66/100

“It's over. You're finished.”

Feels very much outside of the typical fair that director David Cronenberg is known for, specifically inside his horror films and while the overall film left me feeling satisfied and entertaining, I was just expecting something different. In the first half of the film I could see how this could’ve been a much deeper horror film about the horror of being able to see upcoming death and after the house fire sequence, but it took a different direction and just felt like it was missing something for me.

It felt much like a subtle drama that is very much from Stephen King’s work and as soon as I realized what the film was going for I started to enjoy it much much more. It struggles in getting going if I’m honest, but Christopher Walken gives such a fantastic performance that he keeps you roped in. It’s not an outrageous performance but every little thing and moment is elevated just from him; was not expecting to see such a brilliant relationship between Walken and the rest of the cast. I guess I'm just “intrigued” by what this would’ve been as full fledged horror and that’s what stopping me from really loving it.

This isn’t a knock on the film at all, maybe I just need to revisit the film with a non-horror mind and can fall in love with it like so many others have. For now, it’s good and Walken is masterful. One of the few Cronenberg films where I’m more captured by the lead performance then by his direction and attention to horror. The Dead Zone is definitely helping my love for Cronenberg and his filmography and really just an entertaining film to watch late one night.

Hooptober 8: 4/31
Horror Films Ranked
Rejuvenating my David Cronenberg Marathon