20 Socially Conscious Horror Movies
By Jenn Reid
The Dead Zone (1983)
The Issue: War-hungry politicians
The Movie:
Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) is a schoolteacher in Castle Rock, Maine (yes this is a Stephen King joint). He’s on a date with his co-worker when he gets a headache and leaves to go home. He gets into a car accident and awakens from a coma five years later. His date, Sarah, is now married to someone else with a child.
But Johnny has bigger problems — namely, he can see the past, present and future of anyone he touches. He sees a nurse’s daughter trapped in a fire, a reporter’s sister committing suicide, and more. Rumours fly across town about Johnny’s gift and people start to come around for his help, including a sheriff with a murder case. Johnny reluctantly agrees to help and sees the sheriff’s deputy is guilty, and the deputy kills himself. Caught in the crossfire, he leaves town, hoping for a fresh start.
As a result, he goes to visit Sarah, who is working on the campaign of politician Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen). Johnny has a vision of Stillson becoming President and ordering a nuclear strike against Russia that has devastating consequences. He thinks his only choice to save future lives is to kill Stillson now. Although he takes a rifle and attempts to shoot at Stillson during a campaign event, he misses as Stillson uses Sarah’s baby as a human shield. Johnny is shot by a security guard and is worried he failed, until an angry Stillson grabs him in a confrontation. Johnny has a vision of a new future, where Stillson is photographed using the baby as a shield and it ends his political career.
What It’s Saying:
This movie has been referenced about a half dozen times in the months leading up to (and immediately after) the U.S. presidential election — Is Greg Stillson basically Trump? This movie showed how a charismatic yet unhinged politician could bring about the destruction of the world.