Needful Things

A peculiar shop opens in the small Maine town of Castle Rock, stocked with exactly what each customer has always wanted. The proprietor, Leland Gaunt, asks no money for his goods, only that buyers play a small prank on someone else in town. Sheriff Alan Pangborn, alone among the residents, wants nothing from the store, and as the pranks turn cruel and then violent, he grows suspicious of the shopkeeper's hold over his neighbors. The film adapts Stephen King's novel of the same name.

Fraser Clarke Heston directed, following Treasure Island in 1990 and preceding Alaska in 1996. W.D. Richter wrote the screenplay, and Jack Cummins produced for Columbia Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema. Max von Sydow plays Gaunt, with Ed Harris as Pangborn, Bonnie Bedelia as Polly Chalmers, J.T. Walsh as Danforth Keeton III, Valri Bromfield as Wilma Jerzyk and Ray McKinnon as Deputy Norris Ridgewick. The credited cast runs to 28 names.

Released in August 1993, the film took in about 15 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.2 out of 10 across roughly 27,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.3 out of 10 from a much smaller base of about 632 votes. Critics were less persuaded, giving 4.8 out of 10 across 28 reviews, a noticeably cooler reception than the mild approval of the general audience.