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You can expect this lot from a David Cronenberg film: Great cast, great performances, great storyline and great blood/gore scenes. Sadly, The Dead Zone had none of the latter (except for the part where Dodd pushes his mouth in the scissors). I haven't read the novel yet and now that I've seen this, I intend to.
The thing with Christopher Walken movies is that you cannot watch them enough. That's what happened with Batman Returns & The Deer Hunter. Anyways, Christopher Walken sure gave an amazing performance, as he always does, and even though I have mixed feelings whether he should've been nominated or not, I thinking more in the lines of "should've been". Apart from Walken, we have Martin Sheen in a small role amounting to a little more thn 5-6 mins (which includes a great anger scene, albeit a little funny) and Brooke Adams with Herbert Lom. A great performance by him too. Another thing I like about David Cronenberg is his endings. The ending reveals everything in a short time-span and leaves no room for follow-ups and doesn't have any of those cliche music or camera movements which can be found abundantly in other movies. This film's ending was exactly similar to The Fly and something which I like. As a serious Cronenberg fan, this film was also a little disappointment because It didn't have any of his signature gore scenes. Don't get me wrong, I don't like violence that much but It makes me happy that when director includes a thing he/she is most famous for but he made up for the 'dead zone' by collecting a great cast that it makes you wanna see them altogether in another movie.
In conclusion I would like to say that, despite the great directing and acting, this film ended rather too fast and should've gone for atleast another 45 mins at the most and was a little disappointment in some scenes (especially the opening). For Cronenberg & Walken fans, this film may, or may not, be included in their favourite movies lists but all I can tell is that it sure won't be included in their worst movies lists and as for Martin Sheen fans, his small appearance will put a smile on your face! A recommended watch only after you have read the novel as I found some scenes kinda confusing!
