Needful Things

Image credit: IMDb

There are various levels of fun that come with finding a movie that is based on a book you’ve never heard of. One is the joy of discovering a new story from a writer that you enjoy. Another is being able to see influences from other literary works within those stories. Last night, Partner and I were in the mood for an older horror/thriller and we came across Needful Things: an adaptation of a Stephen King novel neither of us had heard of that reminded me of The Master and Magarita only with more murders.

When a mysterious and kindly gentleman opens an antique shop in the small town of Castle Rock, Maine, the locals are immediately intrigued. Somehow the shop seems to have the exact items they desire: rare and autographed baseball cards, varsity jackets from their youth, porcelain trinkets that were lost years ago. But getting what you wish for comes at a price and the shop proprietor, Mr. Gaunt, asks only for a little bit of money and a favour. Soon, everyone in town is playing ‘harmless’ pranks on each other, but things take a horrifying turn when petty grudges and grievances bubble to the surface and the town falls into chaos and violence.

Based on a Stephen King novel, Needful Things is a religious horror that explores the darker sides of humanity and how they can be fanned into infernos. The community spirit of small towns is inverted with a lot of the inhabitants of Castle Rock being resentful people, usually with sad backstories, making them perfect prey for the villain. There’s a fun sense of irony then in the fact that the hero is the sheriff who moved to Castle Rock to escape the disturbing crimes committed in the big city. When the town slowly starts to descend into chaos, it falls to him to try and make everyone see that they are good people that should be banding together rather than tearing each other apart.

Ed Harris delivers a compelling performance as the hero, especially in the climactic third act where he delivers a rousing speech that confronts the villain but also appeals to the townsfolk by conveying a real sense of bitter disappointment in the way things have played out. Max Von Sydow plays Leland Gaunt and he is quietly charming with a delightfully sinister edge underlying his gentlemanly façade.

Image credit: LiveReal.com

It’s not the most original story in the world, we are pretty quickly reminded of the tale of Faust and The Master and Margarita (as I mentioned before), which instantly takes away the mystery as to who the villain is, but it’s a perfectly compelling little thriller.

Director, Fraser C. Heston, 1993

Cast: Ed Harris, Max Von Sydow, Bonnie Bedelia, Amanda Plummer, J.T. Walsh, Ray McKinnon, Duncan Fraser, Valri Bromfield, Shane Thomas Meier, Don S. Davis, William Morgan Sheppard, Campbell Lane, Eric Schneider, Frank C. Turner, & Gillian Barber