Stephen King Classic Getting Remade When You Could Just Stream The Original

While fans are surely excited to see what comes of the upcoming remake, the original 1983 film is still available to stream today, on a wide array of user-friendly platforms.

The Dead Zone is a science fiction thriller adapted for the screen by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade writer Jeffrey Boam, and directed by legendary horror filmmaker David Cronenberg.

Cronenberg is affectionately known as the ‘Baron of Blood,’ and has even been referenced in a now iconic plot-line of Rick and Morty, in which the titular duo turn an entire universe into Cronenbergian monsters before abandoning the universe entirely.

The film stars Christopher Walken, Colleen Dewhurst, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Brooke Adams, Anthony Zerbe, and The West Wing‘s Martin Sheen.

Though the film differs in several ways from the narrative of the novel, The Dead Zone focuses on a character named Johnny Smith. He is loosely based on the real Dutchman Peter Hurkos, who claimed to have psychic powers after suffering a major head injury.

In the film, Smith is a schoolteacher who falls into an intense five-year-long coma after suffering injuries from a serious car accident. Upon waking up from the coma, Smith learns that his former girlfriend, Sarah, has moved on and married another man.

After arriving back home, Johnny comes to realize that he’s developed a form of psychic ability that allows him to see into the past and future of other people’s lives through physical contact.

Despite his visions, there is a section of his psychic powers that remains unlocked, which he refers to as the dead zone, or the region of the future which cannot be seen.

As Johnny undergoes numerous rounds of intense physical therapy to learn how to walk again, he begins to learn strange and disturbing information about nurses, reporters, and other people he comes into contact with.

As the narrative of The Dead Zone progresses, Johnny comes to utilize his powers to assist law enforcement in solving cold cases and even becomes embroiled in the center of a massive political conspiracy.

Eventually, as his body continues to deteriorate, Johnny’s psychic powers lead him to commit acts he never thought possible.

The Dead Zone received positive reviews from critics at the time of its release, and maintains its status as a classic thriller, with an 89 percent certified fresh critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Dead Zone is available to stream on a number of popular platforms, allowing many viewers to catch the film today. You can currently watch the movie with a subscription to Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, MGM+, Sling TV, and the Roku Channel. The Dead Zone is also available to rent digitally from retailers such as Apple TV+, Vudu, and the Google Play Store.