When he acquires a different kind of show for his station, a sleazy cable-TV programmer begins to see his life and the future of media spin out of control in a terrifying new reality.
A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.
After developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife, and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.
The residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are being infected by a strain of parasites that turn them into mindless, sex-crazed fiends out to infect others by the slightest sexual contact.
Johnny Smith wakes from a coma due to a car accident, only to find he has lost five years of his life, and yet gained psychic powers. Foreseeing the future appears to be a 'gift' at first, but ends up causing problems...Written by
Paul Reynolds <pauljr@innotts.co.uk>
Martin Sheen and Coleen Dewhurst are in this Stephen King adaptation, and the next year, Sheen would appear with Dewhurst's ex-husband, George C. Scott, in another film based on a King novel, Firestarter. See more »
Goofs
When Henrietta Dodd is shot, she grabs the banister for a few seconds. At that time, there is no blood on her hands or the banister. A split second later, she falls to the floor and there is blood on her left hand and the banister. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Johnny Smith:
[Johnny is reading "The Raven" to his class]
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting, on the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door, and his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming, and the lamp light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor, and my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor, shall be lifted... nevermore.
See more »
Crazy Credits
As the opening titles roll, certain parts (or "dead zones") of the screen become blocked out, until the part of the screen you can see spell out the title "The Dead Zone." See more »
Alternate Versions
Although the UK cinema version was 18-rated and intact in 1986 Thorn-EMI released a British home video version with 13 seconds cut to obtain a 15 certificate rating from the BBFC. A scissor suicide sequence was re-edited to remove shots of the preparation and aftermath, and shots of topless nudity and the descending scissors were removed from the gazebo murder. Later 18-rated releases feature the full uncut print. See more »
This movie has been running on the pay channels lately, and I have been watching repeatedly. I saw this movie years ago, and I never took the time to read the book. Therefore, I picked up the book and read it. I have read probably 25 Steven King books and in every case the book is always better than the movie, here was the first. The movie The Dead Zone is by far superior to the book. The book of course has more detail and characters, but the book's characters are boring. Martin Sheen as Greg Stillson was a perfect fit. The changes in the story, (without giving away the movie), where much better in the movie than in the book. A fun suggestion, read the book, and then watch the movie. See if I'm right .
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This movie has been running on the pay channels lately, and I have been watching repeatedly. I saw this movie years ago, and I never took the time to read the book. Therefore, I picked up the book and read it. I have read probably 25 Steven King books and in every case the book is always better than the movie, here was the first. The movie The Dead Zone is by far superior to the book. The book of course has more detail and characters, but the book's characters are boring. Martin Sheen as Greg Stillson was a perfect fit. The changes in the story, (without giving away the movie), where much better in the movie than in the book. A fun suggestion, read the book, and then watch the movie. See if I'm right .