Book-to-movie adaptations often get lost in the shuffle, but somehow the 1996 film “Thinner” suffers none of this, and is an excellent rendition of one of Stephen King’s more macabre stories. King actually wrote the story under the pseudonym ‘Richard Bachman,’ though I don’t know why; fusing elements of revenge and justice with curses, voodoo, and family strife, “Thinner” was one of King’s best. And Tom Holland, Director of such cult horror as the original “Fright Night” knows how to take the story from page to screen. This is not a perfect film, but one that is adequately creepy, and manages to keep intact the many parallel layers from King’s book in the process.
Robert John Burke (“Robocop 3”) plays the film’s main character, Billy Halleck, an obese lawyer who runs over an old gypsy woman one night as he and his wife are driving home. A crooked judge and a corrupt official help him get off the hook for the crime, that is until the dead woman’s father (Michael Constantine), curses Billy outside the courthouse steps. ‘Thinner’ he whispers; Billy writes it off as nonsense until he begins losing 2-3 pounds every day despite shoveling his face full of food. Learning the other two who helped with the cover-up have been cursed as well, Billy attempts to find the wandering gypsy to take off the curse before it’s too late.
The production value for “Thinner” honestly suffers a bit, as the film’s set pieces don’t pass the realism test, but somehow the film is not worse for it. For example, Halleck’s obesity is clearly displayed with a fat suit (and one has to question why a shower scene was inserted into the film, where some of the suit’s limited special effects become apparent), as well as somewhat unrealistic make-up that is used to show the curse’s effects on his two cohorts.
However, somehow the film is lent a chilling atmosphere, as the detail given to the characters more than makes up for its limited special effects. “Thinner” is not a simple retribution tale, as there are elements lurking beneath the surface that Halleck’s curse brings to light, especially the more he suffers. The macabre effect the curse has on him, especially as he drops from 300 lbs to a startling, gaunt 140, is heightened by the increasing disdain he harbors for his wife Heidi (Lucinda Jenney). To give away the reason for his contempt is to take away one of the more sinister elements of the story, which I will not do. Suspicions, accusations, and bitter resentments begin to line Billy’s actions, resentments that are not helped by his wife’s (along with a doctor, played by Sam Reed) decision to institutionalize him to a medical clinic. It turns out no one believes Billy when he tells them his weight loss is the result of a curse.
What makes “Thinner” a wonderful exercise in horror is the host of characters it brings to the table, and the disbelieving way that Billy slowly comes to terms with his condition. In expert storytelling, the film’s curses are insinuated, and not shown until absolutely necessary. Burke does an expert job bringing Halleck to life – not an innocent man being punished for an accident, but a somewhat unscrupulous man who reacts with venom to the things that have happened to him. First writing his curse off to stress, or, God-forbid even cancer, it isn’t until his cheeks start to sink in that the severity of the his condition starts to take hold.
The acting in the film is great, featuring chilling performances from Burke, Jenney, Bethany Joe Lenz (as Halleck’s daughter Linda), and a great Joe Mantenga who plays the mobster Richie Ginelli. Additionally, Constantine brings a sinister life to the gypsy Tadzu Lemke, seen especially well toward the film’s conclusion and one dream-like sequence. The film’s settings are also convincing and eerie, such as a traveling carnival that is the gypsy’s home as well the inside of the Halleck home as resentment builds throughout the film.
What is interesting about “Thinner,” as with many of King’s stories, is the events of the film almost exist to bring out the Halleck’s family dysfunction, rather than the dysfunction stemming from the events themselves. True to King form, the film’s proceedings are ghastly, and about so much more than a gypsy curse. It’s no more evident than in the film’s brilliant conclusion, where a simple, harmless set piece invokes more horror than a million decapitated limbs ever could. King fans shouldn’t miss this one; but most others probably won’t regret it either.
– by Mark Ziobro
