Review of The Dead Zone (1983) by Grant S — 08 Jan 2015

I knew this was going to be good when the opening credits, of all things, were as eery, creepy and effective as they were here and they really set the mood perfectly. The Dead Zone features a winning combination of David Cronenberg and Christopher Walken.

This has to be some of the most restrained directing from Cronenberg that I've ever seen, which is funny because his next film would be The Fly. He does a great job here and directs everything really well with great build up and development of the characters. Christopher Walken was the perfect choice for the lead role and he really gave a lot to this film; he became the character and made me really care about him, he looks the part and it was all really compelling. It certainly would have been odd to see Bill Murray in the role. Martin Sheen shows up midway through the film and I thought it was very odd to just randomly see him here but he did indeed go on to have a bigger part and he was great.

The concept for this film is very good and intriguing and it all develops in a very unique way that I don't think I've ever seen before. At first it appears like the 'main plot point' is over before the first hour is even finished but then it goes on to something bigger; even before that the first 40 minutes or so is just development of the characters and I found it all very interesting. It's also very tragic and it builds up in a believable and smart way and after all was said and done the film had connected with me emotionally. I found it quite surprising that so many people just believed the ability that Johnny had but then again, I'm glad it didn't have the clichéd plot point of, 'oh, he's just crazy' and also because he could prove he wasn't lying very easily, which he should have done more. The soundtrack is excellent and memorable and really fits the mood of the film perfectly.

It wasn't until I went out of my way to think about it but they don't explain where Johnny gets his ability from and that never bothered me and seeing as how it's from a Stephen King story, I didn't even think twice about it, but hey, it takes place in Maine, of course, but this was the first time he used it, though. I also found it funny how he references Sleepy Hollow and then he would later be in a film adaptation of Sleepy Hollow, there is also something like that for Sheen's character but it would be a spoiler to mention it.

I've had this on my list for awhile and I really enjoyed The Dead Zone, it had a great concept and was executed brilliantly in a very unique way. The directing and acting was excellent, the film zipped by and I just really had a good time watching it. It's something that had a solid concept and knew exactly what to do with it, continuing to draw in the viewer the longer it goes on. It's superbly made.