Review of The Dead Zone (1983) by Melvin W — 23 May 2013

Johnny Smith:  If you could go back in time to Germany, before Hitler came to power, knowing what you know now, would you kill him?

"In his mind, he has the power to see the future. In his hand, he has the power to change it.".

The Dead Zone is one of many films to populate the genre of Stephen King adaptations. These films end up normally being hit or miss. We've had our share of great movies adapted from King's books, but we've also had a huge amount of terrible King adaptions. The Dead Zone is one that falls into the top category, and is one of the top King adaptions of all-time. It isn't my favorite, but it is a great movie with excellent direction from David Cronenberg and a performance from Christopher Walken that goes down as my personal favorite of his.

Johnny is a school teacher, who is close to marrying his girlfriend. After a date one night, he decides to go home instead of staying the night with his girl. There's a storm going on, which causes a semi to crash, leaving part of the truck in the road. Before he can realize it is there, Johnny crashes into the truck. Five years later he awakes from a coma to find out that he hasn't only lost five years, but his girl and job too. He also gained something through it all; he had the ability to see the past and future events that will surround a person when he touches their hand. .

There's a lot to love about The Dead Zone. From Walken as a psychic to Martin Sheen as a candidate running for the senate, the movie doesn't miss the mark much. The development of Johnny is extremely well done, as are the changing situations in the story. The story from King may be one of the smartest of his career, and Cronenberg found the genius in the story and let it out perfectly.

The Dead Zone is a classic film, that I myself consider as a must watch. It's an early film in Cronenberg's filmography, but of all the movies I have seen from him; this would have to be my favorite. It's one of those thrillers I could watch over and over again. The story is just so intriguing, and Cronenberg and Walken almost flawlessly continue to suck the viewer in deeper and deeper. .