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Film Adaptation: Stephen King’s Needful Things (1993)

7 May

You can have whatever you want and favors mean more than cash at Needful Things. Everyone finds what they can’t lie without here or what they’ve regrettably let behind in a past life. 

Cover for Needful Things (MGM). Ed Harris and Bonnie Bedelia appear in the foreground looking alarmed, while Max Von Sydow's face looms large in the background. The tagline reads: "The town of Castle Rock just made a deal with the Devil...Now it's time to pay."

The movie adaptation of Stephen King’s Needful Things does a good job bringing to life one of King’s most underrated villains, Leland Gaunt. For those not familiar with the story, Mr. Gaunt (Max Von Sydow) is the Devil in human form, and he comes to Castle Rock, Maine to open a collectibles and antiques shop. Ed Harris plays the town’s sheriff, who has his suspicions after just his first meeting with the store owner and serves as the rational anchor as the town unravels.

Of course, die-hards will point out the movie’s derailment in many areas from the book, but let’s be realistic that it’s impossible to fit all the details of a 700 page book into two hours. The movie brings forth the mainstream style of a big studio while preserving King’s spiderweb design of greed and seduction’s hold on us. It teeters into dark comedy at times, showing the town as ugly from the beginning, with grudges festering around every corner. Yep, perfect pickings for the Devil to exploit.

The pranks each customer plays on each other to “pay off their debt” leads to murderous consequences, and all the while Mr. Gaunt revels in it. Max Von Sydow was a perfect pick for this role.

This movie won’t scare you or make you keep the lights on until the very last second before bed. Instead, it will, at least it did for me, cast gloom over the power that possessions and the want for prestige can hold over us. The more we want, the more the Devil entangles our minds to do his will. And what this story makes chillingly clear is that his will isn’t to destroy the world. No, it’s to watch it torture itself into madness.

As Mr. Gaunt says at the end, “This town wasn’t my best work, but it was fun.” Then he drives away.

Have you seen Needful Things (or read the book)? What did you think? Comment below.

You can reserve the movie here and the book here,

Horror fan and interested in the Hoboken Library’s Horror/Thriller Book Club? Please email reference@hobokenlibrary.org, or register for our next meeting by searching under Events on our website.

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Written by:
Sean Willey
Information and Digital Services Assistant

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Lord of the Flies (1963) on Kanopy

12 Mar
An illustrated film poster showing a young boy’s face painted with white and dark markings, staring forward with an intense and focused expression. Abstract shapes and muted earth tones surround the figure. The title, “Lord of the Flies” is integrated into the artwork.

There haven’t been many film adaptations of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (I believe this one and one in 2001 from MGM), but Peter Brook’s 1963 experimental film (available on Kanopy) might be the only one we need because the novel itself is an experiment. When a plane of schoolboys crashes on a deserted island, they are forced to decide how they will survive. Will they follow rules and order, or descend into chaos and savagery? Will order prevail, or will the fun of living untamed win?

Brook leans more heavily into this moral conundrum than into traditional character development, which is why I’d recommend reading the novel first (it’s a short read). The terror of this film is more so rooted in what unfolds, not necessarily in one particular scene (although there are certainly a few gut wrenchers): the bullying of Piggy, the low self-esteem follower who looks to Ralph as the fair-minded leader versus Jack, the “big man on campus” whose authority acted out through intimidation rather than reason. Between these opposing forces are a handful of boys we can feel for, none more than Simon, the timid and curious observer quietly grappling with his own moral compass.

Hunting and playing all day looks fun, but can fun save them, or is it just a slippery slope into madness?

The film rolls at an even pace, and the boys’ turn toward order or disorder is implied rather than drawn out. The transitions happen quickly, sometimes too quickly, but by the midpoint it becomes very clear where Golding believed humanity would drift when in this situation. Brook captures this sentiment brutally well. He doesn’t ease the message into us but instead twists it in with the roughness of a whittled spear.

Black-and-white close-up of two boys facing each other outdoors in an island jungle. One wears round glasses and grimaces mid-sentence while the other listens closely as they share a confrontational discussion.
Black-and-white photograph of a group of young boys standing and crouching on rocky terrain, many with painted faces and holding spears, as if guarding something or about to go on a hunt.

When the credits rolled, I didn’t feel like I’d just watched a movie, but more so an apocalyptic study on the tenacity of human innocence.

Watch now on Kanopy: Lord of the Flies (Free with your library card). You can reserve the book in BCCLS here.

Comment below your thoughts once you’ve had a watch.

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Written by:
Sean Willey
Information and Digital Services Assistant

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