Wesley Recommends #1

This is a new column that I would like to start putting up on a week-to-week basis. Basically, I want to focus on some more obscure and underrated films that the general public may not know about and needs to see. Not all of these films I plan on recommending are perfect, but they all have something special about them that I think people should recognize. My analysis of these films will contain some plot and character description, but no major spoilers or anything like that. After all, I'm trying to sell the movie to you, the reader. My first recommendation is an underrated film from 1983: The Dead Zone. 

“If you could go back in time to Germany, before Hitler came to power, knowing what you know now, would you kill him?” - Johnny Smith, The Dead Zone

Since I recently started reading Stephen King’s The Dark Half, I figured my first recommendation should be a Stephen King inspired film. One of the most effective and underrated films based on a Stephen King book would have to be David Cronenberg’s 1983 adaptation of The Dead Zone starring Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, and Martin Sheen. The movie was also produced by Debra Hill, who produced Halloween and Escape from New York. So, The Dead Zone had Cronenberg, King, and Hill all apart of the film in some way. It’s like a film made in horror movie heaven. Contrary to popular belief, the USA television series starring Anthony Michael Hall is not the first adaptation of King’s Dead Zone novel. Cronenberg’s film adaptation not only came first but also was much truer to the original work’s story and tone.

The first time I saw The Dead Zone in October of my freshman year of college, I liked the film but, for some reason, just didn’t love it. There was something cold and distant about the film that I just couldn’t put my finger on. However, over time, the film has really grown on me and honestly, I cannot find many things wrong with this expertly crafted film adaptation of King's novel.

For those not familiar with the novel, the TV series, or this film adaptation, here’s a creepy trailer and a plot synopsis from IMDB:

“Johnny Smith is a young schoolteacher with his whole life ahead of him. Unfortunately, after leaving his fiancée’s home one night, he is involved in a wreck with an 18-wheel tractor-trailer and is in a coma for 5 years. When he wakes up from it, he discovers he has an ability to see into other people's lives, past, present and future, by coming into physical contact. But the visions he has are often frightening, and even apocalyptic…”

If I had to summarize this movie up in one word it would have to be atmosphere. Set in the bleak snow bound landscape of New England, Johnny Smith’s world is nothing to envy. The snowy, barren landscape really helps to symbolize Johnny’s isolation from the rest of the world due to his “condition.” That’s one thing that this movie really manages to get across: the constant pain and torment that Johnny goes through because of his visions. The visions are so draining to Johnny that they are actually causing him to slowly die. Christopher Walken manages to convey all of this like no one else could ever do. I know Walken is known usually for some pretty off-the-wall and zany roles but his performance in The Dead Zone is beautifully understated and perhaps the performance of his career. The man constantly looks exhausted from the strain of his condition while also showing some nice moments of strong emotion, especially towards Brooke Adams, his distant love interest, and the little boy he befriends and tutors. Walken only really has one “eccentric” moment in the film, which is “the ice is going to break!” line. However, it works within the context of the scene and I really enjoyed his delivery. The movie is really a one man show and Walken does incredibly well with the lead role, playing it straight and showing some real acting chops. I really felt for the guy through his horrible ordeal and it was mostly due to Walken’s great performance.

The thing that initially attracted me to seeing this movie was the fact that David Cronenberg directed it. Cronenberg does Stephen King? Yeah, there was no way that I couldn't see this film. For those not familiar with Cronenberg (and shame on you if you are not), he is the director of such films as The Fly, Scanners, Videodrome, The Brood, A History of Violence, and Eastern Promises. He’s one of those directors that have that rare ability to make me very creeped out and uncomfortable. Although The Dead Zone is much tamer than most of the director’s other efforts, it still definitely has its moments of dread and eeriness. Although there are many horror elements in The Dead Zone, Cronenberg has a strong hold on all of the quieter and more character driven moments of the film. He really helped me feel for Johnny’s plight and his constant loss of connection with the people he loved. He also manages to fill the film with the previously mentioned snowy New England atmosphere, making Johnny Smith’s world a much bleaker and hopeless place. Still, when horror called, Cronenberg was there with guns blazing. Cronenberg makes Johnny’s visions as terrifying as they are to him, putting the audience right in his shoes. The vision sequences are cued by a sharp string music cue as Johnny tenses up. I’ve heard that Cronenberg helped Walken out with these moments by firing a .44 magnum off camera without telling him when he was going to do so. Cronenberg then puts Johnny and the audience right into the visions, making them intense and personal.

Another section of the film that Cronenberg truly excels at is the murder-mystery subplot. With Johnny’s psychic ability broadcasted over the news, a sheriff comes to him with hope that he will help out with an ongoing and unsolved murder case. Here, Cronenberg creates some of his most eerie sequences and grim atmospheres, especially the sequence that’s filmed inside of tunnel (which is supposedly haunted in real life) where the killer has struck. This section of the movie is probably the most famous due to a certain sequence with a pair of scissors. It’s one of the oddest, unexpected, and creepy things I’ve seen in a film for a long time. If you ever saw that “One Hundred Most Scariest Movie Moments” count down on Bravo, this was one of the moments. It’s a very Cronenberg moment and it’s hard to get out of your head once you see it. So yeah, look out for that.

So, what else did I enjoy about this movie? Well, how about the late Michael Kamen’s understated but hauntingly beautiful score? The score really helped add to the dreary atmosphere, amplified the horror-filled visions, and made the impact of the love story much more powerful. The main title theme is pretty memorable and it’s sad to hear it now that Kamen has passed. Another thing that I liked about the movie is Martin Sheen and film’s drastic last act. Kind of like the recently reviewed Sunshine, the last act of The Dead Zone is fairly different in tone from the first two acts. The film suddenly becomes very political and shows how an act of assassination could possibly be justified. Despite it’s change in direction, I still felt that this last half worked quite well in the context of the rest of the film and really helped to further tell Johnny Smith’s story. Another thing that I liked about this half of the story is the inclusion of Martin Sheen as politician Greg Stillson. Sheen plays the role as charismatic but bad-to-the-bone as possible and seems to really have a ball doing so. Sure, it’s a little over-the-top but it sure is a blast to watch. The scary thing is that there probably aren’t too many politicians that are far off from being just like Stillson.

Is there anything I don’t like about this film? Well, the chemistry between Walken and Adams is off-and-on for me. There are times when I think their relationship works great and there are other times where I don’t feel a hundred percent on it. I attribute most of this to Adams’ acting ability and not Walken’s. Still, despite this off-and-on feeling, I feel like the relationship still works for the film and plays as the heart of the story. As I mentioned earlier, there are times where the film just feels a little cold and distant in general. However, this feeling usually passes and I am able to get back into Walken’s character and his ongoing plight.

Overall, I feel good about this being my first recommendation. The Dead Zone is a truly underrated film that boosts a great performance from Christopher Walken, some chilling sequences, solid direction, a great score, and some eerie atmospheric moments. The character drama all works well along with the film’s well-crafted horror sequences. Although the film is definitely one of Cronenberg’s lighter efforts (if you can believe that), it is also one of his most powerful, emotional, and creepy films to experience. This film has a little of everything: horror, tragedy, morality conflict, politics, and love. By the end, you’ll feel like you’ve really experienced something special but you just won’t be able to exactly put your finger on why. It’s definitely one of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s works and it will make you forget all about that pale imitation of a television show on USA.

Check this movie out if you get the chance. If you’re really cheap, you can find the whole movie on YouTube (for now anyways). I’d recommend you see it on DVD though.

“It was like… a blank spot, a dead zone.”