The Dead Zone **** (1983, Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe, Colleen Dewhurst, Martin Sheen) – Classic Movie Review 5261

‘He can see the future. But can he escape it? ‘ David Cronenberg’s eerie 1983 movie version of Stephen King’s seminal 1979 sci-fi horror thriller novel boasts a performance of unusual, quiet dignity from Christopher Walken as Johnny Smith, the victim of a terrible car accident that leaves him in a five-year coma. When he awakens, he discovers he is left with the psychic ability gift of terrifying visionary powers.

Smith spends his time in solitude until he discovers the ruthless and dangerous ambitions of evil politician Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen), a local government candidate, and that compels him to re-examine his role in society.

It also stars Tom Skerritt as Sheriff Bannerman, Herbert Lom as Dr Sam Weizak, Anthony Zerbe as Roger Stuart, and Colleen Dewhurst as Henrietta Dodd. The performances are exemplary, Jeffrey Boam’s screenplay writing is sharp and Cronenberg’s direction is a model of controlled, dark elegance.

Cronenberg avoids gore in favour of disquieting scenes of a chill New England winter (actually shot in Toronto in Technicolor by cinematographer Mark Irwin), distressing nightmares and the horrors of nuclear holocaust. It is all infused with the tragic deep sadness that Smith feels after waking up to see his life in tatters, his girlfriend Sarah Bracknell (Brooke Adams) married to another man, and his only talent the ability to foresee death and destruction.

Also in the cast are Nicholas Campbell, Sean Sullivan, Jackie Burroughs, Geza Kovacs, Roberta Weiss, Simon Craig, Peter Dvorsky, Julie-Ann Heathwood and Barry Flatman.

It is produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Debra Hill, scored by Michael Kamen and designed by Carol Spier.

The book and film are loosely based on the life of psychic Peter Hurkos, who claimed to have acquired psychic powers after falling off a ladder and hitting his head.

As the film starts, Johnny is reading the end of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe: ‘And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting, on the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door, and his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming, and the lamp light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor, and my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor, shall be lifted… nevermore.’

The Dead Zone was later the basis for a USA Network TV series that ran from 2002 to 2007.

James Franco narrates The Dead Zone audiobook, published by Simon & Schuster in digital and CD form on 25 April 2017: ‘When Johnny Smith was six years old, head trauma caused by a bad ice-skating accident left him with a nasty bruise on his forehead and, from time to time, those hunches… infrequent but accurate snippets of things to come.’

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5261

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