Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Scott LeBrun The day to day lives of the good people of Castle Rock, Maine are shook up by a new arrival. Leland Gaunt (Max von Sydow) is a charming, dashing figure who opens up a curiosity shop named Needful Things. This place can basically give you whatever object you desire the most. Naturally, there's a very heavy price to be paid for obtaining these items... Soon the flustered sheriff, Alan Pangborn (Ed Harris) is having to deal with a town full of madmen and madwomen who are all now at each others' throats, ready to kill.The main attraction in this Stephen King adaptation is some very apt casting. If nothing else makes this watchable, it's the performances. Harris and the late, superior character actor J.T. Walsh are allowed the opportunity to overact as they hadn't done before. Walsh, often a man relegated to various white collar criminal and sleazy guy roles, is a scream as the unhinged politician convinced that he's being persecuted by the world at large. Harris is a likable hero. Bonnie Bedelia is very appealing as his love interest Polly. Amanda Plummer and Valri Bromfield, like Walsh, sink their teeth into their scenery devouring roles. Familiar faces in the cast also include Duncan Fraser, William Morgan Sheppard, Don S. Davis, Frank C. Turner, and Lochlyn Munro. The movie does give the legendary Mr. von Sydow a chance to have some fun, and he is utterly charming as the sinister Mr. Gault, but he's never what you could consider truly scary. At best, he's sort of creepy. Lisa Blount has an uncredited cameo as Cora Rusk.The King novel isn't one of his best, but it *is* quite entertaining with its character vignettes, and this adaptation (by screenwriter W.D. Richter) just doesn't size up as that satisfying. In making the transition from book to movie, it loses some impact. It's just not that meaty, and in the end is sort of weak, being content to kill off no more than a few characters. (The body count in the book is MUCH higher; the climactic riot is a real corker.) It's reasonably well made; the director is Fraser C. Heston (Charltons' son) and the excellent music is by Patrick Doyle.At least it manages to end with a big bang, which is pretty impressive. The best moments tend to belong to Walsh.An alternate, extended TV version of this exists that is titled "More Needful Things". This viewer would be most interested in watching that version and seeing if it works any better.Six out of 10.

classicsoncall There was a time I used to force myself to read Stephen King books at night in the dark with no one else in the house just to see if I could do it. 'It' was the creepiest and 'The Shining' was a close second, but 'Needful Things' was a pretty good contender even if it wasn't an outright horror story. I survived those days pretty well, so now I'm watching this flick in the dark, by myself, and it manages to block out the creaky noises in the rest of the apartment. So far, so good.I was a little surprised to see the amount of negative reviews for this picture by other reviewers on this board. A lot of them have to do with not following King's novel all that closely, but it's been so long since I read it that it doesn't make much difference to me now. The one thing I remember though has to do with the baseball card; in the book I think it was Koufax, not Mantle. I could be wrong, but when the scene came up I was expecting a Sandy Koufax card, so maybe my memory is playing tricks on me, maybe not. Perhaps some day I'll check it out to be sure.The interesting thing about this story was the way old Leland Gaunt (Max von Sydow) got all the folks in Castle Rock to turn on each other by not pitting likely adversaries against one another. Sort of like a domino effect where one unsuspecting citizen tripped up the next one in line with more and more disastrous results. The backdrop of the curiosity shop was a cool one for me because I like antiques and old things myself. The collecting urge isn't there any more though, so chances are I would have been a casual observer with all the insanity going on.There was some good casting here besides Sydow who appeared to be having a devil of a time. I enjoy Ed Harris and Bonnie Bedelia in most any other movie I've seen them in, but I have to say, Amanda Plummer as Nettie and Valri Bromfield as Wilma were perfect for their roles. Their vicious tete a tete with the strains of 'Ave Maria' in the background was an inspired piece of work. Even old Raider managed to do a good job with his limited involvement. If you stuck around to catch the full credit roll, you'll notice that he was portrayed in the movie by a canine named K-Jin. Stuff like that just interests me to no end.

Wuchak I saw this movie when it was first released in '93 and again recently and I liked it both times. Like all Stephen King films based on his books, "Needful Things" takes place in a small town and has a cartooney air.The film asks the question: What would happen if the devil literally came to town? In this case it's a small New England coastal village (actually shot in British Columbia). Ed Harris plays the main protagonist while Bonnie Bedelia plays his girlfriend, and Max Von Sydow plays 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 paradise? A fun hedonistic haven? Not bloody likely.Since the movie utilizes Christian themes I'll consider it from that perspective for the sake of reviewing. According to the bible, the blessing of the Lord produces the qualities of the Garden of Eden, that is, paradise, which is why it says that the kingdom of heaven is a matter of righteousness, peace, joy and power. By contrast, the devil's kingdom produces un-righteousness, strife, war, anxiety, depression, misery, bondage and helplessness.The fictional town of Castle Rock was a veritable haven before Leland Gaunt (Sydow) moved to town. Sure, there were the typical petty dislikes and rivalries, etc. but, generally speaking, it was a nice place to live, a small coastal paradise, which is what motivated Ed Harris' character to live there. Of course, Gaunt is intent on changing all this.I just find it interesting the way the new shopkeeper slowly turns the town into a literal living hell. He utilizes the people's petty dislikes, paranoias and jealousies against them.FINAL WORD: "Needful Things" may not be great and it's definitely not scary, but it's effective in a theological sense as a creepy satanic take-over through simple manipulation of human nature.The theatrical version runs 120 minutes and the TV version runs 183 minutes. I've never seen the latter, but I'm sure it's the better version in that it further fleshes out the characters.GRADE: B-

Coventry Where can you still get some kicks if you have already existed for many centuries and, thanks to your manipulative talents and supernatural evil forces, were involved in – or even directly responsible for - the greatest tragedies and cataclysms of our not-so civilized world's history? Here's an idea; why not install yourself in a remote little New England community, full of naive and easily influential villagers, and gradually cause them to exterminate each other! Meanwhile you just stand at the sideline and observe with a devilish smile on your immortal face! This is exactly Leland Gaunt's intention when his old-timer Mercedes arrives in the sleepy little town of Castle Rock, Maine. In his charming antique store named Needful Things, Gaunt offers a unique item per resident that they either always craved or desperately require, whether it's a rare collector's item baseball card, an authentic 1950's football jacket or a cure to chronicle pain. Leland Gaunt does not ask for a payment, he asks for a favor. And these favors are to bring harm to others, which eventually brings the entire community at a state of war. "Needful Things" is an adaptation of a Stephen King novel and that brings me to repeat my unpopular opinion that he's often a plagiarist… This is at least the third time already that I encounter a movie of which the basic premise looks an awful lot like that of a much older and far more obscure horror gem. King's widely acclaimed novel and movie "Misery" bears a lot of resemblance to a rare 70's exploitation gem entitled "The Strange Vengeance of Rosalie", his mini-series "Storm of the Century" is actually an elaboration of the forgotten 80's low-budget flick "A Day of Judgement" and this "Needful Thing" could pretty much be described as a re-telling of Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked this Way Comes". The surrounding is different, with an antique store instead of a traveling circus, but the rudimentary plots are exactly alike: how ordinary people are so easily prepared to exchange moral values and sense of civilization in favor of petty desires. Although personified in a mysterious stranger passing through a small village, the real devil is called avarice and selfishness and he homes inside every person. If you watch both movies (or read both novels) back-to-back, it's nearly impossible to deny that Stephen King didn't just borrow Ray Bradbury's bright ideas and altered a few minor details. Of course by this I don't mean to say that "Needful Things" isn't enjoyable. In an overall weak decade for the horror genre in general, this is in fact one of the best efforts, mainly thanks to a terrific ensemble cast and a few ingenious fright-moments. Max Von Sydow depicts a splendid evil caricature and other respectable names like J.T. Walsh, Ed Harris, Don S. Davis and Amanda Plummer go over-the-top exactly the way they should. Admirable direction as well, by Fraser Clarke Heston. Yeah, Charlton's son!