Von Sydow, who played Jesus in 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' and dumped the Devil in 'The Exorcist,' seems to be having a great time evolving Gaunt from a benign to a malignant force. As someone notes, 'Everybody that's got it coming is going to get it now!'Įventually, as a townful of the usual King eccentrics goes mad, a self-satisfied Gaunt sits back in his shop by an open fire, listening to Schubert's 'Ave Maria.' He works in mysterious ways too. What he really wants from each customer is 'a favor.'Īnd very quickly, Gaunt has created a Rube Goldberg contraption in which those called-in favors, which range from prankish to murderous, lead to a sudden and nearly total breakdown in law and order. The cost? Well, Gaunt doesn't take checks or credit cards, and cash seems unimportant as well. The shop, which seems to do a little shape-shifting to accommodate each customer, is sort of an evil Alice's Restaurant where you can get anything you want. In fact, Gaunt seems quite benign and benevolent as he sells the locals those 'needful things' they so desperately desire, usually to counter a tragedy or emptiness in their lives.

The someone wicked who their way comes is an elderly, well-dressed, vaguely European gentleman reeking of cultured charm. The stranger says he's 'from Akron,' though that only begins to explain things. What's the nature of Gaunt's game? Well, he's the dark cloud on a sunny day from the moment he rolls into Castle Rock, Maine, to open his Needful Things curio shop. ' Author Stephen King has often shown sympathy for the Devil, and in this latest King book-to-film debacle, so does first-time director Fraser Heston. ‘Needful Things’ (R) By Richard HarringtonĪt any moment in 'Needful Things,' you expect Leland Gaunt (Max von Sydow) to break into song: 'Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste, been around for a long long year.

Castle rock needful things