Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Max von Sydow, Ed Harris, Bonnie Bedelia, Amanda Plummer, JT Walsh, Ray McKinnon, Duncan Fraser,
Valri Bromfield, Shane Meier, William Sheppard | Written by WD Richter, based on the novel by Stephen King
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 111 minutes | Directed by Fraser Clarke Heston
Those of you already familiar with this film may be pondering the 1-star rating. While it's not the best Stephen King adaptation ever made (The Shawshank Redemption still holds that crown), it's certainly not the worst (step forward please Lawnmower Man). No, the biggest problem with this release is its poor presentation. But more on that later; first the film itself, which stars a man who once portrayed Jesus Christ moving to the other end of the mythical character roster to play Satan himself. Leland Gaunt (von Sydow) rocks up in the familiar King stomping ground of Castle Rock and opens a strange little store, Needful Things. It seems to stock items that somebody in the town deeply desires — a rare Micky Mantle baseball card, an antique chalice, a high school jacket, a china figurine, a horse-racing board game, a necklace. He charges them just what they can afford — plus a small favour, a simple "trick" to be played on another of the town's residents. It all seems innocent enough, until the residents begin to turn on each other.
The ending is largely unsatisfactory, but the trip along the way certainly has its moments. It's got a touch of the Something Wicked This Way Comes about it, and its clear the top-rate cast had a lot of fun making it — particularly von Sydow, who is simply sublime throughout. But whatever you do, PLEASE do not buy this release. Why? Because even though this film came out in 1993, this DVD release offers nothing in the way of extras — or even a decent presentation, for it comes in the 4:3 ration rather than 16:9, and hasn't even been digitally remastered. ANd in this modern era of hi-def almost everthing, that's simply not good enough.
EXTRAS Are you kidding?