The Dead Zone (1983)
86%RT Audience Score: 77%
Awards & Nominations: 7 wins & 4 nominations
The Dead Zone combines taut direction from David Cronenberg and and a rich performance from Christopher Walken to create one of the strongest Stephen King adaptations
The Dead Zone is a psychological thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. It’s a Stephen King adaptation that’s both supernatural and grounded in reality, making it a believable story. Christopher Walken delivers a nuanced performance that’s both mad and sorcerer-like. The movie’s sense of dread is unnervingly of the moment, evoking the feel of this moment with surprising authenticity. It’s a fast-moving thriller that’s two separate stories connected by the same hero. Overall, The Dead Zone is one of the best Stephen King film adaptations that’s worth watching.
Production Company(ies)
New Line Cinema, Wing Nut Films, The Saul Zaentz Company,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures, VTI Home Video, Video Classics
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1983
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 43m
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Language(s):English, Polish, Russian
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 21, 1983 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 26, 2006
Genre(s)
Mystery & thriller/Sci-fi
Keyword(s)
starring Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe, Colleen Dewhurst, Martin Sheen, directed by David Cronenberg, written by Stephen King, Jeffrey Boam, Mystery & Thriller, Sci-Fi, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Adam Nayman, Variety Staff, Kim Newman, Dave Kehr, Eric Henderson, Tom Charity, Kevin Carr, Matt Brunson, Christopher Lloyd, Bernard Drew, Tim Stevens, Michelle Kisner, produced by Debra Hill, MPAA rating R, psychic abilities, supernatural thriller, Stephen King adaptation, Johnny Smith, Greg Stillson, aspiring politician, danger, psychic powers, future, touch, heartbroken, girlfriend, sheriff, doctor, Roger Stuart, Henrietta Dodd, psychic visions, tragedy, foreboding, atmospheric, creepy, unsettling, fun thrill ride
Worldwide gross: $20,766,616
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $63,544,966
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,229
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 6,929,658
US/Canada gross: $20,766,616
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $63,544,966
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 966
US/Canada opening weekend: $4,556,083
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $13,941,421
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 831
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $10,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $30,599,577
Production budget ranking: 1,145
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $16,477,872
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $16,467,517
ROI to date (est.): 35%
ROI ranking: 1,220
Brooke Adams – Sarah Bracknell
Tom Skerritt – Sheriff Bannerman
Herbert Lom – Dr. Sam Weizak
Anthony Zerbe – Roger Stuart
Colleen Dewhurst – Henrietta Dodd
David Cronenberg – Director
Debra Hill – Producer
Stephen King – Writer
Jeffrey Boam – Writer
Director(s)
David Cronenberg
Writer(s)
Stephen King, Jeffrey Boam
Producer(s)
Debra Hill
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
7 wins & 4 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (48) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (43) | Rotten (5)
What makes the The Dead Zone so frightening-and finally deeply moving-is how it commits to the psychology of a guy whose destiny is destroyed and fulfilled by the way he’s slipping through the cracks.
September 5, 2019
Adam Nayman
The Ringer
TOP CRITIC
An accomplished psychological thriller.
October 7, 2008
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Cronenberg attempting a little mainstream with this Stephen King yarn and really pulling it off.
September 25, 2007 | Rating: 4/5
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
By no means a bad film, just a disappointingly bland and superficial one.
September 25, 2007
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Don’t let the fact that visible breath and frosty misery take priority over exploding heads and fetus-licking snow you.
October 23, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Cronenberg pulls it off, but you can’t help feeling it’s a movie in search of a TV series.
January 26, 2006
Tom Charity
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Over the years, I have grown to love this movie… It’s a beautiful film with a great nuanced performance by Christopher Walken.
July 31, 2021 | Rating: 4/4
Kevin Carr
Fat Guys at the Movies
Ranks among the finest of all Stephen King adaptations.
September 26, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
David Cronenberg delivers a curiously flat, uninspired adaptation of Stephen King’s book starring Christopher Walken doing his mad sorcerer thing.
September 21, 2020 | Rating: 3/5
Christopher Lloyd
The Film Yap
An unusual, fast-moving thriller even though it seems to be two separate stories connected by the same hero.
September 20, 2019
Bernard Drew
Gannett News Service
The Dead Zone evokes the feel of this moment with surprising authenticity. The movie’s sense of dread, of a system that is teetering on the edge of disaster, feel unnervingly of the moment.
September 10, 2019
Tim Stevens
The Spool
The Dead Zone is one of the best Stephen King film adaptations as it deftly combines the supernatural with real world elements culminating in a believable story.
January 29, 2019
Michelle Kisner
The Movie Sleuth…
Plot
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…
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Christopher Walken delivers a “rich performance” in The Dead Zone, according to Fresh Kernels.
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