Dissecting The Dead Zone (1983), TV Series (2003) and Stephen King Novel | Spoiler-free

Hello, horrorphiles. In this podcast we dissect the 1983 David Cronenberg film, "The Dead Zone" starring Christopher Walken and compare it against the 1979 Stephen King novel and 2003 television series. In this classic supernatural thriller, “A man awakens from a coma to discover he has a psychic ability."

This is Dissecting Horror: Examining the anatomy of fear in film, television and literature with Kelsey Zukowski and Steven Aguilera.

We hope you find it in your cold, black, withered hearts to join our Society of Grotesquery and Loathing and keep our podcast suffering onward:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/dissectinghorror
PayPal one-time donation of any amount: https://paypal.me/dissectinghorror
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dissectinghorror
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dissectinghorror
Kelsey Zukowski: http://kelseyzukowski.com
Steven Aguilera: https://www.stevenaguilera.com

Photo credit: Slevin Mors

Transcript

0:06

Hello, Horrorphiles.

You’re listening to Dissecting Horror: 0:09

Examining the anatomy of fear and film, television and literature. I'm filmmaker Steven Aguilera. I'm writer and performer Kelsey Zukowski. In this episode, we'll examine the 1983 film The Dead Zone, starring Christopher Walken and directed by David Cronenberg with comparisons to the Stephen King book and the TV series, along with a Dead Zone story or two of our very own This discussion will be spoiler free. We are the horror whisperers, your champions of horror and keepers of the fear scape. On this podcast of frightsome delights, if you will. I will. And we hope you will subscribe for more, won't you? A man awakens from a coma to discover he has a psychic ability. According to IMDB, short and sweet. When we have a story with a unique and interesting plot that can be distilled down to one or two sentences, we call that high concept in the biz. And this certainly qualifies. This 1983 film stars Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt and Martin Sheen. Now Brooke Adams. I've always gotten her confused with Karen Allen from Raiders of the Lost Ark. She looks and sounds almost like the same person. So in my mind, she is basically the same person. But in fact, she does have her own distinct identity. And I should acknowledge that here Mm. It was helmed by famed Canadian director David Cronenberg, known for scanners, scanners, scanners, Videodrome, the fly in 1986, and a history of violence among many others. He is known for his body horror, which this film actually lacks. This film was also produced in Canada and is regarded as one of the best Stephen King adaptations and certainly has held a very special place in my cold, black, withered heart. It was produced under Dino De Laurentiis as well as Debra Hill, who was the longtime collaborator of John Carpenter, having produced such films as the original Halloween, The Fog and Escape from New York. I would also be remiss in not tipping my cap to the late Michael came in for his brilliant score. The Dead Zone showcases a compelling exploration of a moral dilemma of assassinating a political figure who will bring catastrophic consequences if left unchecked and places this burden on an everyday man who finds himself between miracle and curse free will and fate. It wasn't perhaps a film that really blew me away, but it was still very compelling and well done. Offered interesting examination on many daunting. What ifs with great acting and an atmospheric score that elevates the mood and dramatic impact along with its stylistic direction. This movie came up on our last podcast while discussing a French extremity film. I don't remember which one it was or what it was called because I. I did not see it. But you mentioned it. With regards to I think it was a French political extremist or something, that the director had a dream about Frontiers. Okay. And and that actually reminded me of this film and Martin Sheen's egomaniac political character after having exposed yourself to the dead zone. Did you find any strong parallels between the two or even to the point of it being a rip off, or was it actually completely different in the end? Oh, no, they're incredibly different films and tones. I really wasn't thinking of that parallel too much, but certainly a big portion, especially the Martin Sheen character, is kind of just that sinister, cunning determination that is so fueled in a lot of politics and as much as sometimes you might feel like so much of a character over the top that is, you know, supposed to be an element of the character especially and even different than some politicians who, you know, might have some some good intentions. He's pretty much a very just selfish and fame motivated or power motivated character, I don't know if I would call this a horror film so much as perhaps a supernatural thriller. it's even described as a science fiction thriller for some reason on Wikipedia. What would you call it? Yeah, I do have a pretty broad definition of horror, so I like to place things in there when when possible. But yeah, my instinct would be to call this a horror film or if. If it was, it's more so it's almost more like the moral dilemma. And there is definitely like some supernatural elements that this intuition and being able to see the future and things that no one else should be able to see or know. So there is that element. But I think how it's played, it's more dramatic and emotional than anything like they could have depending on if they adapted the the tone and direction it could have more of like, I guess, a sinister, chilling feel. And there are moments that are very fear induced, especially when he's seen these visions and in the place of a child's scared, burning in their room of what he sees is going to happen. So there are moments of that. But more than anything, I think you just really you really feel for this, you know, sort of like a gift and a curse of what he has to, you know. Our character, Jonny Smith, has to deal with that, having this this power and this intuition and this knowledge and having the ability to stop it and save people, but also at a great cost to himself. And in turn there is a certain element is like, is this my responsibility to stop these horrible things from happening? And there is a certain point where it's just so dwindling and takes over your life where you really can't have any life of your own. So there is, I would say, traumatic and ah, and horrific things, but probably at its core I'd say like, yes, supernatural thriller is probably most fitting. this was made the book anyway was was in the seventies and the film came out in the early eighties, so perhaps it was more of a scary film for back then there was this corny trend in the seventies, eighties and nineties where the word zone seemed to be attached to everything due mainly to I think it was just pretty much a Twilight zone sort of craze. there was this movie called The Killing Zone and Top Gun had that Kenny Loggins song, The Danger Zone. And up in the Bay Area where I'm from, we had a series of commercials for a while for the Toyota Zone, which I think was just like a car dealership. I remember when first hearing of the dead zone thinking that it's kind of a lazy name or a cheesy name or just some attempt to capitalize on the Twilight Zone or give it that same sort of vibe. But dead zone is an actual term, according to the dictionary, A dead zone is a place where a cell phone does not work because there is no signal. Of course, that wouldn't apply back when this was made, but it also refers to an area of water that cannot support marine life. It is also a a place or time in which nothing happens. And I think that definition alone makes it kind of a risky name because, for example, there was a film called Failure to Launch with Matthew McConaughey. And and I think when that film did, in fact, fail to launch at the box office, the critics were really quick to jump on that. So I think calling your film The Dead Zone, which is, again, a place or time in which nothing happens. It's a bit of a risk, but it's not that prevalent of a term speaking of the dead zone, just as the title, there are slightly different meanings for it and the book versus the movie, which I thought was interesting. The movie refers to the Dead Zone as a part of Johnny's Visions with this suggestion, his vision tells the future, but one that can be altered if actions are set to change it. In the book, though, the dead zone is a part of Johnny's diagnosis and an explanation for his abilities to see the future, this dead zone in his brain that forces other parts to overcompensate is there out of those two, is there a certain meaning that sort of resonates or is more compelling to you? I've always likened it to this area of the future that he can change. And the film gets more into that focus where it's this ambiguity as to what the outcome could be and that he can change it. The TV series actually has a third definition for it, which is slightly different. And yes, there is a TV series which we'll get into shortly, but I believe that one deals more with the part of the brain which is dormant, which has come alive, triggered by his accident and coma, a part of his brain that awakens and causes his psychic abilities. So they're all kind of related and similar, but they're all kind of different. And I feel like for something that's such a crux for the story to be, in fact, the title of the movie, the book and the TV show, they sure did take liberties or leave it rather vague as to what the hell it even means. But at the same time, there is an ambiguity to the very nature of the dead zone. I suppose interpretations of it from different points of view and different storylines, it lends itself to that sort of thing. So I'm okay with that. But overall I think it's a little bit confusing. Yeah, definitely. So just one one solid definition would have been better. Yeah, I think overall I like the similar, it sounds like in the show, but also the book, meaning almost of this like failure or lack of something kind of fueling something and creating something that whether it's, you know, something powerful and meaningful and can impact one way or another or something that's crippling, but it's still almost a power within the brain and the mind, which is kind of cool. It's a mystery, this phenomenon which is fueling what's happening. And I think there's something spooky about that. And I think the dead zone as a as a I don't know, has a ring to it that fits that pretty well. to me, Christopher Walken stands apart as being so distinctive in personality, and he's just fascinating to look at having so much presence while still being relatable, having this everyman quality, he gives such an effortless performance, and I'm not sure how much of that is his acting or just his natural personality, but it's probably both. Yeah, definitely. He was absolutely a standout. He was very human and relatable and it's also kind of an interesting thing as some, I guess, you know. King definitely has a good range and the type of characters that he focuses on because there are several that are, whether it's everyday just kind of normal kids or, you know, adults, but with the supernatural element and being able to see things, there is a certain correlation to something like Carrie where it's much more very much the outsider abnormal loss, kind of like within their shell. And probably more people will relate to this every day, man, sort of character more. I relate a little bit more to the the abnormal outsiders. You just go through, you know, incredible strife. But there was something to this about it being just a guy who enjoys literature and likes teaching, you know, very like it could be anyone and how it presented that he had a pretty good life, all in all, like everything was great. And granted, there was, you know, those kind of seeds early on of, you know, kind of something being off kilter. And then the new was like the last the last step towards this. he does capture that likability a lot where I think there is a little bit more of a connectivity from the audience and thinking this could be anyone imagine you know you have this much of your life and then all of a sudden waking up and realizing even just the thought alone of losing years of your life, let alone what his struggle, he ends up being plagued with. But yeah, he captured that very well. And between just kind of his like process and realism of, of being a character, navigating that and opening between that the crippling physically and mentally as his power makes his concept into something new. It's funny how when you fall asleep at night, you wake up seven or 8 hours later without much more than maybe some fleeting memories of random dreams. Yet there's still a a perception that seven or 8 hours have passed. And in the film he mentions that even though five years have passed to him, it's like the next day. And I wonder if that's true. hopefully I'll never know. Yeah, for all the creative mastery of Stephen King, I am surprised that the main character's name is just John Smith, of all things, and I wonder if there's some significance to that or if it was initially just placeholder that just stuck. Or part of me wonder if it was an experiment to see if it doesn't matter what you name a character and it's just about the character itself it's like the movie Sideways for me. I not until like two years ago today even know what Sideways meant. do you know what Sideways means? It's been a while since I've seen the movie. Refresh me. it's never mentioned in the film I was curious for for many years and looked it up, I don't know, around 2006 or something. And there was no definition for it anywhere. But more recently I found one that describes it as drunk. And it's it's a term coined in the book, but it's never mentioned anywhere, not even in the commentary track. So I went all these years watching this film and loving this film, having no idea what the title meant. I thought it was it was alluding to lying or something like you were. You're approaching something not directly and truthfully, but more from the side. And so it's called Sideways was completely wrong. And so sideways, it had come to mean those characters and that story. Hmm. So I wonder if if maybe there's something to that or if he just named him John Smith, because there was some other point to be made. I almost remember a YouTube video talking about this like it was a running thing that was were there any of the characters named John Smith or something along those lines, some super basic names in any other Stephen King content that you can think of? I'm no, I feel I mean, yeah, sure he has some characters that I guess are very average names, but for the most part I feel like this specific character, it is supposed to be that very familiar, everyday man, normal, almost run of the mill, nothing that unique or seemingly special like I think that was almost yeah, I don't want to say a joke, but it was like just picking the most sort of bland average name possible. emphasizing that sort of everyman. So yeah, okay, that makes sense. upon finishing the film. As often happens for me when I know that there is source material that it came with, I was curious about what deeper layers they may go into. So right after finishing the film, I went ahead and read the book and there are several differences. Of course, they have more time to really explore some of the characters and some of the themes. Overall, it was a pretty solid adaptation. I will say one main thing that was missing was in the book there is perspective changing between the characters. That did add a lot of insight, including from Sarah's perspective, even during the time when Johnny's in a coma. So I feel like it. I understand in the film there you are more put in Johnny's perspective of, oh, yesterday it feels like we were together and now you have this whole other life and everyone has moved on. So there is something to that of that sort of daunting, sort of nightmarish reality. But overall, anytime you can go deeper into characters perspectives and their depth in their characters, it always adds a lot. One thing that I liked most about the book that is touched on in the film, but not nearly as extensively, was the Castle Rock Hitler story and his perspective. And actually King was given the chance to propose what he wanted this film to look like when they were first adopting it. And his proposal was rejected due to being too involved and convoluted in. And one of the main focuses what he he was had a plan to expand the Castle Rock Keller story so that being one of my favorite elements again it was still what they showcased was certainly compelling and not that evil could be next door in the the upstanding citizen and all of that. So but the one sort of major change in the book, which is just getting more and understanding more of that understanding of the sadistic mind and a look at nature versus nurture when it comes to evil in the world. Throughout the film, various adversaries do come and go, and our primary villain does not even appear until 36 minutes before the end credits roll. There are several storylines or subplots which have a connection to the overall character development of our protagonist, but are not related to the actual events of the overarching story. this is not something you normally see in a films structure, but it works. In fact, not until one hour, 28 minutes in does John Smith even establish a true pro-active stance and goal at all. This is something I actually bitch about a lot in most of our podcasts. Actually, we have characters, protagonists that don't have a great deal of agency, which is to say they're being active, in other words, actively affecting the plot, not just having the plot affect them. And in this case, Johnny is quite passive and becomes even more passive. If anything, as the film progresses he becomes more of a recluse as a result of his episodes, which is a natural consequence and fits the story well. until about three quarters of the way in, But he is resisting this power, which is fueling his character growth as he rises to overcome what's happening to him. Typically, most of the main characters in a film are introduced in some way within the first 10 minutes or so, and at the start of the plot is also established here, along with the themes and characters goals and so forth. During this initial setup, however, there is no clean cut goal for our protagonist from the onset. Instead, the story develops and expands as we go along and its characters are introduced. As things unfold as Johnny's own fate comes into focus. This is perhaps a consequence of the fact that this film is a translation of a book which isn't necessarily written with the same structure. Yeah, absolutely. The pacing, even before reading the book, very much felt like book pacing. That almost could be the arcs could almost be three different movies. So definitely more episodic or feeling like different chapters, but it also is kind of all in tune with this, you know, hero's challenge sort of a thing. You know, it's really him first coming into the realization and slow, gradual acceptance of what's happening to him, which is very much passive and just kind of taking and learning. I'm beginning to understand his psychic gifts, seeing the power and burden of that. And then the last act is really when they go into this dilemma and this eventual sacrificial hero moment, it is a gradual and understanding development, considering all that he is kind of hit with in the beginning and has to come to terms with. And overall, I would say it overall worked with, for me, this kind of first getting into the acceptance and dilemma and rising to the challenge, it's really like that question a lot of what ifs. And what if this happened to you? How would you deal with that? How would you take this on? Would you help people? Would you like essentially sacrifice yourself as it slowly deteriorating him? But really, yeah, it is about that dilemma is can an assassin be the hero at the same time, sort of a thing. And if you knew of this great evil, which they liken to Hitler and you know, without a doubt that there will be catastrophic consequences, would you rise to that challenge? And is it right to rise to that challenge or do you not? There's no human have that power, no matter what they know. So, yeah, largely, I think it's a passive slow acceptance. And then just crippling sort of with that dilemma and what is best. it does take its toll on him and he does have to wrestle with the consequences of this against his own personal fate and the fact that nobody will ever understand what he's doing and will regard him as a nutjob for what he has to do. But the fact that he or rises up to do what needs to be done the sacrifice that he has to deal with And not that he has like a family or anything to give up the it just there's a certain lonely, powerful rooting factor that this gives him that makes you really feel for the guy. Yeah. since you have watched the film The Dead Zone first, did you go on to imagine Christopher Walken as John Smith while reading the book? Yeah, I tend to do that. If I am, sometimes I'll read a book first and then check out the adaptation. But I really usually you're happier with both if you experience the adaptation first and then then it's just like kind of going into a more fully realized connective universe of that characters and story that you already know. So it's almost just like diving in deeper to as to what you already know. But typically, yes, if I see certain actors first and then I read the source material, I usually will picture that actor when I write a screenplay. I commonly have a specific actor in mind and have trouble divorcing that person from the character in my mind. Thereafter you. So we're talking about my dream casting, which will never happen, or in some cases the actor will even pass away before the film ever becomes realized. Philip Seymour Hoffman was one that I wrote two pieces for, and I always imagined him. And then fine, you know, solid inspiration that kind of brings a character to life. As long as then, say, then you're actually you're filming it and you can't get that actor, then that's when it's important to kind of be willing to give someone else the chance to bring that to life. And it might be, you know, even even more fitting. The Dead Zone novel was written in 1979. It was Stephen King's seventh novel, but fifth under his own name. What was his other name, do you know? I do not off the top of my head. I just assumed you knew everything about Stephen King's lot of them still. So that man has written a lot of stuff in his life. He has. And still making my way through. But I know that sounds familiar, but I could. I couldn't tell you the name off the top of my head. Well, I was toying with the idea of reading it until I discovered it was 528 pages and said, Screw that. And then you texted me saying, Oh, look, he wrote a book and it's only 528 pages. And that took me back until you said his normal page count is more like a thousand. Something like that majority. Yeah, like Firestarter is around 500. But yeah, most o majority. Like I think it was over a thousand Hmm. for sure. Yeah. Well that was going to be my questions. If you felt satisfied with the story you were given here in this film, or if you would have inklings to dive deeper into the novel, I was going to ask you before you were to ask me that if the book was basic enough for me to read or if I would be to lost in the vocabulary, I don't know what his. I've never read a Stephen King book, so I don't know how he writes his style. If it's to esoteric or if it's more layman, like in its style, it's pretty layman. I mean, he has a lot of good commentary and a lot of his stuff is more definitely exploring fear and evil in this bigger sort of abstract way. But a bulk of it is also just like human emotion and struggling and grappling with mortality and like very just very human struggles, you know, is crippling a word or did just make that up grappling, crippling sounds not had all my coffee today. I'm sorry. that we're as a writer. I think should be entitled to make up our own words if they sound like they fit the context. So I will permit with it, being gripping So it's crippling works for me. Okay, well, but yeah, basically nothing like haunting of Hill House. His language, I feel like, is very easy to and relate to. And this I feel like this it is a pretty solid adaptation there are I think it just you go deeper into a lot of the characters and their perspectives and there is a bigger focus, a little bit of the political, but also the the dilemma with, you know, to the Greg Stillson character. And there's also there is also a part with his mother as being a bit of a religious extremist, which I think had some good exploration and kind of sort of like the harm in extremists thinking one way or another, which also kind of is aligned to the political aspect and sort of power and hunger that is kind of being fought. So I do think that there again, the film was very good and a lot for me, but when I read the book, it definitely hit me a lot harder and connected to me a lot more and offered a lot more understanding. without having read the source material, like I cannot declare how closely the film aligns with the book. But as we know from The Shining and other examples, things can depart wildly while still being good, or they can often spiral out of control into cheese. But I might read this. It is definitely my favorite. Stephen King movie, and somehow that gives me a fixed reference point to anchor to in trying to visualize the characters and what they're going through. But it does trip me up a little bit in that I hold the film as the standard, when in fact the book should be the standard by which the film is is based. So yeah, this whole reading thing, it's so new and wondrous and weird and time consuming. I, I was curious if you read the actual book or just listen to the audiobook. I say just with a hint of condescension. There, How dare you? And secondly, I did both. I had So I had the physical book. But then for, as you said, time consuming, it's you can be you can be doing other things as well. The book, the audiobook was read by James Franco, actually. He did a really good job with it. Oh, I would not think to just isolate his voice as is performance quality and just say, Oh, James Franco. I think the whole package would be James Franco, and then there wouldn't be anything more to that. But if he's if he's talented enough, there's no reason why you couldn't split it apart into just his vocal capabilities. That's that's weird. I was just watching a movie and not End of the World. It was with Jonah Hill, and this is the end. But yeah, Anyway, James Franco did the audiobook. The book and film are partially set in Castle Rock, a fictional town in Maine, which King often uses. And for me, that had a fun connective nature to many of King's other creations such as Cujo, Stand by Me and cameos in Doctor Sleep at the Stand Under the Dome. It's a sort of universal connection of this bigger universe of all the evil and just sort of kind of connective characters of everything that's King has built. And speaking of Castle Rock, did you ever watch the show Castle Rock on Hulu? I have not It's very, very good. But yeah, it's kind of it's kind of interesting just having this one. Granite It's a fictional place, very similar to where, you know, King grew up. So it kind of makes sense that he has not everything set there, but there's multiple characters. I kind of touch upon this place, but it sort of almost has become a representation of all his different sort of literary works coming together. Is that with the guy that was in Firefly II? So there's it's a bit of a you know, I have literally a laptop right in front of me with I am to be open. Why don't I a bit of an anthology. So season one totally different than season two. I actually both are very good, very different sort of season two I really love, which focuses more on Annie Wilkes when she was younger. So it has a very Missouri focus. But also there's at least two or other three compelling storylines just kind of really focusing on just kind of his his vision of sort of coming to terms with this darkness around you and how it shows itself in different ways and forms. Bill Skarsgard Yeah. He was in season one. He is is pretty great. I mean, he always is. But there was he definitely had a quality of it's a very complex, you know, without saying much as he had a very complex character where he showed really great range and mystery and numbness and darkness and fear in different moments. And this was made 2018 through 2019. So just two seasons. Unfortunately, second season was so good, but got canceled. But yeah, for anyone, whether by film or book, if you're a fan of King's work, it's sort of a great kind of culmination of exploring some of his work in beloved characters more, while also offering sort of a new exploration and identity because there are a lot of elements that aren't just taken is not definitely not a direct adaptation because of time periods, even totally different, even and the Annie Wilkes focus. But there are completely unique storylines and characters too. On Hulu, it says, and it is a J.J. Abrams collaboration. Interesting. There was a Dead Zone TV series starring Anthony Michael Hall of All People, which I think was pretty well-regarded and ran for six seasons on USA Network, starting in 2003. This was also produced in Canada. Interesting that this American based story has such a Canadian stamp on it with the film having been shot there as well, directed by a Canadian with even the TV series having been produced there. I watched the first three episodes for the first time recently, and what I saw felt pretty run of the mill and dated. If someone just showed you the first episode and asked you When was it made, you would immediately say 23 specifically 23. It's that dated, but you said you never heard of it. I had. And then I did watch the first two episodes just just to see. Yeah, the something about I don't know if it was the tone or direction wasn't sort of speaking to me as much. So there are just looking looking a little bit into the show and different episodes and some comparisons to the book. It seems like they they did have good intentions and there was a lot of things that they tried to tie into and explore. It is it seems like it got more police procedural sort of, which is one of my least favorite parts of television. And I just it just doesn't do a lot for me. But there were there definitely it seemed like it tried to tie into the book and original source material a lot while expanding and taking some things in a different direction. Just reading some, some some things on it look like it got a little almost treating Johnny a little bit more like a superhero because also it doesn't when he's helping people, it doesn't take the same toll on him that it does in other versions. yeah, it was, it was not especially great to me the first episode or two where they depicted scenes which were in the superior 1983 film. It did start pulling me in a little bit more, getting past that, but I can't speak to how how much better it gets later on though. If it persisted for six seasons, there probably was something to it. It had some sort of fan base driving it. And it's not uncommon for a show to need a season or two to really find itself. I think Star Trek The Next Generation was a good example, or even The Walking Dead a little bit. you said you never got past the first season of that either. No, not really. I, I think I watched the first episode of season two. I'm like, All right, give us one more chance. And I'm like, No, no, not pulling me in. So yeah, I just didn't I didn't really care about the characters. I think that was the biggest thing for me and like, I like the zombies, but I needed a bit more personally. But a lot of people really, really loved those characters and they were very much riveted by them. So again, I think there's a lot, especially with TV shows and long running TV shows, you have to like really feel connected either to the characters or just be so invested in the story. And that is a very subjective thing that really it's really just that personal experience. And what connects to you, that there are a lot of shows that I can see that and value what they're doing, but it just doesn't resonate with me personally. That's the part that shocks me the most. I'm I'm shook to my very core because it's specifically the characters in The Walking Dead that people that's the first thing they go on about is that it's not just a zombie show, it's the characters. You really get into an invested, I want? Justice, Zombie show, Don't downgrade the zombies, Well, I think it's both. And I actually felt a connection from the start. But it does pull you in and you know that the longer someone is exposed to that level of threat, the statistical odds of them surviving a long life diminish. and so you feel a greater tension, especially when those children being raised and so forth. yeah I don't I don't know how that went over your head or is just but I'm I'm appalled that the one thing that it's known for that everybody loves it for is the one thing you say it lacks or or at least doesn't mean anything to you the characters not I'm not saying these are horrible characters. I'm saying I was not interested in them. I was not engaged. I did not care if they lived or died. Well, then you were watching it wrong or a bad person entitled to your wrong opinion. whatever. I did experience my own sort of dead zone moments immediately following the movie recently, although it was perhaps closer to a Twilight Zone moment, since the dead zone is more of a premonition thing. Anyhow, I was actually watching the credits for it and I was reminded for some reason that Christopher Walken was in a film. I couldn't remember who was either the Marathon Man or The Deer Hunter, but I settled on it in my mind as being The Deer Hunter, which was from 9978. Anyways, with that in mind, before I go to bed every night, I tend to watch a little YouTube on my TV to wind down, and lately it's been food challenges like Lia shut Keva Katina eats kilos and most notably here beard meats, food. If you watched any of those Absolutely And I actually it zoom. Well, shame on you for that. any of these episodes, they might go to a restaurant and eat maybe a foot tall cheeseburger or a huge pizza or something. And they accomplished that food challenge, they get a T-shirt and their picture up on the wall of Fame, that sort of thing. And it's a different restaurant every time. And they all have a variety of different challenges that they do anyway, to make a short story long. forget his real name, but the bearded guy, he was in Canada and it was immediately after watching the dead zone on Blu ray that I switched the TV over to YouTube and watched an episode of Beard Meets Food, which was the first thing YouTube recommended being an episode that came out just that day. Now it starts off with a a drone shot saying, He's in Canada but he's British, and most of his content takes place in Britain. So that was a little unusual. Not too way up there of a coincidence, but the film I just watched was filmed in Canada by a prominent Canadian director, so it was starting to feel a little bit uncanny. then he pulls into this restaurant and get this. It's called the beer Hunter. And in the first 18 seconds of the video, he says, I wonder if this is a reference to the Christopher Walken film, The Deer Hunter from the Seventies. Now, that's kind of the end of the story, I don't think it means anything. But it was super uncanny. After watching The Dead Zone, I switch over to YouTube and the first thing I click on I go from a Christopher Walken film to an immediate Christopher Walken reference, all in the span of 30 seconds. And what are the odds of him bringing up such an obscure or Christopher Walken film from 45 years ago? I was just thinking about all while in Canada. And it's not even like The Deer Hunter is a Canadian thing. I looked it up and that movie takes place in Clairton, Pennsylvania. Isn't your mind blown right now? Oh, yes. I don't know. You know, I guess the Walken's everywhere and you can look up the episode was on August 8th, 2023, though he does give a major spoiler for The Deer Hunter when he talks about it. So just to warn you there, and actually, a few days later, the Deer Hunter came up as a new, new release on Netflix. I don't think that's like, you know, mind blowing in itself. It's like when you when you come up with an idea for a story, you think, oh, this a good idea for a story. And then you start seeing that, oh, that, that movie's already in production or, or it's already been made a bunch of times and it's sort of just a phenomenon that happens. But yeah, your jaw hasn't dropped to the degree that I thought it would. I'm vaguely disappointed about that, but I'm sure those listening are completely blown away definitely eerie area coincidences or more I don't know As she yawns. Well, they don't have any similar stories of your own of life. Convergences that are uncanny. I have a few others, but I won't get into them. I'll save them for future episodes. But the sort of thing has happened to me a few times. Yeah. Nothing too significant that I can point out as far as an eerie intuition or things happening upon thoughts coming into my mind. So I guess that's all you. You're the one with that second sense I'm special. the visions in the film, While most do feel very grounded, there is a supernatural intuition that kind of gives us a touch of that mystical force. It offers a powerful question of the responsibility and true nature of knowing things. No one should be able to. Beyond that, the nature of how Johnny experiences and learns these things is both very connective and torturous. Not many people can say they truly can empathize and understand someone else's pain or fear. Here they experience this as if he is that person being taken to a child's burning bed, for example, feeling that terror and fire, often feeling that before they do it takes a physical toll on him to have these visions, making helping others come at a high price. Even if that weren't the case, it's a traumatic life to live, to constantly be thrown and experience a new type of agony again and again, knowing it will be someone's reality if he doesn't step in Well, there are certainly themes here that are core motifs of both Stephen King and Cronenberg's usual type of work. In many ways, it is a departure of what they're most well known for, it sounds like, at least for King possibly Cronenberg, that this is one that is more memorable in their body of work. How do you feel It kind of either represents or compares with their other work? I feel like it transcends what people typically consider to be horror into more drama. with a strong human element. I think just as a movie, it actually is kind of hard to categorize what to to box it in as as genre wise. But I think it's I just love the movie and it's weird because it's not paced like a michael Bay film or anything. It's actually pretty slow, but that's more a symptom, I think, of the era I'm constantly immersed throughout. I don't get bored. The appearance of Walken reminds me of a phone call of mine when I was a kid. An uncle is a fake uncle, someone who's not biologically related to you, but you still call him uncle. Whatever. I actually have several friends. Why is beyond me? But they'll introduce me to their kid and they know it's Uncle Steve. And I'm like, Really? I'm not like a kid dude at all. Like a big responsibility. Now, Yeah, it's almost like a godfather or something. Like, okay, But it's almost like they want me so bad to be their uncle. And God, I hate kids. I mean, I don't hate all of them, but they tend to be a bit much for me to deal with as far as their activity levels and degrees of irrationality and just, I'm not painting a good picture myself here. I'll stop talking. But yeah. So he reminds me of my my, my uncle Lee. And so maybe part of my affinity for the film and the character is just that he reminds me of of of Lee, So kind of going off that you have a film or something that you created that you feel might be a similar departure that still allowed yourself to stretch how you could explore a given theme or favorite story elements, and if not, what would be a dream project would allow you to make your own departure while creating something that was a connective piece to your artistic palette. I tend to stick with horror and supernatural thrillers, but I did write a romantic comedy in fact I just finished it yesterday. something I wrote like 12 years ago, but then reworked recently. It's called But Ugly, and it's about the problems of being too ugly. Meet the problems of being too beautiful. And there's nothing horrific in there at all. There's it gets rather epic. And so forth. But the connective tissue to me is that even when I'm doing something with horror, I like to have a scene, at least at the climax, which is very inspiring or powerful. And I love that over whelming feeling when a film like Rocky or or Top Gun Maverick or something, it just makes you feel like, Oh, that I just walk away wanting to like, do something with my life. That's very inspiring and it just makes you feel jazzed and I don't think there's any genre that couldn't have that applied to including horror. But I would say that my my rom com, which is really it's like do horror or romantic comedies, you couldn't get too diametrically opposed. What about you? there's something you're in that came out recently, right? What's that? Oh, yeah, the Amityville Moon small role. But on Peacock. So it's cool. Yeah. Directed by Thomas J. Churchill. So yeah, that was a very fun I want I don't know how much they want to be revealed about it, so I'll keep it brief. But in the, the cover is fairly obvious that it's a werewolf slasher of sorts. So yeah, check it out if that's up your alley. Are there any other points that we wanted to bring up? I is the superior show to Walking Dead. Damn you. I did watch the first two seasons of that and I did enjoy it. Okay. Wow. That's that's actually that's surprising, but that's great. I heard that it's a very close, if not utter rip off of another like a comic or something. And I lost some respect for it. adaptation of there's it's a I they even reference it in like the opening titles that it's all an AI zombie like it's literally called Die Zombie is the comic. It's not a rip off. It's an adaptation. It might be that or it might be that the zombie comic was a rip off of some other thing that was very close. I'm I'm saying this as hearsay. I heard. I think it was comic book girl 19 mentioned it on one of her podcasts but very possible I'm not. I claim to be a comic book expert, but even I did read I think it was the first, at least the first edition of the I zombie comic book that showed like the origins kind of set the tone. And even I would say this show probably took more inspiration than anything that a it's a zombie somewhat functioned in or, you know, slipping under the radar. If she feeds and everything who works in a morgue, that's really the main thing. Like I don't know, other like really storylines or everything else was pretty much like created in the show. It's very clever. And the way she prepares, her brain related meals is also very funny every single thing she would make, I'm like, Oh, it looks delicious. It's mouthwatering. Yes. The lead actress, what's her name, Do you remember? Oh, yes. I again, I've got a laptop right in front of me, but I can't be bothered to look her up. I just saw I'm. I'm blanking, and I. But I. I just saw her. And do you ever watch either the British or American show Ghost? No, it when I first I. I've watched both now and fall. It's definitely more of a comedy but the setting sort of reminded me of the haunting of Hill House. If the ghosts were all actually friendly and just they cover everything from like cavemen or Viking kind of era ghosts to, you know, 1990s sort of Wall Street sort of go. So it's like just the different type of characters and their awareness of things that were present in their life versus the modern day. But basically her, her and her husband inherit this old house and they decide to make it into a bed and breakfast and something happens where she's able to see the ghosts, but her husband can't. So this is the first living person that they've been able to, like, communicate. So it's there is some sort of spooky elements, but it's it's definitely more of a quirky comedy, unlikely sort of family as they all kind of you kind of get to learn and grow and love the characters for their different sort of centric personalities and how they all sort of work together. But it has like some it has some good heart and comedy more than anything else. But she is the lead character in that show, too. That reminds me of that. I think the movie's called Ghost with Patrick Swayze. He isn't like when he's able to communicate with somebody, Whoopi Goldberg, and they're able to do some adventures. I never saw it. Yeah. I think the main difference because she, I think they could communicate but in that movie she can't see him but him kind of like the dead zone where he has a near death experience and has his new powers. But as far as iZombie, it's rose more clever, more. And I think it's I McIvor it looks like a lowercase l let me double check. I can't tell if this is a lowercase l or an uppercase I rose m car, but if you look at her, doesn't she look like Amanda from our Frankenstein film? Oh, yeah. Yeah. There's definitely a resemblance. That's who she reminds me of. guy like her. She's a good actor. She has some good and some good range, Especially definitely in zombie taking, like the different personalities of who's brains that she had. Like, she handled that very well. But anyways, dead zone. dead zone, any Other final remarks, I would recommend diving into this one way or another whether it's film page or the show I guess. But yeah, more than anything it's just a really examination on just kind of this plaguing what ifs and sort of a conversation of how fleeting one's life can be in some ways and the impact that you can have and others. But at what cost? And maybe that cost is worth it. Definitely themes of fate and one's place in it and one's control over fates and one's purpose in life. So lots of interesting themes, very rich story, and I highly recommend If you would like to join our Society of Grotesquerie and Loathing, subscribe now and give this podcast a like and be sure to comment your wretched thoughts below. Keep our podcast suffering on by finding it in your cold, black withered hearts to support us on Patriot on A link to our PayPal is also below for one time donations of any amount. It was nice knowing you