It seems this would be true not only from Satanic magic, but also from experience. He died badly.” Leland Gaunt’s dark humor is almost reflexive at points, and indicates a guy - or a force - who’s been around, seen many things, and knows fully what to expect. Of course I was gone before they realized what they’d purchased.”īoom! That’s a great quote, right, or am I being insane? Want another one? When another character says the word “Jesus!,” Gaunt replies, “The young carpenter from Nazareth? I knew him well. Always gone… and in the end I’d always offer weapons. Here’s a nice one: “When I started out I was just a peddler moving across the blind face of a distant land. Aside from giving an excellent performance, his role as a sort of refined evil force - the Devil, if you will - offers plenty of “notes” in itself. Obviously you have Max von Sydow as Leland Gaunt. (Needful Things, Columbia Pictures)Īlso, look at the characters. The Characters Max von Sydow as Leland Gaunt. The most obvious theme: What price will people pay for the objects they most desire in life? Would they be willing to viciously prank each other, lie, cheat, even kill? In this sense, Leland Gaunt’s store is an agent of chaos.

There’s actually a lot going on in this movie, and it’s brimming with complex themes. Needful Things has a lot of different “notes.” Hell, if anything, I’d say there’s a danger of it having too many notes. It’s not funny and it’s not scary and it’s all sort of depressing.” Basically, nothing about that quote is justified, in my view. This film has so many great aspects, so many memorable moments, unique characters, quality acting, cool quotes, decent action, high intensity, drama, suspense, you name it!įor example, Roger Ebert said Needful Things “only has one note, which it plays over and over, sort of a Satanic water torture.

Indeed, all these years later, I have no idea what’s up with the critics.

However, I didn’t know what Needful Things was about, or that I’d come to regard it as a classic. By that point in time, I knew Stephen King reasonably well, and liked movies based on his stuff. Heston‘s Needful Things as a younger lad, and I had high expectations. Does that mean it’s bad? Not necessarily. By Wade Wainio 4 years ago The film ‘Needful Things’ has a lowly 26% Rotten Tomatoes score.

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