6. Rage (1977)
Why It Should Be A Movie.... Perhaps the most controversial work in Stephen King's canon, written when he was just 19-years-old and later published under the name Richard Bachman,
Rage tells the story of Charlie Decker, a high school student who goes into class one day, shoots his teacher at point blank range, and takes his class captive, forcing them into a twisted game of show and tell where they must all admit their true feelings for one another. It's a real page-turner, dramatic, dark, sad and strange all at once, and it would make for a relevant and taut thriller, given it was adapted with respect.
Why It Never Will Be... Well, that's it, isn't it?
School shooting. It's a movie that potentially glamourises student killing sprees, made worse by the fact that a copy of
Rage was once found in the locker of a kid who committed a real-life high school shooting. The fact that King asked for this book to fall out of publication also pretty much guarantees that this one will never see the light of day on the big screen, though - considering how candid and truthful and even painful the story is - I do consider that to be a shame.
Rage is controversial, but it's also an intelligent book that deals with the idea of a disillusioned youth, disturbed and twisted by the absurdities of life and growing up.