The Dead Zone (1983)

Load of rubbish!!

hyped garbage

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

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.

The Dead Zone is one of those critically acclaimed movies which I'm astounded has taken me this long to get around to.Starring Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen and the late great Herbert Lom this Stephen King adaptation tells the story of a man who upon coming out of a coma learns he has gained the power of premonition.The interesting thing about the Dead Zone is it's almost like a mini-series squeezed into a single film as it doesn't have one solid storyline throughout and instead is a series of stepping stones to the brilliant finale.The cast are on point and Lom who is famous for his villianous characters (Pink Panther for example) is highly likeable and steals every scene he's in.I'm so glad coming out of this that I finally got round to it as it is yet another great King adaptation worthy of its acclaim.The Good:Opening a movie with an Edgar Alan Poe quote works for mePerfectly executed from performances to writingGreat finaleThe Bad:Cheating protagonists, they never get oldWould have benefitted from at least 30 minutes moreThings I Learnt From This Movie:It's scary how alike Martin & Charlie were around the same age

Psychic powers are one the more often dealt subjects in the horror and SF movies, so the Cronenberg's flick about the man (Walken) that wakes up from a coma with a possibility to see the future through a series of flashbacks. As you can already guess, those predictions aren't the nice ones, so main character soon finds himself trying to utilize his new set of skills to stop a terrifying outcome that can affect the entire country and the world. What separates ''Dead Zone'' from the majority of such scripts is the end and a smooth directing and build up of tension characteristic to muck more ''serious'' genres. ''Dead zone" is one of those true '80s horror/SF/fantasy genre mainstream gems.

Long before the miniseries of the same name came out, this movie, the only Stephen King movie to be directed by David Cronenberg who would go on to make The Fly, is one of the better King movie adaptations. It's very psychological, the effects are pure 80s, and the soundtrack by the late Michael Kamen make it a must watch on your movie binge watching list. Its enduring popularity can be seen in other King movies, including the Dark Tower.