The Dead Zone

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The Dead Zone is a horror/supernatural thriller novel by Stephen King published in 1979. It concerns Johnny Smith, who is injured in an accident and remains in a coma for nearly five years. Upon emergence, he exhibits clairvoyance and precognition with limitations, apparently because of a "dead zone," an area of his brain that suffered permanent damage as the result of his accident. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half stars, describing The Dead Zone as by far the best of the half-a-dozen cinematic adaptations of King's novels to that date. He praised Cronenberg's direction for successfully weaving the supernatural into the everyday, and noted believable performances by the entire cast, especially Walken: "Walken does such a good job of portraying Johnny Smith, the man with the strange gift, that we forget this is science fiction or fantasy or whatever and just accept it as this guy's story." [29] Janet Maslin of The New York Times referred to the film as "a well-acted drama more eerie than terrifying, more rooted in the occult than in sheer horror." [30] Robin Wood stated that it was the first film by Cronenberg that he could admire and called it a "healthy development". [31]

At the rally, Stillson begins his speech and Johnny attempts to shoot Stillson, but misses and is wounded by Stillson's bodyguards. Before he can fire again Stillson grabs a young child and holds him up as a human shield. Johnny pauses, unable to shoot, and is shot twice by the bodyguards, falling off the balcony and fatally injuring himself. A young photographer successfully photographs Stillson using the child as a shield, a picture that it is implied destroys Stillson's political future when published. Dying, Johnny touches Stillson a final time but feels only dwindling impressions and knows that the terrible future Stillson would bring around as President has been prevented. Who else but Christopher Walken could play Johnny Smith in the highly praised David Cronenberg film? Johnny is ridiculed, exposed as a charlatan. He is fine with that. It might mean he has a chance to find a normal life.Cronenberg, David (2006). David Cronenberg: Interviews with Serge Grünberg. Plexus Publishing. ISBN 0-85965-376-5. A film adaptation of The Dead Zone was released in 1983, starring Christopher Walken, and directed by David Cronenberg.

Having multiple plots building on each other was a little awkward at times. I finished one storyline and moved on to the next section, and this time Johnny has landed a new job of living somewhere else, time jumps forward a bit, and those precious events are only mentioned a few times, replaced by something even bigger this time. Johnny’s gotta take his powers to the next level. Time to ditch the minor leagues and show the majors what you can do for once. John felt an inordinate amount of pressure from his gift, which I thought serviced this book well. Rather than making him a superhero, his gift became more a question of mankind and morality. La historia sigue a Jhonny Smith, quien luego de un accidente despierta casi 5 años depués. Sí, mucho tiempo. Demasiado. Lo bueno (o lo malo) de esto es que despierta con un extraño poder; visiones. Todo objeto y a cada persona que toque inmediatamente sabrá cosas de ella. Una habilidad que a lo largo de todo el libro hará pensar al protagonista si es un don o una maldición. a b c d e f g Lucas, Tim (December 1983 – January 1984). "The Dead Zone". Cinefantastique. 14 (2): 24–35.The movies usually don't compare and I can only think of a few examples that did a fantastic job with one of King's books. Cronenberg showed his own Dolby stereo version of the film in Toronto for a month as none of the theaters were playing that version and broke even without concessions. [26] Reception [ edit ] A real creepy read very hard to put down – it is also very current in 2020! I hadn’t really thought of the Dead Zone as one of SK greats as it is often overshadowed by IT, The Shining, Carrie and many MANY others – but this really was a stand out for me and maybe and good introduction to King. This book wasn’t as gory or ‘scary’ as a normal King but it is disturbing and thought provoking! When Johnny comes out of his coma, he has the ability/curse of being able to touch someone or something owned by that person (psychometry) and see pieces of their future. Some key elements always seem to be missing, and those murky parts Johnny calls The Dead Zone.

From reading On Writing, I thought this book would focus on Johnny Smith vs. Stillson, but that only happens in the last 20% of the book. It's not a trial version of 11/22/63 like I originally thought. Mostly, it's a man trying to play with the hand he's been dealt. I was more reflective while reading this and wondering how I would react if I had Johnny's abilities and life.Journalist Richard Dees who works for the tabloid publication Inside View appears later as the main protagonist in short story Night Flier.