The Dead Zone

Starring: Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Martin Sheen, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe, Colleen Dewhurst, William B. Davis
Directed by: David Cronenberg
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
1983

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Christopher Walken) awakens from a coma to discover he has visions of the future.

Review:

Tim: I'm a big Stephen King fan, but I have to admit his film adaptations have often not gone according to plan. There's a ton of terrible Stephen King movies. Fortunately, The Dead Zone is not one of them. This is an exceptionally well crafted thriller, directed effectively by David Cronenberg. It's really not a horror film, as much as it is a psychological thriller. I found myself pulled into the characters and the story. This is a very good movie and one of the stronger King adaptations.

The movie starts with a beautifully simple premise- a man wakes up from a coma after a car accident, and begins seeing the future. Simple, but effective because there's so many ways to take this story. If you could see the future, would that be a blessing or a curse? Would you use your ability to help save people, even if it brought you unwelcome attention? What would you do if you saw terrible things in the future? To what lengths would you go to prevent them? This movie tackles many of those fascinating questions in an entertaining, enthralling way.

We've had more than a few bad King adaptations, so I have to give David Cronenbeg credit for effectively adapting King's work. This is a well directed movie from beginning to end. It pulls the audience in, helps you identify with the characters, asks enough questions and withholds some answers to generate a mystery. In short, this is a movie that benefited immensely from great direction. King's books are always full of interesting ideas, so he deserves credit for this. It's just apparent that he needs competent directors to bring those stories to life.

I liked Christopher Walken in the lead role here. He's a good actor and yet he's so unconventional. His oddities and eccentricities work wonders in this role. He delivers a strong performance and yet what he brings to the table throws you off a little. He was the right person for the role. I also applaud Martin Sheen for an unexpected supporting role. I loved his performance- he hits the right notes for this character. It was fun seeing Tom Skerritt, but I wish he had more to do. Brooke Adams was okay, but the movie would have benefited from a stronger leading lady.

One thing I liked about this movie (and I haven't read the book to know how closely this story follows the source material) is that nothing here is especially outlandish. As long as you're willing to believe that humans could have extrasensory perception (which may not be proven, but it's not a massive leap), the events of this film mostly feel realistic. I like the more grounded approach. This movie tries hard not to alienate the audience by asking it to believe too much. I was comfortable going everywhere this movie asked me to go.

The Dead Zone is an entertaining, psychologically thrilling film. It's directed exceptionally well and tells a story that makes you think. The atmosphere is sufficiently creepy and pulls you into the story. This is a memorable movie- one that I'll be thinking about long after seeing it. This Stephen King adaptation is certainly worth seeing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Shining, Cujo, Carrie