Liked ‘The Long Walk’? Here Are 6 Other Horror Movies Featuring Deadly Competitions
In a grim parallel to game shows and reality TV, a large part of what makes horror movies so much fun is how they allow us to root for our favorite characters as they try to make it out alive of terrifying predicaments. That’s why it makes sense that the genre is naturally well suited […]
In a grim parallel to game shows and reality TV, a large part of what makes horror movies so much fun is how they allow us to root for our favorite characters as they try to make it out alive of terrifying predicaments. That’s why it makes sense that the genre is naturally well suited for storylines involving deadly competitions where an ensemble of desperate victims must fight for the ultimate prize: their own lives.
And with Francis Lawrence’s long-awaited adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk (originally published as a Richard Bachmann novel) now playing in theaters, we thought that it might be fun to highlight six other deadly competitions in horror movies as a way of honoring the ill-fated teenagers embarking on this nightmarish road-trip.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll only be considering literal games and competitions where characters are forced to compete against one other, so no pseudo-trials like those in the Saw Franchise where characters are simply being given a small chance to escape a gadget-induced murder. We also won’t be including Battle Royale on this list as every genre fan should have seen Kinji Fukasaku‘s classic by now!
That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite deadly competitions if you think we missed particularly memorable one.
With that out of the way, onto the list…
6. Stay Alive (2006)
The premise of “if you die in the game, you die in real life” feels like it’s been around since the dawn of time, but despite what your gut may tell you, the phrase itself only dates back to 2006 when it was used to market the overly maligned horror film . While this trashy thriller was promoted as a video game , director William Brent Bell turned the project into one of the few genuine B-movies of the 2000s.
