Does anyone out there remember They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? That 1969 film was based on a 1935 novel by Horace McCoy, inspired by the bizarre Depression-era craze of dance marathons. Slick entrepreneurs would hire out a ballroom or auditorium and cash customers would root for the couples who tried to stay upright on the dance floor for hours and days on end. I don’t know if that real-life fad sparked an idea in Stephen King’s head or not, but it’s the only movie I can think of that offers a point of comparison to The Long Walk, which was adapted from his early novel. (It was published under his pen name, Richard Bachman.) The new film, directed by Francis Lawrence and written by JT Mollner, takes place…READ MORE >