Verdict
Summary
Based on a meaty book by Stephen King, Needful Things from director Fraser C. Heston is a fairly faithful adaptation with very good performances (my favorite is J.T. Walsh as a gambling addict) and a fever pitch finale that almost feels apocalyptic. Patrick Doyle’s grand score greatly elevates the film, and if you watch the three-hour-plus TV version included on Kino Lorber’s new two-disc Blu-ray set, the film has a really nice sense of scope not quite found in the theatrical release, which is also included in Kino’s release.
Plot:
A small town gets a visit from the devil and his “different kind of store.”
Review:
The devil rides up in his old but pristine Mercedes and immediately causes chaos with the local law enforcement who try to pull the speeding car over, but a spectacular crash puts an end to the chase, but there’s no body in sight. Sheriff Alan Pangborn (Ed Harris) is relatively new to the town of Castle Rock, but he’s already made himself at home with a steady girlfriend (played by Bonnie Bedelia) who works at the local diner, and the respect his job demands. Not that there’s much crime other than the occasional parking ticket, but a new shop called “Needful Things” opens in the town square, and the grand opening draws a steady stream of business with the owner, a vaguely European know-it-all named Leland Gaunt (Max Von Sydow) who makes unusual deals with his customers for one-of-a-kind items that people absolutely must have at all costs, even to their very souls. He trades the items with his customers for little deviant favors that remains a secret between he and them, little misdeeds that create strife and derision all over town, slowly at first, but then rise to catastrophic levels when people turn murderous against each other, slaughtering each other’s pets and then each other in spectacularly gruesome ways. Gaunt delights in the pain and suffering of humanity, and he’s been the catalyst for chaos for many hundreds, if not thousands of years, pointing to historical figures and events (including his encounters with Jesus, for example) he’s crossed paths with. With Pangborn being the only person in town not interested in doing business with Gaunt, the entire town goes crazy, turning into a cesspool of insane folks willing to do whatever Gaunt has instructed them to do and going off script as his symphony of chaos builds to a crescendo. Pangborn might be Castle Rock’s only hope of not being completely destroyed, if only he can get the chaos under control before it’s too late.
Based on a meaty book by Stephen King, Needful Things from director Fraser C. Heston is a fairly faithful adaptation with very good performances (my favorite is J.T. Walsh as a gambling addict) and a fever pitch finale that almost feels apocalyptic. Patrick Doyle’s grand score greatly elevates the film, and if you watch the three-hour-plus TV version included on Kino Lorber’s new two-disc Blu-ray set, the film has a really nice sense of scope not quite found in the theatrical release, which is also included in Kino’s release. With expanded characters and much more going on, the TV version (which has all the hard profanity replaced with stuff like “Shoot” and “Freaking”) is more satisfying on the whole, and a very welcome version to own, especially if you’re a big Stephen King fan or if you never got the chance to watch it on television. One of the better ’90s adaptations of the works of Stephen King (and there were a lot of good ones in the ’90s), Needful Things still works great, and remains the only filmed adaptation of that book to date.
Kino Lorber’s new edition of Needful Things also comes in a 4K Ultra HD release, as well as with an audio commentary by Heston, a new interview with the screenwriter, and the trailer, but the TV cut is the real reason to grab this one. The TV cut is presented in 1:33:1, while the theatrical version is 1:85:1. The TV cut is upgraded to high definition, and the theatrical cut is pristine in its presentation.
