A mysterious new shop opens in a small town which always seems to stock the deepest desires of each shopper, with a price far heavier than expected.A mysterious new shop opens in a small town which always seems to stock the deepest desires of each shopper, with a price far heavier than expected.A mysterious new shop opens in a small town which always seems to stock the deepest desires of each shopper, with a price far heavier than expected.
- Awards
- 1 win & 7 nominations
- Leland Gaunt
- (as Max Von Sydow)
- Brian Rusk
- (as Shane Meier)
- Father Meehan
- (as W. Morgan Sheppard)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was the feature film debut for director Fraser C. Heston, who had played the infant Moses in The Ten Commandments (1956). During the filming, he took Max von Sydow (who played Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)) aside to discuss how he would play the upcoming scene. One observer noted, "That's something you don't see every day - Moses telling Jesus how to play the devil."
- GoofsOne man buys a first edition, signed copy of "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. In later scenes, he and the little girl who stole it refer to the title as "Huck Finn" by Mark Twain. In the video and DVD release, his words are dubbed over to correct the mistake. On the television broadcast, the mistake was not corrected. This is an audio mismatch and a continuity error, depending on which version you saw.
- Quotes
[after Buster drives himself and Gaunt into Gaunt's shop and blows it up, Gaunt emerges from the ruins, completely unscathed]
Leland Gaunt: [stepping through the debris] Oh... you know, there are days I really hate this job. This is not my best work, not by a long shot. Oh, sure, a few murders and a couple of rather lovely explosions. I would hardly call it a rousing success, but what the hell? I'll be back.
[to Alan]
Leland Gaunt: In the meantime, you and Polly, you are two terrific kids, and you'll marry her. Trust me. She's a lovely girl, Alan. You'll have a wonderful family. Oh, by the way, give my regards to your grandson. Bob will be his name, international trade his game. I'll see him in Jakarta. 2053, August 14th, 10 a.m. A nice, sunny day. We'll make headlines.
- Alternate versionsOn May 22, 1996, the TBS network aired a 187-minute extended edition. The extra footage includes more of the citizens of Castle Rock and their lives, namely the character of Cora Rusk, played by Lisa Blount, shown only in passing in the current version.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater: Viki Williamson Night (1995)
- SoundtracksAchy Breaky Heart
Written by Don Von Tress
Performed by Billy Ray Cyrus
Courtesy of Mercury/Nashville
By Arrangement with PolyGram Special Markets
But this film, about a mysterious character who sets up a shop in which local residents find various treasures and are then tricked into perpetrating horrors against their neighbours, is entertaining and contains some good characters and marvelously black comedy. Though there are a few cheesy moments (like that ridiculous model which is supposed to represent a skinned dog), the film is still a winner. Max Von Sydow is good as the literally devilish owner of the Needful Things store and the climax is nicely-done.
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $15,185,672
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,202,478
- Aug 29, 1993
- Gross worldwide
- $15,185,672
- Runtime2 hours 1 minute
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1