Ed Harris) to discover how it call came to this, and who Gaunt REALLY is.
It's got it's moments, but it's more titilating than scary. It's well made despite flaws and plotholes, and Max Von Sydow puts in a very good performance, the opposite end of the spectrum to whom he played in The Greatest Story Ever Told.
This review of Needful Things (1993) was written by Stuart K on 01 Feb 2011.
Needful Things has generally received mixed reviews.
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