The Dead Zone does what only a good supernatural thriller can do: It makes us forget it is supernatural.
88
TV Guide Magazine
TV Guide Magazine
Arguably the best adaptation of a Stephen King novel.
80
EmpireKim Newman
EmpireKim Newman
It has some of that episodic ‘compressed miniseries’ feel which a lot of King pictures get stuck with (the book was later redone as a TV serial with Anthony Michael Hall) but still manages a lot of powerful material.
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
A well-acted drama more eerie than terrifying, more rooted in the occult than in sheer horror.
80
Variety
Variety
David Cronenberg turns The Dead Zone into an accomplished psychological thriller.
63
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Boston GlobeJay Carr
It never really chills you, but then it never insults you, either, and it's more affecting than you expect any film based on a Stephen King novel to be. [22 Oct 1983]
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay Scott
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay Scott
The Dead Zone, from the book by Stephen King, a horror novelist whose prolific output is the scariest thing about him, is academic filmmaking all the way, a crafty Establishment tour de force. [21 Oct 1983]
50
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
By no means a bad film, just a disappointingly bland and superficial one.