The release of “The Long Walk,” a dystopian horror movie that came out in theaters on Sept. 12, was perfectly timed. It seems like there’s no better month than September to really dive into the horror genre — although the scariest scenes from “The Long Walk” are not the gory moments, but those that depict the violent control of a totalitarian regime.
The film is adapted from Stephen King’s novel, which was published in 1979 under the name Richard Bachman, a pseudonym King used early in his career.
The book is set in an alternate future of the U.S. where 100 boys are selected by lottery to walk for as long as it takes to outlast all of their competitors. The champion is rewarded with enormous wealth or anything they may wish for. But, fall below a pace of four miles per hour, and the supervising militants will shoot until the competitor drops dead.
The movie scales back slightly, drawing 50 boys to compete — one from each state — and also pares down the backstory of the protagonist.
Actor Cooper Hoffman stars as Raymond Garraty or Number 47 — a young man from Maine intent on winning to make a point about the government’s suffocating grip on commoners.
Unlike horror films like “Friday the 13th” or “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” the characters do not turn on each other. They urge each other to keep walking, often dragging their stumbling competitor along until they collapse.
Competing in his home state, Garraty is the only character who has family appear on the sidelines during the walk, building his emotional stress as well as physical stress to keep up his pace.
Yet, “The Long Walk” falls short in creating a rounded character that the audience is inclined to root for. Each death only somewhat strikes a chord because viewers are exposed to each character’s vulnerabilities with just a couple lines each, which are blink-and-you’ll-miss-it details that are not given space to breathe.
The gaps in Garraty’s character are evident to fans of the book; his devotion to his girlfriend is a key motivation for Garraty in the novel, but her character ceases to exist in the movie.
The only emotional depth carrying the film is the friendships created between the final few boys. Each shot propels the viewer with a constant drive forward, augmented by the tracking camera shots that move with the characters.
The movie heightens the boys’ anger toward the militants, also strengthened by the friendships that form between them. The enemy isn’t the physical toll of the walk or the stamina of one’s competitors; it’s the unnerving ease in which the militants kill the contestants and the glee expressed by government officials as the competition dwindles.
Throughout the movie, shots of eerily idyllic farm life break up the constant movement of the contestants. Onlookers have the stillness of statues; the quiet serenity on their faces is far more disturbing than any violent slasher flick.
Before King had made a name for himself among horror fans with books like “It” and “Cujo” depicting fear and graphic death, he wrote “The Long Walk” as a psychological thriller that builds anxiety as we become more familiar with the stakes for Garraty.
King was an executive producer for the film, which gave me peace of mind that the movie would do justice to the book. Aside from lacking emotional complexity, the film’s last scene brings clarity to the novel’s vague ending, a smart move to cater better to film audiences. With a clear winner, the film version of “The Long Walk” is an enduring story of a horrific competition that seems just a little too real.
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