Needful Things
Leland Gaunt comes to Sheriff Alan Pangborn’s pleasant little New England town, and opens a store. What this kindly Satan sells is whatever you need…
- Director:Fraser Clarke Heston
- Genre:Crime / Drama / Horror / Thriller
- Runtime:121 minutes
Cast
Max von Sydow : Leland Gaunt (as Max Von Sydow)
Ed Harris : Sheriff Alan Pangborn
Bonnie Bedelia : Polly Chalmers
Amanda Plummer : Nettie Cobb
J.T. Walsh : Danforth Keeton III
A mysterious proprietor named Leland Gaunt, claiming to be from Akron, Ohio,[1] opens a new antiques store called ‘Needful Things’ in the small town of Castle Rock, Maine. The store sells various items of great personal worth to the residents (some of which, like a pendant that eases pain or a toy which predicts the outcome of horse races, are clearly supernatural), and Gaunt demands payment both in cash and in small “favors,” usually pranks played by his customers on their neighbors. Gaunt seems to have an innate knowledge of the townspeople and their history, and the pranks exploit their previous rivalries and prejudices, causing them to attack each other.
When the normally peaceful townsfolk begin to commit acts of violence and murder, Sheriff Alan Pangborn investigates Gaunt and becomes convinced his machinations are the source of the unrest. Meanwhile, Gaunt is revealed to be a devil, traveling from place to place manipulating people into destroying themselves. Acting primarily through a corrupted boat salesman and gambler named Danforth Keeton, Gaunt succeeds in sparking a riot in the town square.
Pangborn manages to stop the violence before the town destroys itself and the townspeople admit their pranks, exposing Gaunt’s web of manipulation. Keeton, despondent at the death of his wife earlier in the film, blows up Needful Things with Gaunt inside. Defeated, Gaunt emerges from the burning wreckage of his store, predicts he will encounter Pangborn’s grandson Bob in 2053, and departs, presumably to continue his work. Read more
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