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14. The Dead Zone (1983 / 188 points)
Directed by: David Cronenberg / Screenplay by: Jeffrey Boam
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Why Its Significant - While often overshadowed by the more visceral works of Stephen King and David Cronenberg, their 1983 collaboration, The Dead Zone, still holds a place in the horror genre, offering a unique blend of psychological horror, supernatural suspense, and political thriller. Up until this point in his career, Cronenberg had established himself with a cult classic collection of seminal body horror works, but here, Cronenberg explored a different avenue with his first film not written by himself but Jeffrey Boam (who would later go on to write The Lost Boys and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and of course based on Stephen Kings novel originally. The film explores the potential for evil within seemingly ordinary people as Stillson's ambition and ruthlessness are presented as equally horrifying as any supernatural entity. The Dead Zone paved the way for a new wave of horror & thrillers that explored the psychological and social aspects of fear. Films like Silence of the Lambs, The Sixth Sense, Inception, & Get Out owe a debt to its focus on internal struggles and the blurring of lines between sanity and madness. The Dead Zone was followed by a television based on both the novel & film, and The Dead Zone had been the subject of many parodies over the years.

The Rankers
Plasmabeam - 4
Inviso - 5
Lightning - 8
Jcgamer107 - 12
Johnbobb - 12
Evilordexdeath - 14
Karo - 15
Rockus - 15
Mythiot - 18
Bitto - 19
Snake - 20
Seginustemple - 22
Fortybelowsummer - 24

Plasmabeam - One of the most underrated King books leads to one of the most underrated King movies. This stays pretty faithful to the source material (which is a GREAT thing), and the only real issue I had with this movie was Christopher Walken being cast to play Johnny. In the book Johnny was more of an energetic goofball (at least early on), and this movie couldve benefited from that. Still, the important pieces are here, and this story does a great job exploring supernatural concepts and piercing themes.

Inviso - Its so weird, having grown up in the nineties, when Christopher Walken became a comedy icon for his appearances on SNL, to see him as a serious actor dealing with serious issues in a serious manner. The concept behind this movie is fascinating: you have a guy who was just a normal, every day English teacher, but he gets caught in a car accident that leaves him comatose for five years. When he wakes up, hes lost everything about his old life, and gained the power of precognition. Within a day of rousing from his coma, he saves a little girls life by touching a nurses hand and realizing her daughter is trapped in a house fire.

The movie is basically told in three parts. You have the intro and the coma, and the realization that Johnny Smith has psychic powers (including realizing that his doctors mother is still alive, after she sent him off to safety during World War II, and embarrassing an arrogant reporter with the secret knowledge of his abuse towards his sister, before he killed herself). At that point, Johnny is just trying to recover, and these powers are new and strange to him. Then we get to the middle of the film, where the police seek him out for aid in a serial killer casewhich he solves by discovering that the killer was the sheriffs deputy. But ending his reign of terror, Johnny still gets shot for his troubles, and decides hes better off to go into hiding and stay out of the public eye.

This all sets up the third act, where a very charismatic Martin Sheen (Greg Stillson) is running for president, and we spend a great deal of time focusing on his character in the background, until Johnny winds up at a campaign rally and shakes his hand. Suddenly, he realizes that Stillson is secretly a maniac behind his everyman persona, and hes destined to plunge the United States into nuclear war via his rash actions. And then the narrative goes from if I sit back and keep to myself, anything bad is not my fault to if I do nothing, everything bad this man does is on my conscience. So, he attempts an assassination, fails, but still succeeds in his goal because Stillson uses a baby as a human shield. He dies happy, knowing he did the right thing.

I just thought the movie was structured well. They did a great job of building Johnny up as this guy who just wants to live his life, and he doesnt want all the additional shit that comes along with being a psychic. And I love the slow ramping up of his visions: helping individuals with their lives becomes stopping a serial killer becomes stopping a nuclear war. And each time, Johnny is forced to suffer because he doesnt want the responsibility for being a savior in these moments. Its a really well-told story, and the only real flaw Id say is that they might not have needed the scene with Stillson blackmailing a newspaper editor. That wouldve made the reveal of his evil all the more shocking (and made it more of a moral conundrum in the eyes of the audience as to whether or not Johnny should put a stop to him.)

Lightning - THE ICE IS GONNA BREAK!

More of a science fiction thriller with some horror overtones than a straight horror film, this represents one of the very best Stephen King adaptations with a great lead performance from Christopher Walken. I found the structure of this one kind of fascinating, were this released today it would definitely be a TV series rather than a movie. There is very much a longer form structure to this, almost episodic rather than a traditional three act structure. It works however, as it helps to give you the feeling of Johnnys life changing over time as the impacts of his ability to see peoples future are felt.

Ultimately this film hinges on Christopher Walkens performance as Johnny Smith, he perfectly blends his unique, slightly frantic energy with a cool charisma and inner turmoil. He is charming at the beginning and always keeps you with him even as he gets increasingly desperate. You hang on his every word, even when they are hammy such as the above quote. There is also a great turn from Martin Sheen here, and its cool to see these actors fully formed even forty years ago. What makes this the best Stephen King Adaptation of its decade to me is the fact that it really sells the characters, and that understanding of character is what makes Kings style what it is.

Of course, the films other technical aspects are very strong as well. Cronenbergs direction shows that he doesnt need to rely too heavily on body horror to deliver a strong picture. There is still a pretty shocking moment of body horror with the scissor suicide of course! Really though what is at the heart of Cronenbergs films is suspense, and you get plenty of that here. This is a tense, thrilling political story that does not let go of you and unfortunately feels increasingly relevant even in the present day.

4/5

Jcgamer107 - 6/10

Johnbobb - The Dead Zone is one of the first Stephen King books I think I read back in high school, and I really dug it at the time. I wasn't as big a fan of the movie, mostly because it changed things from the book and I was one of those "the movie has to be exactly like the book" people for a while. Rewatching it now for the first time in over a decade, I really dug it. It helps that Walken is one of my favorite actors, and he really gets to play to his strengths. The concept is basically "what if Bruce Willis' character from Unbreakable didn't become a superhero and instead tried to assassinate the next mass murdering politician. Honestly, I'm here for it.