The Dead Zone
Johnny Smith is a schoolteacher with his whole life ahead of him but, after leaving his fiancee's home one night, is involved in a car crash which leaves him in a coma for 5 years. When he wakes, he discovers he has an ability to see into the past, present and future life of anyone with whom he comes into physical contact.
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- Cast:
- Christopher Walken , Brooke Adams , Tom Skerritt , Herbert Lom , Anthony Zerbe , Colleen Dewhurst , Martin Sheen
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Reviews
Simply Perfect
Excellent adaptation.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
The Dead Zone has an interesting concept, but no real follow through. This slow-paced film has a few thrilling moments, but, for the most part, it consists of Christopher Walken brooding about and staring at things. It's another Stephen King adaptation done wrong.
Of all the various cinematic adaptations of Stephen King's work throughout the '80s, none is perhaps more under-rated or over-looked than 1983's "The Dead Zone." Hot on the heels of his bizarre yet brilliant cult-classic "Videodrome," director David Cronenberg emerges with perhaps his most restrained and even-tempered work to date. Given that the film itself is a bit of a head-trip, that really says something. Along for the ride is Christopher Walken, who similarly commits to the tragic bend of the material with one of his best performances to date. Likewise, the script from Jeffrey Boam distills King's novel into an episodic format that makes it easier to digest than any "true" adaptation of the source material could ever hope for.Johnny (Walken) has everything going for him. A respected school teacher, his life is only enriched with Sarah (Brooke Adams) by his side. Five minutes into the film, and it seems our character has already found his happy ending. Unfortunately, he finds his life (and his car) flipped upside down when an automobile accident sends him into a five-year coma. No use crying over spilled milk (literally). When he awakes, he finds himself burdened with the psychic ability to see anyone's grisly future simply by touching hands. Soon, he is helping a local sheriff (Tom Skeritt) solve a string of brutal murders and doing his best to stop an out-of- control, megalomaniacal politician (sound familiar?) before he goes too far. Of course, he takes the time to reconnect with the love of his life and mentor a young loner (Simon Craig), whose haircut suggests he was imported from the previous decade."The Dead Zone" benefits greatly from its slightly unorthodox structure; you can see why a TV adaptation eventually came to be. The film unravels much like four different anthology stories concerning the same character. Walken walks through the whole thing with one of his most sympathetic and humane performances, while Cronenberg shows he can do mainstream horror just fine, thank you very much. Unlike his previous efforts, "The Dead Zone" doesn't carry much in the way of gore and is the better for it. The dramatic angle of the story is what makes it all come together. An outlier in a truly iconic oeuvre, the film is hardly a dead zone in the director's history of violence.
Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) slips into a coma. He's like that for five years. Then he snaps out of it with a "gift"--every time he touches someone's hand he can see events from their past and a probable future. With this he saves a little girl from being burnt, discovers a killer and saves a boy from drowning. Then he shakes the hand of Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen) who's running for the Senate. He sees Stillson becoming president and starting a nuclear war. He can stop him...but should he? And how. To make matters worse is ex-girlfriend (Brooke Adams) supports Stillson 100%.GREAT movie. It's based on a Stephen King novel and is directed by David Cronenberg. Despite their reputations this is very restrained in terms of violence. There's a couple of bloody shootings and a shocking suicide but that's it. The story is interesting and well-done. It was beautifully shot in Canada (but takes place in Maine). The acting is great across the board. I usually can't stand Walken but he's great here. Adams is wonderful but hardly in this. Herbert Lom, Colleen Dewhust and Tom Skerritt are great in small roles. And Sheen is downright terrifying as Stillson. This was lost in a sea of really bad Stephen King adaptations in the early 1980s but deserves rediscovery. Recommended.
Although marketed as a "horror film", it is more a character study about loss, avoidance of life and the emotional turmoil that arises from a broken heart. (Plot Spoilers) The main character Johnny Smith, a young man who is employed as a school teacher with a girl friend he loves and is planning to have a family with, has a horrible accident that, after a long period in a coma, awakes; broken of body, without the work he enjoyed and the girl to whom he loved having moved on to marry and be family with someone else.(Plot Spoilers)In addition he is able to see events of the past, of current events and of a future that may be by touching another person. Yet each time this occurs, part of his "life energy" is drained away so he comes closer to dying as a result. And he is aware of this. in order to avoid this condition he moves away yet he is forced by circumstances to face life and his impending death.The major question: If you knew that you were dying, would you do nothing and live a long time Or would you be willing to die in order to save the lives of those you care about (a definition of love). In summary: a gem that is the most human of the films of David Chronenberg and the film adaptations of the works of Stephan King. The actors are believable, the soundtrack haunting. This film would be good for repeated viewing.