Nightmare Fuel 2019, Day 5 – Needful Things

It’s been admittedly slow going thus far for Nightmare Fuel, but if anyone can bring some entertainment factor back to things, it’s Stephen King. Say what you will (I know I have…), but King’s horror almost always has a bit of humor lurking in the background, occasionally misplaced, but usually welcome. You can definitely see a glimmer of that dark glee shining through in today’s feature, Needful Things.

If you’re anything like me, the first major exposure you got to this story was in the Rick & Morty episode “Rickful Things”, wherein the titular scientists spars with a salesman peddling cursed goods. Sad, I know, but the concept was known to me, at least, so I had that going for me. The film itself (full disclosure here: I’ve never read the King story, so we’re going completely off the adaptation here) tells the story of the quiet New England town (never woulda guessed that one!) of Castle Rock. There’s some potential interpersonal strife there, but it’s all kinda kept on simmer, everything staying just below the surface. Into this situation steps smooth old-timer Leland Gaunt, who opens up a shop called “Needul Things”. The shop seems pretty unassuming from the outside, but the wares Gaunt peddles are surprisingly pretty niche, sorta too high-class for the surroundings, and decidedly tailored to the locals’ particular desires: a Mickey Mantle card bearing an autograph targeted at a townie kid, a first edition of Treasure Island, a board game that predicts the outcome of horse races, a pendant that relieves arthritis pain. Y’know, the usual crap. And Gaunt’s prices are fairly reasonable, especially if you ignore the whole favor aspect he requests of his customers. These “favors” wind up stoking the hatred bubbling beneath the surface of Castle Rock, exploiting and exacerbating all of the local cleavages to the breaking point. Chaos ensues.

It’s your general monkey’s paw sort of story, but King certainly gives it a nice little twist by having the actual Devil be the smirking impetus behind everything going to shit. Even better, Max von Sydow absolutely owns as Gaunt, bringing a mixture of gravitas and sleaze one rarely gets to enjoy so very much as the film progresses. You can tell he’s having a good time here, and that in turn allows us to have one whilst he plies his evil trade around town. The rest of the cast does well as well, including Ed Harris as the local police chief surrounded by increasing madness, the late great J.T. Walsh as a wealthy citizen who feels he’s above reproach, Bonnie Bedelia as a greasy spoon worker and Harris’s fiancée, Amanda Plummer as Bonnie’s flighty co-worker, and W. Morgan Sheppard as a Catholic priest who really has it in for his Baptist counterpart.

Although I would have preferred a slightly slower, more subtle build to things, the way the townspeople ratchet up their madness is pretty fun to watch. I can’t even blame some of them for the retribution they seek, especially Plummer, whose cute little rottweiler gets skinned alive and left hanging in one of the more gruesome things audiences were likely to see on screen in ’93. Though the third act gets to be a bit much (Walsh in particular really goes into an almost childlike screaming mode), the overall narrative is satisfying and a touch creepy, mostly thanks to the efforts of von Sydow. The score is occasionally overactive and overbearing, but it’s not enough to ruin the feel of things too much (I’m looking at you, original Suspiria!).

This was a rather nice change of pace, a flick worthy of the animated homage it would receive about twenty-five years after its release. It’s definitely worth a watch, just remember to keep expectations proper, considering it’s a King adaptation and all (y’all tend to forget he’s got a sense of humor). Next up, we go from smooth-talking devils to creepy crawlies. Can’t wait.