“The ice … is gonna break!” That’s just one of the many harrowing premonitions that haunt poor Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) in director David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Stephen King’s thriller novel. Johnny is a New England schoolteacher whose plans to marry his sweetheart (Brooke Adams) are thwarted when he gets into a car accident that puts him into a coma; five years later, he wakes up to find that his ladylove has since gotten hitched to some other fella … and that he now has clairvoyant powers that allow him to “see” a person’s past, present and future just by touching them. Soon, Johnny has become the reluctant prophet of Castle Rock, helping the local sheriff (Tom Skerritt) solve a murder case … and eventually coming in contact with Greg Stilson (Martin Sheen), a man who will one day become the President of the United States — and plunge the world into nuclear holocaust after ordering a strike against Russia. Cronenberg fired a .357 Magnum off-screen to make Johnny’s many jerks and flinches seem more involuntary (Walken’s idea, FYI); the role ended up being one of Walken’s most memorable, though King’s first choice for the part was actually Bill Murray. – IFC Staff
The Dead Zone
