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.
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.
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.
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 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.
A young woman develops a taste for human blood after undergoing experimental plastic surgery, and her victims turn into rabid, blood-thirsty zombies who proceed to infect others, which turns 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
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>
The story seems to take place in its production time, the early 1980s. The doctor, played by Herbert Lom, seems much too old to have been a child during WW2. In fact Lom was 22 when the war started. 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 »
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 me
Perfectly executed from performances to writing
Great finale
The Bad:
Cheating protagonists, they never get old
Would have benefitted from at least 30 minutes more
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
It's scary how alike Martin & Charlie were around the same age
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.
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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 me
Perfectly executed from performances to writing
Great finale
The Bad:
Cheating protagonists, they never get old
Would have benefitted from at least 30 minutes more
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
It's scary how alike Martin & Charlie were around the same age