Needful Things [1994] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Memories: My seventy-two years in the romantic county of Yuba, California
Used Price: $72.00
Kiln-drying hardwood dimension parts (Research paper FPL)
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Needful Things [1994] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Customer Review: MODERATELY ENTERTAINING, IF IN THE RIGHT MOOD
In the town of Castle Rock, Sheriff Alan Pangborn, (Ed Harris) decides to investigate the opening of a new shop in town run by Leland Gaunt, (Max Von Sydow) called Needful Things. Taking time out first to propose to girlfriend Polly, (Bonnie Bedelia) a local diner waitress, he goes over to see what he’s selling. Simply selling odd things, he’s allowed to stay as he asks merely of favors for later. As more and more townspeople visit the shop, the more they each get aggravated with each other over a series of pranks and practical jokes they are pulling on each other. When everyone in town is ready to kill each other, the remaining ones start to discover the startling secret that has haunted the town. Gathering up the clues and solving the mystery, they head out to stop the deadly force contaminating the town once and for all.
The Good News: Frankly, there isn’t a whole lot to commend about this film. All of it’s good points come from the final third, where the film lets loose and really goes all out. There’s just an endless stream of exciting action going on that there’s just pure joy as the result. When a full-on riot in the streets, complete with random fistfights from the extras in the background, looting, vandalism and more going on, this one really gets going in the best sense. Couple that in with the realization of what’s been going on, some really bloody deaths and some huge explosions that do a ton of damage, this one can’t get any better than it does in these segments. That it blows up nearly the entire town in this segment is a testament to it, really taking it’s time and drawing it out in a grand sense to give it the illusion of Hell on Earth, which is exactly what’s at sake. That it decides to drop the really lame subplot about the pranks, yet still manages to include them, is a nice move and ties things together nicely. Overall, this is watchable only for this section, and it alone holds the film above water.
The Bad News: This is an incredibly boring film. The fact that the majority of time is spent with absolutely nothing going on other than the residents of the town. There’s no scares in this section of the film as we get seemingly endless scenes of the citizens going to the store and receiving gifts from there. This pretty much is repeated for just about every citizen in town, and with only very few differences with how they come into contact with the store, but the overall sense from these scenes is just boredom. Nothing at all happens and the film just takes forever to get going. By being as long as it is brings out that one even more. By spending so much time with the townspeople and staying away from the horror, this has the ability to really drain the life out of the film and really bring it down. There was too much time spent here and not on the much more lively and interesting second half, which is where all the good stuff is, and that leaves the beginning with a ton of areas to get through before which is just plain boring. The last main flaw with this is that it’s just not all that scary. The central premise isn’t anywhere near being scary and doesn’t offer the chance for anything at all to happen because of the fact that this produces nothing in the way of scares, nor has the ability to do so. That, almost as much as the really slow plotting really doom this one.
The Final Verdict: Basically watchable only for one section of the film, this one is a tough sell. While King fans might get some enjoyment out of it, the slow beginning and uneventful nature, until the ending, will really tax the more liberal viewers out there. Take this one as with your feelings on King, a fan should give it a watch while non-fans should heed caution.
Customer Review: Amazing
The devil in disguise comes to a quiet, peaceful town and opens a store called Needful Things. The store has an item for everyone in town. All the devil asks for in return is a few dirty pranks. Little do they know, that they’ve sold their souls, and the pranks escalate to murder
Wow! this film was really good. Not all Stephen King films are scary but this one is pretty creepy. I would recommend this to anyone that likes horrors and thrillers.
