The Dead Zone Reviews and Ratings


  • skotjay
    November 23, 2009
    skotjay
    Confession time. This was the first book that I cried while reading. While the movie doesnt have quite the same emotional impact, it's still pretty great.
  • ythelastman89
    November 16, 2009
    ythelastman89
    Amazing in every sense of the word. Christopher Walken gave such a great performance and made Stephen King lines seem completely normal. It's such a great story and concept, fitting perfectly into the directing style of David Cronenberg. It has a very great tone to it, mystery th...( read more)rown in with horror.
  • harrycaul
    November 11, 2009
    harrycaul
    I'm pretty sure this was the first Cronenberg movie I ever saw and I still have a soft spot for it, even if I'm now old enough to appreciate that the story is kind of flimsy and the director is flirting with the mainstream by watering down his trademark body horror. As usual, Cro...( read more)nenberg assembles a fine supporting cast (Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe, Tom Skerritt, Martin Sheen) and the sensitive performances of Christopher Walken and Brooke Adams give the movie an emotional pull generally lacking in this director's work, making it, if not one of his best films, certainly one of his most moving. The Dead Zone also stands out in Cronenberg's filmography as being his only movie since The Brood, in 1979, not scored by Howard Shore; Michael Kamen did the music here. Ironically, Walken quotes Sleepy Hollow and went on to play the Headless Horseman for Tim Burton, and Martin Sheen, who plays a senatorial candidate hell-bent on the US presidency, ended up in The West Wing.
  • ifeels1ck
    October 30, 2009
    ifeels1ck
    Walken and Cronenburg team up to bring Stephen King's story of a tortured psychic to life.
  • lezmartin
    October 11, 2009
    lezmartin
    Stephen king book gets adapred again,film is looking a bit past its sell by date tho,but its still a good film....
  • stopitgoaway
    July 27, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    A schoolteacher Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) a survivor of a road accident awakes from a five-year coma to discover he has psychic abilities, which he gets visions of the past, present and the deadly future. And how he does it, is through the use of touch. But life has chang...( read more)ed within that time with his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) being married; he's basically crippled and no longer having a job. So now he uses his abilities to help a sheriff (Tom Skerritt) solve a murder case, to save a child's life and predicting world's fate from an evilly corrupt politician (Martin Sheen) who plans to be president.

    It's definitely one of my favourite King adaptations and you could say Cronenberg at his best. This time around Cronenberg has taken a more mainstream (even though depressing) approach with none of his grotesque and disturbing visuals evident, but that doesn't take away from the experience - as on show is good story telling, performances and film-making. Visually the film does hold strong imagery (especially the vision scenes) and also the picture truly captures the unsaturated colours of the wintry backdrop, which makes the bleak atmosphere such a dour affair. Though the sharp stabbing sounds when Johnny gets a vision truly knocks you, but it's the stinging outcome that made the film for me. Distinctive photography by Mark Irwin was beautifully constructed and pretty smooth in the detail of the settings. While, the driving score stood out and was particularly on the spot with capturing the right mood. Sound performances are given by the likes of the sympathetic Christopher Walken and the innocent Brooke Adams. Martian Sheen delivers a rather hammy performance and Tom Skerritt's performance is the total opposite, being rather toned down. Cronenberg's solid direction paces the film swiftly and also creates some well-staged sequences of tension that stick in your head. In all you can always expect dashing film-making by Cronenberg and that's what you get in this picture.

    The story is what I had some gripes with. At times it felt like writer Jeffrey Boam was trying to squeeze too much into the story. Some interesting and intelligent sub-plots (murder investigation) felt hurried and rather contrived - it was like it was concentrating and building more towards the final act instead. But then again time is money and it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of this film. The plot is basically a portrait of a man coming to grips with his pain and accepting the fate his been chosen and also throw in some social commentary into the mix. Also added is the occasional dabbing of dry/witty remarks, but for me it was uncomfortable humour. That being pretty much the state of the film. One thing I noticed, but don't know if this symbolism was intended but the way Johnny is always wearing the black coat reminded me of death (fate). Especially with touch his can see into the future and actually alter what can happen (say death). Perhaps it was just I?

    It isn't gut wrenching stuff we've come to expect by Cronenberg, but still he nails down a well drawn up and gripping drama/thriller.
  • jam233
    July 1, 2009
    jam233
    The plot is interesting and it has a really good cast. It has suspense, solid direction. Stephen King rarely gets a good adaptation to a movie, this is an exception.
  • Surfer567Rosa
    June 26, 2009
    Surfer567Rosa
    "psychic detective abilities"...i wasn't aware you could acrue detective abilities that way.
  • myfavchords
    June 14, 2009
    myfavchords
    I had not heard much about this movie beforehand, I enjoyed it. Christopher Walken was great in the title role. The direction was good and the story was interesting the entire way. I would definitely recommend this one.
  • shag2469
    May 20, 2009
    shag2469
    Good movie and great series starring Anthony Michael Hall..
  • ahhh1989
    March 26, 2009
    ahhh1989
    Suspenseful, disturbing, and gripping. One of Christopher Walken's best performances.
  • philliprenke
    March 11, 2009
    philliprenke
    A pretty tame movie for Cronenberg. I like the story and I like the ending to this movie. The acting seemed a little shaky at times, but it was a descent movie.
  • stephenfrakes
    March 5, 2009
    stephenfrakes
    Good, but the series was even better.
  • mjgildea
    March 2, 2009
    mjgildea
    Reading Stephen King's work to me is just like watching paint dry in a Midwestern state and for the most part, the film adaptations of his work resemble that sentiment even more so. But David Cronenberg's adaptation kind of had me curious and I haven't seen The Dead Zone (or the ...( read more)pieces of it I remember) in decades. It's kind of fitting that the USA network turned The Dead Zone into a TV series because that's all this movie felt like--a few TV episodes tied together. Christopher Walken was alright and Cronenberg managed to put enough of his twist on it to make The Dead Zone interesting. It's no Shawshank Redemption, Carrie or The Shining but it's no... anything else of King's that ended up on a screen.
  • eyepatchjim
    February 28, 2009
    eyepatchjim
    this is one king film i didnt like at all nor the book.
  • undeadfeature
    February 20, 2009
    undeadfeature
    I really, really like Christopher Walken. He drives the whole film. So the plot is pretty solid, but this really needed more time put into it. I saw some great stuff and then right after that I saw less-than-stellar stuff. All around it could use some tidying up, or Cronenberg ju...( read more)st enjoys being sloppy. He's certainly not lazy. Any man who can get Martin Sheen can't be lazy. So there's some ups and some downs but it was really nothing special. This one is for fans of The Walken. He needs more cowbell.
  • ludie402000
    February 15, 2009
    ludie402000
    Telekinesis movie vey interesting. I saw this as a young girl
  • organgrinder136
    February 15, 2009
    organgrinder136
    has a really very eerie sense to it and christopher walken is always a strong actor to watch. cronenberg is more often than not a good director. adapted from a stephen king story of which i'm sure the book is probably better. it was a tad slow but engendered all the chilling atmo...( read more)sphere a stephen king novel usually does. it works!
  • bbliumis
    February 3, 2009
    bbliumis
    fantastic story
    great acting and directing
  • jazzmonk
    January 21, 2009
    jazzmonk
    Good, not great. Walken is very good.
  • Marwood
    January 16, 2009
    Marwood
    Superb adaptation of Stephen Kings classic bestseller. Cronenberg does a fantastic job with this edgy Sci-Fi thriller. Christopher Walken plays Johnny Smith,a young schoolteacher who's involved in car accident that sends him in a coma for five years. He awakes from the coma to fi...( read more)nd he has psychic powers.Walken is wonderful as Johnny,a man who's lost everything after the accident,his girlfriend's now married.But still feels obliged to help the local Sherif find a serial killer,using his newly found skills.Martin Sheen is amazingly nasty as a evil politician who's hell bent on distorting mankind.One of my many favorites and well worth a look.
  • paulparsons2
    January 7, 2009
    paulparsons2
    Probably the most accessible film from Cronenberg, this is a well told and gripping tale.

    Without doubt, this is Walken's film. The guy is fantastic and so watchable. He uses that permenantly haunted look on his face to great effect and the opening scenes of him reading Poe to...( read more) his class are awesome, what a voice! It's also great to see Herbert Lom as well.

    Cronenberg paces this film just right, from the discovery of our protagonist's abilities through to it's conclusion with Martin Sheen's politician, the story flows perfectly.

    Overall, this is a terrific film that uses the greatness of Walken to full effect.
  • Gx7
    December 26, 2008
    Gx7
    Chistopher Walken plays Johnny Smiths character almost to perfection in this 1983 film adaptation of Stephen King's The Dead Zone. However, like most film adaptations of books, the imagination and the amount of information the reader has about the story will always surpass book-b...( read more)ased films.

    The Dead Zone was one of my most favorite books while growing up and I dont know what I was thinking when I expected to see the whole story on film just like how I pictured it in my head years ago. Nonetheless, they did get certain parts right on the nail and Oh wow! Walken really is just one heck of an awesome actor!

    Im just left wondering why Jeffrey Boam (the screenwriter) and Cronenberg decided to delete the history scene about Johnny playing Ice Hockey as a kid and that day at the carnival with the wheel of fortune, they skipped a whole bunch of interesting stories from the book which most S.King Fanatics are complaining about, but overall I think this was a pretty decent adaptation than the 2002 TV series (Which I also have but never bothered finishing because it was a total snoze).

    It took me about 2 years to hunt this movie down and Im pretty happy to have found this rare thing at the video store (It was the last copy too!) --- If it werent for the great performances of Walken, Herbert Lom and Martin Sheen this movie wouldnt be worth collecting.

    Get the book if you want to be truelly blown away, but watch the film to see the super-rific Walken in his Early years as an actor.

    Non-related Sidenotes

    1: Its funny how Walken continues talking about Ichabod Crane and Sleepy Hollow throughout patches of the film, I wonder if it was really included in the script or did he just mesh that in there, its like he really likes that story.

    2: Time seems to be in love with Walken, Martin Sheen is 3 years younger than him.

    Directed by: David Cronenberg
  • BeeRch23
    December 24, 2008
    BeeRch23
    LOVE the Dead Zone! Great movie!
  • MurderCapital
    December 9, 2008
    MurderCapital
    Christopher Walken stars as a man who becomes a psychic after waking up from a five year old coma in "The Dead Zone", directed by David Cronenberg and based on a novel by Stephen King. This is a very good and entertaining thriller, however it loses half a star for not reaching an...( read more)y real thriller climax.
  • enightshade
    December 9, 2008
    enightshade
    I only saw the ending. But if you like Christopher Walken.He's in this movie.
  • Duskwho
    December 9, 2008
    Duskwho
    my friend said this movie was good... my friend has no taste...
  • heavyd2000
    December 4, 2008
    heavyd2000
    Much much better than the TV show. A really good film.
  • sunb34mm
    December 3, 2008
    sunb34mm
    a bit older nowadays but an all time classic movie !! a must-see for sure
  • svmainus
    November 8, 2008
    svmainus
    This original is much better than the 2002 remake. I love Stephen King but not always thrilled with the film adaptions - this one however is a favorite. GREAT performance by Christopher Walken and top-notch direction by David Cronenberg. I watched this for the first time since ...( read more)I first saw it when it came out in 1983 and I enjoyed as much today as I did then. A New England school teacher falls into a coma after an accident and wakes 5 yrs later with the gift of seeing into futures as well as how someone died thereby aiding not only those whose lives he can save by warning them, but assist the local sherrif as to how someone died (and by whom). It's exciting, it's interesting, stays true to the book. Lots of good to say about this old 80s film and a great ending!
  • joejay1966
    October 31, 2008
    joejay1966
    Pretty good.Great acting from Christopher Walkin.But if you want a 5 star experence,read the book by Stephen King.
  • Rosepetal75
    October 30, 2008
    Rosepetal75
    A young New England schoolteacher Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) is in love with his colleague Sarah Bracknell (Brooke Adams) is involved in a serious car accident to send him into coma. Johnny is awakes under the care of neurologist Dr. Sam Weizak (Herbert Lom). Johnny is us...( read more)ing his ability to help a local sheriff (Tom Skerritt) solve a series of brutal murders to attempt to resume his profession as a private tutor. Johnny found out Sarah Bracknell is married to Walt that they have their son.
  • jhca13
    October 30, 2008
    jhca13
    An awesome performance from Christopher Walken and good directing from Cronenberg carry this right to the top of the list of King adaptations. A very good movie with many good performances. There have been ALOT of Stephen King adaptations but this is without a doubt among the best.
  • misscurtis24
    October 6, 2008
    misscurtis24
    Christopher Walken is the man.
  • notofthisworld
    October 6, 2008
    notofthisworld
    It was weird to see Walken younger. His performance was excellent but heartbreaking in the end.
  • Brittani299
    October 6, 2008
    Brittani299
    It was weird but really good!
  • vincentvangogh1889
    September 18, 2008
    vincentvangogh1889
    My favorite Stephen King book-turned-movie. Great performances and direction.
  • kenstachnik
    September 17, 2008
    kenstachnik
    My new favorite "office supply plunged into someones face" scene of 2008

    1) The Dead Zone
    2) Dark Knight
    3) The Furies

    This was back in the day when Walken was still an actor, before...whatever it is that happened.
  • brainyskeeta
    September 14, 2008
    brainyskeeta
    Good
    Hard To Follow At Times
  • kammiak16
    September 12, 2008
    kammiak16
    Its kind of boring and really slow...
  • itbegins2005
    September 11, 2008
    itbegins2005
    Stephen King, David Cronenberg, AND Christopher Walken, all in one movie- you would think this would be right up my alley, and frankly, you'd be right. The only problem is that usually, Stephen King and cinema are like infants and carving knives- they just don't go well together....( read more) Almost every film adaptation of a Stephen King novel has been a disappointment in one way or another. Just look at the Shining: the book was genuinely thrilling and spooky, while the movie was... significantly less so (I love Jack Nicholson like anyone else, but even he couldn't save that mess). Frankly, the best ones are the ones based on his short stories, where the writer and director can take his core concepts and run with them, instead of having to hammer all the material of the book into a ninety-minute framework. The film that I think suffers most from this compression problem would have to be the Dead Zone. The book has a narrative that spans decades, yet the film's running time is only 103 minutes, so a lot of the plot development seems rushed to me (probably because I loved the book). Then again, while it does have its choppy bits, the Dead Zone also has some moments of real greatness, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Cronenberg and Walken; they take what could have been just another B-movie thriller and make it genuinely chilling and honestly affecting. The film concerns the conspicuously-inconspicuously named Johnny Smith, a schoolteacher and an all-around nice guy who's just getting into a relationship with a fellow teacher, Sarah. On his way back from a date, however, Johnny is in a major accident that puts him into a coma for five years; when he awakens, Sarah is long since married, his muscles have atrophied, forcing him to walk with a cane, and he develops an unstable psychic ability that manifests whenever he touches someone. At first feeling alienated and embittered by his lost time and his newfound power, Johnny soon realizes that he can use his ability to help change the future- a realization that presents a horrible dilemma when Johnny shakes the hand of a psychotic politician bent on reaching the White House. As Johnny Smith, the affable teacher whose life gets shot to shit virtually overnight (to him, at least), we have Christopher Walken, who brings to the part brooding despair, simmering anger, and soul-crushing guilt, all with that patented Walken touch (and those patented Walken speech patterns). It's cool to see a film from back in the days when Walken was actually a really good actor, and not just a pastiche of himself (kinda like William Shatner and Adam West are now); this is definitely one of his better dramatic roles, loaded with pathos and powerful moral dilemma without losing the lighthearted personal moments that keep things from getting too dark (he pretty much carries the movie by himself). I think it's funny that, as a teacher early in the film, he has fairly normal hair- short with bangs- and when he comes out and his powers develop, his hair starts standing up the way Walken's always does, which is actually pretty funny- apparently, Walken's normal hair is used as a symbol for his transformation into a freak. Playing opposite Walken is Brooke Adams as Sarah Bracknell, Johnny's great love who's moved on and settled down without, him but still has feelings for him. The part is pretty truncated, all things considered, and Adams isn't exactly a high-caliber actress, but she holds up well in the role, and the character and emotional beats all work. And as for the villain, Martin Sheen hams things up as the insane political candidate Greg Stillson, a character that is fairly extravagant from the get-go (an insane politician? That's a recipe for overacting if I've ever heard one) and which gets pushed right over the edge by Sheen's overbearing performance. The character is sort of a borderline evangelical rabble-rouser, a guy who gets elected because he can stir the passions of large groups of people (you know, like Adolph Hitler did); sometimes, however, the depths of his evil are so hilariously over-the-top that you can't help but laugh (especially when he grabs a little kid to shield himself from a sniper- I mean, COME ON!). What really holds it all together is David Cronenberg's direction, the way he brings tension and suspense to the scenes; I know he's known for his violence and gore, but in this one he keeps that to a minimum, instead playing on the audience's anticipation of violence and gore to keep us on the edge of our seats (such as in that scene with the scissors... You know what I'm talking about). Also incredibly helpful is the way Smith's psychic flashes are portrayed, with us seeing him thrust violently into the past or the present and becoming a part of what he sees- the moment when he finds himself in a burning building, his covers on fire, is especially good. The score by Michael Kamen ties everything together beautifully, with a soft, underplayed theme that builds slowly into a tragic crescendo. You know, maybe Stephen King's films aren't ALL bad- they're just sort of hit-and-miss. After all, Misery is a classic, and Cujo is great... Stand By Me was fantastic- hell, the Shawshank Redemption is one of the best movies ever made, in my opinion. And while the Dead Zone may not rank up there with the greatest films of our time, I think it's safe to say that it falls on the "good" side of the Stephen King spectrum, even if it seems that David Cronenberg crunched it down a bit to make it play more like his kind of movie. The Dead Zone is my favorite King book, and one of my favorite Cronenberg movies- note, however, that the terms are mutually exclusive.
  • opiumhaven
    September 10, 2008
    opiumhaven
    During the film Christopher Walken talks about "Sleepy Hollow" multiple times, and as you know he was the headless horseman in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow. Another weird coincidence is that when Walken's character is tutoring a young boy in the film he is reciting a poem I'm not r...( read more)eally familiar with "Lady Lenor" or something. Colleen Dewhurst is in the film, and when she played the mother in the "Anne of Green Gables" films the Anne Shirley character recites the same poem. I know there are these coincidences in all films... another one I can remember is when John Malkovich in the film "the Object of Beauty" has a long running dialogue on how many times they have remade Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and sure enough he played the role years later in "Mary Reilly"..lol Do go see The Dead Zone though. Rewatched it again today after seeing it a couple years back, and just as good if not better the second time around. It is very well done, and you can just see the sadness and lonliness pour out of Walken's role.
  • jimcaerleon
    September 9, 2008
    jimcaerleon
    One of the best King adaptations with a superb performance by Walken and assured, restrained direction by Canadian auteur David Cronenberg. A very moving story vividly brought to life.
  • kjellram
    August 11, 2008
    kjellram
    Scary! Walken is convincing.
  • kylemoon
    August 8, 2008
    kylemoon
    "The Ice... Is Gonna BREAK!!" = best line ever

Summary

The Dead Zone Summary