“THE ICE IS
GONNA BREAK!”
When you mix a Stephen King story, the
visionary director David Cronenberg and a top of his game Christopher Walken,
you get the 1983 classic “The Dead Zone”.
It’s the story of Johnny Smith who after a car accident has left him
with the power of ‘sight’. He can see
the past, as well as the future and more so, he discovers he can change it.
I had not
seen this film in years and when I saw pieces of it in my younger days, I only
remember the times where Walken’s character uses his ability, when he puts
himself in the situation where someone may die or has died. I always remember the creepy Michael Kamen shriek
of strings signaling when we were seeing another time along with Johnny. And no one who sees it ever forgets the fate
of the Castle Rock Killer in the film.
Watching it
now I was really impressed with the performance by Walken, mostly subdued but
hot when he needed to be. He’s just
brilliant in the entire film. Yeah there
are clear plot holes, and the performance turned in by Martin Sheen doing his
best pre-anti-West Wing impression that at times seems laughable, but I get sense
that Cronenberg was going more for atmosphere with this film. There are many quiet moments spread though out
the more terrifying ones and while there seems to be very little character
development it doesn’t take away the impact the visions have on Walken’s character
Johnny.
There have
been plenty of films since that have utilized visions of the future to propel
the story forward, but “The Dead Zone” brings it to a crawl on purpose and
gives you a glimpse of what affect it can have on the human psyche. If you haven’t seen it in a while give it a
turn, it’s a great quiet film that ends with a fantastic final twenty minutes
that are still as memorable as ever.
--Robert L.
Castillo
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