After spending the day with his girlfriend Sarah, promising schoolteacher Johnny Smith heads home for the evening. Due to stormy weather, however, he is involved in a car accident that leaves him in a coma. Five years pass, and Johnny is awoken by the hospital's neurologist, and he is informed that during this lengthy state of unconsciousness, Sarah has not only married but also bore a child. More surprising, however, is that the now-former educator has the ability to see a person's thoughts and visions through physical contact. While recovering, he attempts to rebuild his life, though the residents of his hometown all seem to have varying opinions on this man who claims that he can read your mind and potentially even see things that you cannot. In fact, there are some who feel as if his newfound ability can come in handy, be it for solving crimes, or preventing far worse ones from occurring in the near future.
This year officially marks the earliest time that Stephen King has made an appearance during my marathon (2013 had Brian De Palma's Carrie as my third entry). What happens to be more surprising is the fact that this was the very first time that I sat down to watch 1983's The Dead Zone, which as of this writing, is the only collaborative effort between the Maine author and well-respected filmmaker David Cronenberg (Videodrome, The Fly, The Brood). It also stands as one of actor Christopher Walken's most well-known movie efforts, and along with The Deer Hunter and True Romance, can be considered an essential viewing for fans of the quite kooky performer. One can make a very strong argument that this is one of the aforementioned director's most accessible pieces of work, but more on that later.
Walken does indeed deserve all of the praise for his portrayal of Johnny Smith (King sure could have picked a better name), as he keeps the character grounded and feeling human throughout its very brisk running time. For someone who has been gifted/cursed with the ability of second sight, he makes the former schoolteacher feel as if you could know a person like this in your daily life. The science fiction aspect of his powers and entire scenario is also perhaps the most realistic that I've seen in a motion picture in quite some time, as he doesn't overuse his abilities and we focus on the variety of people throughout; our protagonist may not even be the most fascinating human being stuck in this bizarre interpretation of Castle Rock, Maine. Martin Sheen is also splendid to watch as a slimy, overconfident local politician with delusions of grandeur and dreams of ascending to the oval office. He does have moments where he hams it up, but it's all in good fun and works to help give you the feeling that this is not as kind of a world as one would imagine it to be.
The actors' portions aside, I feel as though we have to go back to David Cronenberg. Many fans such as myself tend to affiliate the Canadian director with the fear of losing control of one's own physical being. In nearly every effort of his that I've seen, there is this inherent and all-too-real sense of dread that we are not in control of our bodies, and in fact will deteriorate in more ways than we can imagine once something very basic has been altered. The decaying and transformation themes found in The Fly are a perfect example of this, and though The Dead Zone is a largely normal motion picture compared to his more grotesque and....well, icky releases (save for one moment involving a pair of scissors that can make even the most hardened person shudder), there is still this sort of morbidity that permeates from Johnny every time that he shakes the hand of another individual. He directs Walken and his co-stars in such a way that they truly feel remorseful and often frightened (a fine example is when Sheen first shakes hands with Walken) that this can not be prevented after his accident. Cronenberg understands that just because you've inherited a unique power doesn't mean that you will see everything that you want to see.
It goes without saying, but David Cronenberg's ninth entry into his very impressive filmography is absolutely worth adding to your watch list this year. It's filled with some solid, creepy suspense, and chocked full of enough emotionally-driven performances to help it stay above the rest of the (admittedly) hit-or-miss Stephen King adaptations out there. Much like yesterday's entry, the influence of The Dead Zone can clearly be seen on pictures from through the following decades, including Frailty and the Final Destination series. Unlike those gems, the classification of this as a "horror" movie is up for debate, but it's a damn fine flick regardless. The Dead Zone is available for purchase on DVD in most retail outlets that still carry physical media, and was even re-released on home video recently for about the same amount that you would pay for a happy meal at McDonald's.
But heck, perhaps if you had Johnny's second sight, you could ensure that you receive the correct toy that you were searching for.
Tomorrow, we make the decision to stick around in the 1980s, and pay a second visit to an old friend with a shiny, silver sphere...
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