Max von Sydow Ed Harris Bonnie Bedelia Amanda Plummer J.T. Walsh Ray McKinnon
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Leland Gaunt has come to the small town of Castle Rock to open his own store, Needful Things. The store has the perfect item for everyone in town... but it comes with a high price. -- Chris Kavan
Yet more of Stephen King's brand of Twilight Zone hokeyness is transferred to the silver screen and it's a similarly lame experience. Max Von Sydow slums it as a shop keeper who sells the usual small town stereotypes their hearts desire in return for pranks that set the townsfolk against each other. The flat direction and made for TV cast do not aid what is an extremely low concept "horror" film in which the scariest thing is Von Sydow's oral hygiene. Not the worst King adaptation I've ever seen, but that that would be one TALL order...
Chris Kavan 09/23/2007 (0 of 0 found this helpful)
Rating of 1.5/4
If you want to bid a fond farewell to Stephen King's Castle Rock, might I suggest sticking with the book. Another ham-fisted adaptation of a King novel, Needful Things has a decent cast, but they can't create any spark in this dull film.
