Tags
1990's, Amanda Plummer, Bonnie Bedelia, Ed Harris, Fraser C. Heston, Horror, J. T. Walsh, Max Von Sydow, Needful Things, Shane Meier, Stephen King
Film Title
Needful Things
Director
Fraser C. Heston
Starring
- Max Von Sydow as Leland Gaunt
- Ed Harris as Sheriff Alan Pangborn
- Bonnie Bedelia as Polly Chalmers
- J. T. Walsh as Danforth Keeton
- Amanda Plummer as Nettie Cobb
- Shane Meier as Brian Rusk
The dark forces of the Devil comes to a small town with malice in mind in this sadly sub par adaptation of the Stephen King book. It has a lot of promise and at least the actors keep you watching, but falters deeply because of how uneven it is , a long time and how it can’t decide on what kind of movie it wants to be.
The quiet and sleepy town of Castle Rock is changed when one day a mysterious man arrives. The man in question is Leland Gaunt; a sardonic and seemingly benevolent older man who sets about opening a shop. This shop, given the name Needful Things, is a cornucopia of objects that hold deeper promise with the residents than they realise. As people flock to the shop, the objects seem to be just unusually perfect for each and every person as if expertly picked out for their personal longings. But Gaunt is not interested in making a profit of his stock as he charges ridiculously low prices for his produce. Instead, the crafty man has his customers play tricks on others as a way to pay him back. At first, the playful pranks are somewhat amusing but as time goes on they morph into much darker deeds. This arouses the suspicions of the decent Sheriff Alan Pangborn, who seems to be the only person able to resist the allure of the shop that promises wonders to every resident of Castle Rock. Bewildered by the events surrounding him, he digs into the past of Gaunt and discovers that he may not be human at all. As the town is torn apart by violence, murder and unrest, it is up to Alan to bring down Gaunt, who is enjoying manipulating the ordinary people of the town into shocking acts of horror and carnage, all for the desired trinkets he entices them with.
Needful Things is one of those movies that has some good ideas but can’t quite put them across successfully on the screen. The main fault lies with the direction from Fraser C. Heston. He can’t quite make his mind up on whether he wants Needful Things to be a grisly supernatural horror or a fantasy stuffed with black comedy. There are only a few moments that really work in the film, but the rest is not thrilling, scary or darkly amusing in the slightest. The story itself could have been extremely intriguing with the subject of what people are willing to do when tempted by their heart’s desire, but a weakly written script stops any chance of that. Which brings me on to the next flaw which is the pace and running time. Now I don’t mind long movies as long as they keep me entertained, sadly Needful Things drags like a snail and becomes something of a chore to view. Everything about this movie just seems to take way too long to get going and when it does, it is too late to make up for the flaws in pacing. The score which does bring something of a fiendish quality to the dark events provides at least some sense of tone, yet it feels overly bombastic and doesn’t gel with the story.
The one thing that shines in Needful Things and stops you from switching the movie off is the cast assembled. As the devil in disguise whose benevolent demeanor and welcoming air entices curious customers to their doom, Max Von Sydow is obviously having a good time. And it must be said he contributes a charming but very sinister presence to the film that brings at least some effectiveness to proceedings. Ed Harris is very good( then again, when isn’t Ed Harris good?) as the honest but firm Sheriff who is the first to see the wicked game being played by Gaunt. It is then up to him to prevent further destruction as he goes up against the devil incarnate. Bonnie Bedelia does just fine in an underwritten role as the love interest, bringing just the right amount of sweetness to the part to cover up how undeveloped the character is. Then there is J. T. Walsh, quite effective as the slime ball boat salesman who gets his comeuppance by becoming the loyal servant of Gaunt. Standing out in the cast is Amanda Plummer, all nervous tics and wide eyes as the kooky but vulnerable baker Nettie, whose good nature is turned to murderous rage. She isn’t in the film for long, but she makes an impact on it and lends some creepiness to this film that is devoid of it. As the 11-year-old kid who is the first to encounter the evil of Gaunt, Shane Meier does a credible job at showing how his innocence is ultimately manipulated into something darker.
Neither particularly scary or engaging, it’s only a commendable cast that keeps Needful Things afloat. And even with the talented cast, it isn’t enough to make a great movie and sadly it becomes one of the not so good King adaptations.
beetleypete said:
Funnily enough, I just watched this two days ago, recorded from the TV. I realised I had seen it before, and thought that the book was much better, but I watched it again anyway. It has the feel of a made-for-TV mini-series, and doesn’t really work in one sitting. I agree that Amanda Plummer steals the show, as the usually great Von Sydow just coasts through, as if he knows it’s not very good.
No real shocks, no horror of any kind at all, unfortunately forgettable.
Cheers mate. Pete.
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vinnieh said:
That’s the same way I watched it Pete. I was just so disappointed with it, as it had a lot of things that could have gone well but didn’t. Plummer was scene-stealing as the woman who is vulnerable and nice, ultimately driven to horror.
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The Telltale Mind said:
Good review. Haven’t seen this in ages but remember not being overly fond of it.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, I expected more from the film but it disappointed.
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saintronald2010 said:
The book was pretty much the usual run-of-the-mill Stephen King Classic! Loved it from beginning to end!
And as usual, for Stephen King run-of-the-mill Classic books, they fail miserably when people who don’t know what they are doing get hold of them and make a dumb film out of them. How does that happen? Even Kubrick failed, although I seem to be the odd one out in saying that!
Frank Darabont KNOWS (and David Cronenberg)!
Poor Fraser Heston…….No idea!
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vinnieh said:
I think it’s tough trying to translate the work of King to the screen.
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bambangpriantono - From Indonesia For You said:
Eery….
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vinnieh said:
Indeed.
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nickvreys said:
Unfortunately, I have yet to see a Stephen King adaptation which does justice to the novel..
That being said, I haven’t seen this one nor read the book. The book sounds really good, though.
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vinnieh said:
I’d be interested in reading the book for this.
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abbiosbiston said:
Amanda Plummer needs to be in more movies!
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vinnieh said:
She definitely does, I always love her in movies. She has that unusual vibe to her that fits playing kooky characters.
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jameshaseltine said:
As you know I am a huge fan of Rick and Morty and they parodied this film really well, check it out, the episode is called ‘Something Ricked This Way Comes’ – shameless references including the name of the shop “Needful Things’ and Mr. Needful the shop owner.
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vinnieh said:
Haha, sounds really amusing. Will give it a look.
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jameshaseltine said:
Even if you don’t watch the whole thing you’ll find something to laugh at
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the suggestion.
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Jordan Dodd said:
That was bloody brilliant that episode!!
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jameshaseltine said:
Yes Jordan!! I love it so much
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Jordan Dodd said:
How great was the ending to series two!!
OOO EEEE!!!
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jameshaseltine said:
Oh my, too much to handle, fantastic episode and I have no idea where season 3 is headed! Can’t wait
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Jordan Dodd said:
I was impressed by how heavy that episode was… Rick sacrificing himself… heavy stuff for a cartoon I think! I can’t wait for season 3 either, its just such a fantastic show, nothing beats it
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Marta said:
I agree with you, the cast is the best thing of this film.
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vinnieh said:
Hi Marta, how are you? The cast was the only thing that kept me from falling asleep.
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Marta said:
I’m ok, how about you?
I’ve been a bit absent since I had major internet failure for the past 2 weeks. After countless phone calls to my provider I’m finally back online, yay!
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vinnieh said:
I’m feeling a lot better than the other week. All signs of virus are gone. I hate it when the Internet goes down. Nothing worse.
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Marta said:
Glad to hear you are healthy again 🙂
Yes, no internet has been a huge bummer!
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vinnieh said:
I’m in utter turmoil when I can’t get Internet.
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Marta said:
yeah, it feels like they cut out a vital organ from you 😛
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vinnieh said:
That’s exactly it. Did you see my music post the other day? I was asking what people thought was a sexy song. Would love to hear your opinion.
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Marta said:
nope, I’m going to check it out right now 🙂
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vinnieh said:
You’re a star Marta.
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Marta said:
:-))
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fragglerocking said:
Didn’t really like this book so never saw the movie either. I think The Dead Zone was adapted for movie very well, but then it had Christopher Walken in it and Martin Sheen and was directed by Martin Cronenberg, so a great cast and director.
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vinnieh said:
I’ve been meaning to watch The Dead Zone for a bit now, much appreciate your reminder.
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Jordan Dodd said:
Interesting read mate. I might give it a shot cos I really like Von Sydow, and I absolutely LOVED the book. Its long but its bloody great
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vinnieh said:
I’ve never read the book if I’m honest mate. The cast was good in this, I just don’t think the tone settled or that is was particularly entertaining.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
This definitely wasn’t one of my favorite Stephen King adaptation. 😦
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vinnieh said:
I’m in full agreement with you there Kim. I just couldn’t get into this film.
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Anna (Film Grimoire) said:
I’ve never seen this film, but I remember the poster for this always used to freak me out as a kid! That face in the bag is too scary.
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vinnieh said:
I may have not liked the movie that much, but that poster is creepily effective.
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emmakwall said:
Nice review Vin! 🙂
I should watch this. This is one of the few Stephen King novels I’ve actually read!
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vinnieh said:
It wasn’t a movie that I enjoyed, but you could like it Emma.
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emmakwall said:
There’s been quite a few naff King adaptions lol. I think some of them were okay ‘for the time’ but maybe get worse the more retro they get. I’d like to see this though, on TV or something 🙂
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vinnieh said:
I think it can difficult to adapt his work to the screen and do it justice.
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emmakwall said:
Very true!!!!
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vinnieh said:
I think the trick is to get the right tone.
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jennypugh said:
Wow, a film you’ve reviewed that I’ve actually seen! I really liked this and I wasn’t expecting to. It was shown to me for my ‘filmic education’ lol
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vinnieh said:
I don’t know I just couldn’t get into the movie.
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jennypugh said:
I know what you mean. Sometimes “5 star” films are rubbish and “1 star” films are brilliant 🙂
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vinnieh said:
You took the words right out of my mouth.
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juniorchillsofficial said:
I like to think that Amanda Plummers character in both Needful Things and Pulp Fiction are from the same movie universe…both can appear to be weak enough that a slight breeze would knock them over whilst at the same time can be viscious bastids!!
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vinnieh said:
You have an excellent point there. I wouldn’t want to encounter either character.
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