Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Just perfect...

The acting in this movie is really good.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Needful Things is a flat and witless film directed by Fraser Heston. What should had been darkly comic is lost in hysterical acting, melodramatic music and loud explosions.In a small town in Maine called Castle Rock (with a logo just like the famous film company) newly arrived in a black car Leland Gaunt (Max Von Sydow) opens an antiques store that seems to have something for everybody. He offers to sell the items for cash and a small favour such as a prank but before long he has people turning on each other.It is left to Sheriff Pangborn (Ed Harris) to figure that Gaunt is the devil incarnate and everywhere he goes, trouble follows.The only saving grace of the movie is that Von Sydow is having fun, then again he has played chess with death.

I'm a huge fan of Stephen King. My parents started me on Stephen King at an early age so that I could learn to love to read. Needless to say, I was sucker from the first one I picked up in the late 80s, even if I didn't quite understand everything at the time. One of the more fascinating Stephen King books was 'Needful Things'. I thought the idea was original and quite cool in that there was a store where you could buy rare items that did "odd" things along with a kooky store owner. I liked to pretend that my local comic book store that had the old vintage issues and rare action figures stored in the back had special powers, and that after I saved my allowance over several weeks, I'd purchase these rare items and I'd gain some sort of coolness or powers.Granted, 'Needful Things' is much darker than that, but I liked to compare the two. In 1993, during the big string of Stephen King movies and TV shows that were adapted from his stories came 'Needful Things', which was one of the bigger budget and A-List starring projects of the Stephen King periodic table. The studio got Fraser C. Heston (Charlton Heston's son who played baby Moses in 'The Ten Commandments') to direct the film. Fraser's claim to fame was 'Treasure Island' and being a 2nd unit director on 'City Slickers'. They also hired on W.D.Richter to writer the screenplay who has an interesting resume. He adapted 'The Invasion of the Body Snatchers', directed 'The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension', and co-wrote 'Big Trouble in Little China'.With those three credits alone, you can tell he is a cult icon favorite in the genre. Rounding out the cast is an impressive Ed Harris playing the small town's sheriff and of course the legendary actor Max Von Sydow to play the main sinister character. I think the reason this movie receives the unsavory reviews and feelings is that the film version is too short to dive into the multiple character's story arcs. The film was made for television as well and was an hour longer, which gave us quite a bit more character development, but this is the theatrical version and runs at two hours. It keeps the pace quick, however the character development is lacking.I think at one point, the studio was trying to secure the rights to the longer version, but everything fell through and is not on this release. Maybe another time, right? Like most Stephen King stories, this particular one takes place in Castle Rock, a small town in which everyone knows everyone's name and are quick to help out each other. Alan Pangborn (Ed Harris) is the sheriff of the town and keeps a close and calm eye on everything. An elderly man shows up in town one day and opens up a new store that sells one-of-a-kind antiques.This man is known as Leland Gaunt (Max Von Sydow). He is quite humorous and spry. He quickly starts selling these interesting and mysterious antiques to the townsfolk and usually accepts payment in the form of the buyer pulling a simple practical joke or prank on their neighbors. In addition to these weird suggestions of payment, these one-of-a-kind objects seem to have special powers that coincide with the buyer's personal lives, but it all comes at a price. Sooner than later the practical jokes and pranks become bigger and the once peaceful town starts turning on each other, much to the happiness of Gaunt who watches from his home and storefront.Sheriff Pangborn figures out that this all started with the arrival of Gaunt and begins to investigate further, only to find that Pangborn is definitely not who he says he is. What sells this movie so well are the performances, specifically that of Ed Harris and Max Von Sydow. Harris plays the town sheriff to perfection. He instantly comes off as the smart detective that seems to put things together from the get-go. He has a clam, but stern manner to him, and it plays out very well.Then there is Max Von Sydow, and how do you not like him in anything? I know, it's impossible. It's no different here as he plays Gaunt flawlessly. You like the guy, but you can't help but be scared of him at every turn. 'Needful Things' in my opinion is still quite good and entertaining. It might not have the scares that 'It' does or the impact of 'The Shining' had on all of us, but it still holds its own with the performances and screenplay.

Needful Things isn't one of Stephen Kings better novels; it's overblown and leans heavily on gory horror and satanic menace rather than the compelling psychological tension that characterises his later work. The book's saving grace for me is the wit and charm of King's narrative style, which is inevitably lost in a screen adaptation.This film pares down the story considerably: not necessarily a bad thing, though it leaves several loose ends for anyone familiar with the novel. Bolstered by strong performances from Ed Harris and Max Von Sydow in the leading roles, the result is a good horror film that's worth a watch, though it's several leagues below the likes of The Shining and The Green Mile.

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!