The Dead Zone
Movie, 1983, Castle Rock, Set in Castle Rock's strangler
The Dead Zone is #6 of 42 in release order and #31 of 42 in chronological order in the Stephen King Universe.
The story
Johnny Smith is a schoolteacher with his whole life ahead of him but, after leaving his fiancee's home one night, is involved in a car crash which leaves him in a coma for 5 years. When he wakes, he discovers he has an ability to see into the past, present and future life of anyone with whom he comes into physical contact.
The Dead Zone recap
The Dead Zone (1983) follows Johnny Smith, a schoolteacher who wakes from a five-year coma able to see a person's past and future by touching them. David Cronenberg directs Christopher Walken as Johnny. His fiancee Sarah Bracknell (Brooke Adams) has married someone else, and Johnny's visions make him a reluctant celebrity. Sheriff George Bannerman (Tom Skerritt) asks for help with the Castle Rock strangler, and Johnny's vision reveals the killer is Frank Dodd, Bannerman's own deputy, who kills himself before he can be arrested. Johnny retreats into tutoring, and saves a pupil from drowning by foreseeing a pond accident. At a campaign event he shakes hands with Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen), a populist Senate candidate, and sees Stillson becoming president and launching a nuclear war. His doctor Sam Weizak (Herbert Lom) tells him he would have killed Hitler if given the chance.
The Dead Zone ending explained
The Dead Zone ends with Johnny dying after he tries to shoot Stillson. Johnny fires at a rally from a balcony and misses, and Stillson grabs Sarah's baby as a shield. A photographer captures the moment, and Johnny is shot by a guard. Touching the dying Johnny, Stillson is shown a vision of his career destroyed by the photograph and his own suicide. Knowing the future has changed, Johnny dies in Sarah's arms.
Post-credits scenes
No. The Dead Zone has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch The Dead Zone
The Dead Zone is streaming on Paramount+, Philo, AMC+, History Vault, and YouTube (free) in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.1/10, Rotten Tomatoes 89%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Christine, before Cujo.
- Chronological order: after Dreamcatcher, before Cujo.
What to watch before The Dead Zone
Nothing. The Dead Zone (1983) doesn't continue an earlier version, so it stands on its own.
Cast
- Christopher Walken as Johnny Smith
- Brooke Adams as Sarah Bracknell
- Tom Skerritt as Sheriff Bannerman
- Herbert Lom as Dr. Sam Weizak
- Anthony Zerbe as Roger Stuart
- Colleen Dewhurst as Henrietta Dodd
- Martin Sheen as Greg Stillson
- Nicholas Campbell as Frank Dodd
- Sean Sullivan as Herb Smith
- Jackie Burroughs as Vera Smith
- Géza Kovács as Sonny Elliman
- Roberta Weiss as Alma Frechette
Directed by David Cronenberg.