When he acquires a different kind of show for his station, a sleazy cable-TV programmer begins to see his life and the future of media spin out of control in a terrifying new reality.
After developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife, and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.
A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.
The residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are being infected by a strain of parasites that turn them into mindless, sex-crazed fiends out to infect others by the slightest sexual contact.
A young woman develops a taste for human blood after experimental plastic surgery, and her victims turn into blood-thirsty zombies, leading into a city-wide epidemic.
A mentally disturbed man takes residence in a halfway house. His mind gradually slips back into the realm created by his illness, where he replays a key part of his childhood.
Director:
David Cronenberg
Stars:
Ralph Fiennes,
Miranda Richardson,
Gabriel Byrne
After getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.
A mild-mannered man becomes a local hero through an act of violence, which sets off repercussions that will shake his family to its very core in this action thriller.
Johnny Smith wakes from a coma due to a car accident, only to find he has lost five years of his life, and yet gained psychic powers. Foreseeing the future appears to be a 'gift' at first, but ends up causing problems...Written by
Paul Reynolds <pauljr@innotts.co.uk>
Director David Cronenberg had to re-shoot the scene in which John Smith has his first premonition. It showed a little girl's room burning and a small E.T. doll could be seen on one of the shelves. The scene had to be re-shot when Universal Pictures threatened to file a lawsuit against them. See more »
Goofs
When Stillson presses the red button, it begins to blink on and off, with a synchronized audible tone. The next time you see the button, the tone is still perfectly synchronized with the red light, but it remained so only by speeding up significantly when the button was out of view. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Johnny Smith:
[Johnny is reading "The Raven" to his class]
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.
See more »
Crazy Credits
As the opening titles roll, certain parts (or "dead zones") of the screen become blocked out, until the part of the screen you can see spell out the title "The Dead Zone." See more »
Alternate Versions
Although the UK cinema version was 18-rated and intact in 1986 Thorn-EMI released a British home video version with 13 seconds cut to obtain a 15 certificate rating from the BBFC. A scissor suicide sequence was re-edited to remove shots of the preparation and aftermath, and shots of topless nudity and the descending scissors were removed from the gazebo murder. Later 18-rated releases feature the full uncut print. See more »
One of the unwritten laws of the movies is that Stephen King books are nearly always disappointing when transferred to the big screen. One film which doesn't fit that rule is The Dead Zone. In the hands of David Cronenberg, you may expect this to be a gore-filled affair, but it is actually a very well-made, subtle film which emphasises the psychological sense of fear rather than settling for blood-spattered mayhem. There isn't a moment in the film that will make you jump out of your seat, but it is still an effectively scary film because it plays on your mind.
Normal, down-to-earth everyman Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) is involved in a terrible car crash which leaves him comatose. Four years later, he miraculously awakens. To begin with, he is devastated to learn that his girlfriend has moved on, marrying and starting a family with another man. But soon he realises that this is the least of his problems. He soon discovers that the accident has left him with remarkable powers, which enable him to see into people's futures just by touching their hand. And Johnny is in for one hell of a nasty shock when he shakes hands with potential senator Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen) at a political rally....
An intelligently paced and very well-acted film, The Dead Zone is also full of unpredictable plot developments. Walken elicits great sympathy as the normal guy who rapidly learns that his new gift is actually a curse, and there are fabulous supporting performances from Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Brooke Adams and the terrifying Martin Sheen. The film has several tremendous moments, but the climax in particular builds to an emotional crescendo. The premise of The Dead Zone is probably rather silly if you stop to think about it, but other than that it is a most impressive film - and still ranks as one of, if not THE, best adaptation of a Stephen King story so far.
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One of the unwritten laws of the movies is that Stephen King books are nearly always disappointing when transferred to the big screen. One film which doesn't fit that rule is The Dead Zone. In the hands of David Cronenberg, you may expect this to be a gore-filled affair, but it is actually a very well-made, subtle film which emphasises the psychological sense of fear rather than settling for blood-spattered mayhem. There isn't a moment in the film that will make you jump out of your seat, but it is still an effectively scary film because it plays on your mind.
Normal, down-to-earth everyman Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) is involved in a terrible car crash which leaves him comatose. Four years later, he miraculously awakens. To begin with, he is devastated to learn that his girlfriend has moved on, marrying and starting a family with another man. But soon he realises that this is the least of his problems. He soon discovers that the accident has left him with remarkable powers, which enable him to see into people's futures just by touching their hand. And Johnny is in for one hell of a nasty shock when he shakes hands with potential senator Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen) at a political rally....
An intelligently paced and very well-acted film, The Dead Zone is also full of unpredictable plot developments. Walken elicits great sympathy as the normal guy who rapidly learns that his new gift is actually a curse, and there are fabulous supporting performances from Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Brooke Adams and the terrifying Martin Sheen. The film has several tremendous moments, but the climax in particular builds to an emotional crescendo. The premise of The Dead Zone is probably rather silly if you stop to think about it, but other than that it is a most impressive film - and still ranks as one of, if not THE, best adaptation of a Stephen King story so far.