RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
RT's Blu-ray HQ
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Needful Things
Needful Things

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Needful Things (1993)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
29 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:21

Fresh:6

Rotten:15

Average Rating:4/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: Everyone needs something, and Leland Gaunt, the owner of the newly opened store called Needful Things, has arrived in Castle Rock to fill those needs. On the surface, Castle Rock is a sleepy... Everyone needs something, and Leland Gaunt, the owner of the newly opened store called Needful Things, has arrived in Castle Rock to fill those needs. On the surface, Castle Rock is a sleepy Maine town, but underneath there is a network of longing and restrained hostilities -- the perfect place for a unique curio shop with a little something extra. By revealing choice items, such as a lost figurine or cherished varsity jacket, to individual townsfolk, Gaunt persuades his customers to play dangerous pranks on their unsuspecting neighbors. This price proves more costly as the film unfolds; first two women fight to the death and later one man believes the entire town is out to get him. Sheriff Pangborn is the lone force determined to uncover Gaunt's secret power and save his community from the ultimate evil. [More]

Starring: Ed Harris, Max Von Sydow, Bonnie Bedelia, J.T. Walsh

Starring: Ed Harris, Max Von Sydow, Bonnie Bedelia, J.T. Walsh, Amanda Plummer

Director: Fraser C. Heston

Director: Fraser C. Heston
Story: Stephen King

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Nov 24, 1998

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Needful Things

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Brian Lowry
Brian Lowry
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Eve Zibart
Eve Zibart
Washington Post
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
06/30/07
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Richard Harrington
Richard Harrington
Washington Post

I needed to get out of this thing long before the insipid finale.

comment Comment
04/01/03
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

No review available.

comment Comment
04/16/04
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

Appropriately enough, the film climaxes with a series of huge explosions, each bigger and louder than the one before.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

No review available.

comment Comment
07/31/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
06/11/04
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Overlong, over-produced Stephen King byproduct. Forget it along with Firestarter, In the Mouth of Madness, Maximum Overdrive, and all the others.

comment 1 Comment
03/09/04
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
10/07/05
Michael Szymanski
Michael Szymanski
International Press Academy

Max von Sydow has some good lines, but he delivers them in an utter vacuum.

comment Comment
05/18/03
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
03/23/03
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Save your soul for something more important.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
02/01/03
Ryan Cracknell
Ryan Cracknell
Apollo Guide

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Scott Renshaw
Scott Renshaw
rec.arts.movies.reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
01/29/04
Spence D.
Spence D.
IGN Movies
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
32% 32% Terminator Salvation
36% 36% Angels & Demons
95% 95% Star Trek
25% 25% Four Christmases

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
88% 88% Inglourious Basterds
78% 78% The Hangover
49% 49% Taking Woodstock
26% 26% The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
47% 47% The Girl From Monaco

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Sam Worthington

Sam Worthington

A video interview with the Avatar star!

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland

Check out the brand new trailer now!

Golden Globes

Golden Globes

Up in the Air leads with 6 noms!

Nominee Gallery

Nominee Gallery

See who got nominated for Golden Globes!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • How Avatar Happened: The Path to Innovation Source: CinemaBlend.com
2
  • Rob Marshall Says Pirates 4 Is Still a Maybe Source: ComingSoon.net
6
  • ET Teases Iron Man 2 Teaser Source: Collider.com
10
  • Tobey Maguire Refutes Hobbit Rumors Source: Hollywood Reporter
6
  • Prince of Persia Featurette Posted Source: Yahoo! Movies
2
  • Trailer Bulletin: Robin Hood Source: ComingSoon.net
52
  • Mel Gibson Plans a Mexican Vacation Source: Variety
8
  • New Iron Man 2 Clue Posted Source: Screen Rant
24
  • Gibson and DiCaprio are Going Norse Source: HitFix
66
  • Lord of the Rings Coming to Blu-ray April 6 Source: Hollywood Reporter
8
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Tomatometer Watch: Will Avatar Live Up To The Hype?
236
  • Awards Tour 2009: Golden Globe Noms Here!
115
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Girlpower Rules Again with Princess at #1
70
  • Awards Tour 2009: Inglourious Basterds Lead Critics Choice Noms
42
  • Awards Tour 2009: Avatar Best Picture at NYFCO!
38
  • The Gimmicks That Changed Cinema: Part 1
37
  • Weekly Ketchup: James Cameron Plans a Fantastic Voyage
33
  • The Effects of Where the Wild Things Are
30
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Critics Consensus: Princess, Invictus Are Certified Fresh
21
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
23
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Needful Things at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
Best Sci-Fi This Decade
Best Sci-Fi This Decade External Link

Techland lists the best Sci-Fi films of this decade.

40 Worst Films of the 2000s
40 Worst Films of the 2000s External Link

Moviefone takes a look back at the biggest stinkers of the past 10 years.

10 Questions For Zac Efron
10 Questions For Zac Efron External Link

The Me and Orson Welles star answers reader questions on TIME.com.

Best Decade Ever!
Best Decade Ever! External Link

Hollywood.com's C. Robert Cargill offers his thoughts on what the best decade for film was.

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure External Link

In the AV Club's "Scenic Routes," Mike D'Angelo reminisces about the Tim Burton film.

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.