SOURCE: “An Anatomy of Melancholy: Cronenberg’s Dead Zone,” in Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol. 27, No. 4, Winter, 1992–93, pp. 169–79.

In the following essay, Beard provides an in-depth analysis of The Dead Zone, placing it within the context of Cronenberg's other works.

With the exception of some discomfort experienced by those speaking for high culture, scarcely anyone disputes any longer that David Cronenberg is an artistic presence in this country. Still, between the continuing reluctance of traditionalists to make a place in the pantheon for anyone whose principal identifying feature is the habit of depicting gooey inner body parts, and the emphasis of truly Canadian cinema partisans on a more culturally pure, less commercial genre, Cronenberg does not actually fit anywhere very comfortably. The truth of the matter is that he is at this moment arguably the best and most important filmmaker working in English Canada, and that he is...