Product: The Dead Zone [VHS] (1983)
Rating: 4.0
Too Much of a View
The Dead Zone is one of the better adaptations of a Stephen King novel. Johnny, a personable school teacher, played by Christopher Walken, is sent into a coma after a horrific car accident. After coming out of the coma he discovers he has psychic "visions and impressions" of powerful events in the future, past, or present. The movie deals with the ways he uses his new "powers" in a number of vignettes (solving a murder, preventing an accident, etc.).The movie is surprisingly restrained in its depiction of violence considering it was directed by David Cronenberg. The film was produced by Dino de Laurentis, so although Cronenberg has always stayed on the periphery of Hollywood, this movie has more of a "mainstream" feel than his previous work. No matter how much his detractors want to throw him in the horror genre gutter, this notorious gore-meister (Depraved Dave, the Baron of Blood) proves he is a highly skilled film maker. The movie contains a gruesome suicide, though we only briefly see the after effects, but the movie barely qualifies for its "R" rating.The movie may seem a departure for Cronenberg, but it shares an important theme (as does King's novel) with his own film that he wrote and directed: Scanners. Both protagonists of these films find themselves with psychic abilities that in the pulp/comic book/superhero stories would be seen as enviable powers, but for these characters, not quite. These two men have damaged and painful lives because of their "gifts", although Walken's portrayal is superior to Stephen Lack's. Martin Sheen's performance as not-quite-so-nice politician Greg Stilson goes a little over the top, but a majority of the acting by the major players is strong. Christopher Walken is terrific.