The Dead Zone

1983 "In his mind, he has the power to see the future. In his hands, he has the power to change it."
7.2| 1h43m| R| en| More Info
Released: 21 October 1983 Released
Producted By: Lorimar Film Entertainment
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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Johnny Smith is a schoolteacher with his whole life ahead of him but, after leaving his fiancee's home one night, is involved in a car crash which leaves him in a coma for 5 years. When he wakes, he discovers he has an ability to see into the past, present and future life of anyone with whom he comes into physical contact.

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Director

David Cronenberg

Production Companies

Lorimar Film Entertainment

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The Dead Zone Audience Reviews

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Platypuschow 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
Ivan Lalic 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.
bsmith5552 "The Dead Zone" is an adaptation of yet another eerie Stephan King novel. The story, ably directed by David Cronenberg, is told in episodic form with five separate but linked stories involving the trials and tribulations of Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken).Johnny is an English teacher happy in his job and engaged to a fellow teacher, Sarah Brocknell (Brooke Adams). One day while driving home, Johnny is involved in a traffic accident that leaves him comatose for five years.When he awakes, Johnny discovers his lost five years, and under the care of Dr. Sam Weizak (Herbert Lom), begins the long road back. He is heart broken to learn that Sarah has gotten married and has a young son. One day he makes hand contact with his nurse (Chappelle Jaffe) and is overwhelmed by the feeling that her young daughter is in danger in a house fire. He manages to convince the nurse to call for help.Later, now aware of his psychic abilities and following his recovery. Johnny is approached by Sheriff Bannerman (Tom Skerritt) who asks for his assistance in finding the Castle Rock serial killer. He examines the body of the latest victim and has a vision of the crime and the identity of the killer.Now earning his living as a tutor, Johnny is approached by hard line millionaire Roger Stuart (Anthony Zerbe) to tutor his son who shuns contact with others. After winning the boy over, Johnny discovers that the boy is in danger by drowning during a hockey game. Johnny warns Stuart who reluctantly allows the boy to miss the game thereby saving his life.As luck would have it, Johnny's house is directly across the street from a political dais for senatorial and presidential hopeful Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen). Stillson has his own agenda and will go to any ends to achieve his goals. While shaking hands with the candidate, Johnny through his psychic powers learns what might happen if Stillson becomes president. He then decides to take necessary action and....An intriguing movie with a surprise twist at the film's climax. The performances are uniformly great. Walken has never been better than in the lead role as he tries to deal with his "gift". Brooke Adams is suitably sweet as the heroine who still loves the hero. Herbert Lom makes a convincing therapist who learns a long lost secret from one of Johnny's visions. Tom Skerritt, Anthony Zerbe and Martin Sheen play their roles with conviction. Collenn Dewhurst has nice little bit as the deranged mother of the serial killer. Others of note in the cast include Nicholas Campbell as Deputy Sheriff Dodd and Sean Sullivan and Jackie Burroughs as Johnny's parents.One has to wonder, in view of the Stillson character, how Johnny would have reacted to a certain presidential candidate in 2016.
Fandust I liked the movie. It is a fun theme. Of course Christopher Walken is a great actor. But it appears to be a poke at Ronald Reagan, against his reelection. The current election cycle, Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump, has illustrated like never before how much bias there is in the one-way media. I would not fault movie makers for that, they have every right to express their political opinions in movies. Besides, obviously the alleged attempt failed miserably. And speaking of telling the future... Regardless of who is elected, I believe our civilization will collapse in about four or five decades. Donald Trump will buy some time. Hillary Clinton will accelerate our demise. The destruction of marriage has sealed our fate. We are on the slippery slope. Tomorrow's kids will be EXTREMELY intelligent. We are in for some very exciting times with an extremely intelligent uncivilized populace. I would not expect a revolution. Chaos will cause our fall. The rest of the world had better hope our nukes have been disabled before that time.