Needful Things
by Fraser Clarke Heston
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DVD details
Actor: Amanda Plummer, Bonnie Bedelia, Ed Harris, J.T. Walsh, Max von SydowDirector: Fraser Clarke Heston
Cinematographer: Tony Westman
Editor: Rob Kobrin
Producer: Gordon Mark
Producer: Jack Cummins
Producer: Peter Yates
Writer: Stephen King
Writer: W.D. Richter
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 120 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-08-27
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Needful Things
DVD Review: 0.5 STARS: Just BORING...plain and simple.
Summary: 1 Stars
Stephen King's "Needful Things" seems promising from the outside looking in...oh, but how looks can be so deceiving when it comes to horror movies. Okay, you can't get much more evil than having a movie with the Devil himself as a villain. Also, you got great actors and actresses in this movie as well. So, what went wrong? Well, the essential problem with "Needful Things" is that it is simply boring to watch. Yes, Ed Harris, Max Von Sydow and Bonnie Bedelia are great actors but that won't save a boring script.
"Needful Things" is about Satan moving into a small town and setting up a store called Needful Things in which he has a little bit of everything that people want, but he exacts a price from his customers and it is not money. Satan requires little evil deeds from his customers that will ultimately tear this town apart. So, in essence, you have people selling their souls to the Devil because of their greed. The plot sounds pretty good from an outsider's point of view. The problem is that the plot just doesn't work very well. What you end up having in "Needful Things" is a bunch of weak subplots with people in disputes with one another and man plotting mischief against his neighbor, all of which makes the Devil quite happy.
When one dies, that person has essentially sold his soul to Satan and the Devil literally adds up another soul to write in his book of Hell and damnation. But, the subplots really don't work because it just isn't interesting enough to keep a sophisticated horror movie viewer attention. In most cases, I have found that long movies or mini series work quite well, but not in this movie..."Needful Things" is waaaaayyyy too long and that also brings this movie down. I admit that I found these disputes between smalltown people and the mischief done by these people to suit the Devil's ends quite boring and just downright lame. Also, the movie doesn't do a very good job of presenting the Devil to the audience...he seems pretty benign for the kind of Devil I imagine. I would certainly find Damien in "The Omen" to be much more sinister and scary than the Devil in "Needful Things".
Also, one does not sympathize with the characters in this movie, not even the little boy...it just seems that the whole town is a bunch of losers in which they are not just selfish but also stupid. In short, I just don't think "Needful Things" works very well as a movie and the script is largely ineffective and boring, much too mundane to make a good horror movie. I would give this movie more than just 0.5 stars based on effort, but I can't justify that because the movie is too damn boring and frankly the movie is terrible.
Description of Needful Things
Welcome to Castle Rock, Maine, a lovely place to live if you don't mind selling your soul! Oscar® nominees* Ed Harris (A Beautiful Mind) and Max Von Sydow (Minority Report) head an exceptional castincluding Bonnie Bedelia (Die Hard) and Amanda Plummer (Pulp Fiction)in this supernatural thriller that's dark, haunting and a hell of a good scare (LosAngeles Magazine)! Sheriff Alan Pangborn (Harris) has a devil of a problem: Suddenly all the residents of his sleepy little town are dying'to kill each other. But at least business is still booming, especially at a new antique store. The store's owner (Von Sydow) has something for everyone, and his prices are always reasonable: just one small favor oh, and, of course, eternal damnation! *Harris: Actor, The Hours (2002); Actor, Pollock (2000); Supporting Actor, The Truman Show (1998); Supporting Actor, Apollo 13 (1995). Von Sydow: Actor, Pelle the Conqueror (1988).Bestsellers in DVD
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