What if the devil literally came to town?
What would happen if satan actually visited an American town, albeit undercover? In this case it's a small New England coastal village (shot in British Columbia). Ed Harris plays the main protagonist while Bonnie Bedelia appears as his girlfriend, and Max Von Sydow is on hand as the mysterious shopkeeper who moves into town and causes havoc by selling the villagers their most deepest desires for the price of a "deed." So, what would happen if the devil came to town? Would he make it a heathen paradise? A fun, hedonistic haven? Not bloody likely.
Like all Stephen King films based on his books, "Needful Things" (1993) takes place in a small town and has a comic book air. It borrows the concept used in "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (1983) and makes a more compelling flick.
Since the movie utilizes biblical themes I'll consider it from that perspective for the sake of reviewing. According to the bible, the blessing of the Lord produces the qualities of the Garden of Eden, that is, paradise, which is why it says that the kingdom of heaven is a matter of righteousness, peace, joy and power. By contrast, the devil's kingdom produces un-righteousness, strife, war, anxiety, depression, misery, bondage and helplessness.
The fictional town of Castle Rock was a veritable haven before Leland Gaunt (Sydow) moved to town. Sure, there were the typical petty dislikes and rivalries, etc. but, generally speaking, it was a nice place to live, a small coastal paradise, which is what motivated Ed Harris' character to live there. Of course, Gaunt is intent on changing all this.
I just find it interesting the way the new shopkeeper slowly turns the town into a literal living hell. He utilizes the people's petty dislikes, paranoias and jealousies against them.
"Needful Things" may not be great and it's definitely not scary, but it's effective in a theological sense as a creepy satanic take-over through simple manipulation of human nature.
The theatrical version runs 2 hours and the TV version 3 hours. I've never seen the latter, but I'm sure it's the better version in that it further fleshes out the characters.
GRADE: B-