Thinner (1996)

October 25, 1996 (US) • Fantasy, Horror • 92m

Overview

An obese lawyer finds himself growing "Thinner" when an old Romani man places a hex on him. Now the lawyer must call upon his friends in organized crime to help him persuade the old man to lift the curse. Time is running out for the desperate lawyer as he draws closer to his own death, and grows ever thinner.

Director

Tom Holland

Writers

Tom Holland, Stephen King, Michael McDowell

Top Billed

Robert John Burke

Keywords

based on novel or book curse fat suit disturbed body horror

Where to watch

Free / Included

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Top Billed Cast

Robert John Burke

Billy Halleck

Michael Constantine

Tadzu Lempke

Lucinda Jenney

Heidi Halleck

Kari Wührer

Gina Lempke

John Horton

Cary Rossington

Sam Freed

Mike Houston

Daniel von Bargen

Duncan Hopley

Joe Mantegna

Richie Ginelli

Elizabeth Franz

Leda Rossington

Walter Bobbie

Kirk Penschley

Bethany Joy Lenz

Linda Halleck

Time Winters

Prosecutor

Howard Erskine

Judge Phillips

Terrence Garmey

Bailiff

Randy Jurgensen

Court Clerk

Jeffrey Ware

Max Duggenfield

Antonette Schwartzberg

Mama Ginelli

Terrence Kava

Gabe Lempke

Adriana Delphine

Gypsy Woman

Ruth Miller

Billy's Secretary

Irma St. Paule

Suzanne Lempke

Stephen King

Pharmacist

Patrick Farrelly

Henry Halliwell

Bridget Marks

Ginelli Bar Girl

Mitch Greenberg

Male Clinic Doctor

Angela Pietropinto

Female Clinic Doctor

Michael Kevin Walker

Clinic Waiter

Ed Wheeler

Detective Deevers

Peter Maloney

Biff Quigley

Robert Fitch

Flash Enders

Sean Hewitt

DR Fander

Josh Holland

Frank Spurton

Allelon Ruggiero

Delivery Boy

Crew

Michael Q. Martin

Post Production Supervisor

Mitchell Galin

Producer

Kees Van Oostrum

Director of Photography

Tom Holland

Screenplay

Marc Laub

Editor

Stephen King

Novel

Tom Holland

Director

Richard P. Rubinstein

Producer

Sean McCarron

Second Assistant Director

Ha Nguyen

Costume Design

Stephen F. Kesten

Unit Production Manager

Michael Green

First Assistant Director

Laurence Bennett

Production Design

Leonard Finger

Casting

Stephen F. Kesten

Executive Producer

Michael McDowell

Screenplay

Bud Davis

Stunt Coordinator

Joey Box

Stunts

Joie Chitwood Jr.

Stunts

Jay Caputo

Stunts

Tony Guida

Stunts

Kristi Frankenheimer

Stunts

Scott Hersh

Makeup Artist

Michael Haynes

Stunts

Nicholas Bernstein

Location Manager

Tricia Ronten

Script Supervisor

Randy Jurgensen

Associate Producer

Jay Meagher

Production Sound Mixer

Michael M. Krevitt

First Company Grip

Chuck Parker

Art Direction

Mike Moyer

Chief Lighting Technician

Stephen Collins

Camera Operator

Stephen Collins

Steadicam Operator

Dustin A. Huber

Electrician

Thomas Wazney

Second Company Grip

Bernie Pock

Stunts

Al Lieberman

Rigging Grip

Joseph E. Bates

Grip

Lynn Salvatori

Stunts

Charles W. Wayt

Dolly Grip

Erik Stabenau

Stunts

David Burnett

Assistant Chief Lighting Technician

A. Welch Lambeth

Associate Producer

Brad Orrison

Stunts

Ken Estes

Special Effects Coordinator

Fred Cramer

Special Effects

Cheryl Cravedi

Costumer

Linda Lazar

Makeup Artist

Christopher J. Kristoff

Assistant Costume Designer

Shawna Callahan

First Assistant Editor

Janice Hampton

Additional Editing

Thomas Floutz

Sculptor

Robert Eli Bodford Jr.

Costume Supervisor

Evan A. Lottman

Additional Editing

Gerald Donlan

Dialogue Editor

Louis Bertini

Dialogue Editor

Thomas A. Gulino

Dialogue Editor

James Kagel

Sculptor

Miles Teves

Sculptor

Charlie Vogel

Post Production Supervisor

Billy Myatt

Special Effects

Louis Cerborino

First Assistant Editor

William A. Kohout

Assistant Hairstylist

Pam DeMetruis-Thomas

ADR Editor

Pete Anthony

Orchestrator

Yvette Nabel

Foley Editor

David Bondelevitch

Music Editor

Harriet Fidlow

ADR Editor

Michael W. Mitchell

Assistant Sound Editor

Robert Garrett

Music Editor

Anne Pope

Assistant Sound Editor

Mark Kilian

Music Editor

Stan Bochner

Sound Effects Editor

Hal Levinsohn

Sound Effects Editor

Jon Kull

Orchestrator

Timothy Pearson

Foley Artist

Frank Morrone

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Paul Zydel

ADR Mixer

Shari Johanson

Music Editor

Pamela Kahn

Foley Artist

Sherry Klein

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Warren Kleiman

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Jill Schachne

Foley Artist

Joseph Kearney

Construction Coordinator

Celest Ray

Music Supervisor

Robert Draper

Second Unit Director of Photography

Robert Martini

Transportation Captain

Russell Davis

Picture Car Coordinator

Stephen R. Sheridan

Color Timer

Gary Burritt

Negative Cutter

Lisa M. Rowe

Second Second Assistant Director

Vebe Borge

Second Unit Director

Morgan Neville

Assistant Editor

Vincent J. Guastini

Special Effects Makeup Artist

Stewart Sperling

First Assistant Editor

Daniel Licht

Original Music Composer

Greg Cannom

Special Effects Makeup Artist

Neal Martz

Makeup Department Head

Nina Bradford

Set Decoration

Neil Toussaint

Second Assistant Camera

Peggy Nicholson

Hair Department Head

Richard Q. King

Supervising Sound Editor

Chris Miller

Costumer

Monette Holderer

Foley Artist

R. Anthony Grippo

Camera Loader

Randall J. Smith

Boom Operator

Bob Edmenson

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Steven D. Romeiro

Special Effects

Candice Johnson

Assistant Sound Editor

Onofrio Nino Pansini

First Assistant Camera

Tim Chilton

Foley Artist

Karen True

Extras Casting

Stephen Earnhart

Sound Effects Editor

Robert Nichols II

Sound Recordist

Larry Goodwin

Foley Mixer

Aldo Antonelli

Additional Camera

Carmine Rubino

Foley Mixer

Robert Laden

Special Effects Makeup Artist

Carolyn White

Production Supervisor

Reviews

tmdb76622195

⭐ 8/10

September 28, 2023

Stephen King's novel, written under the name Richard Bachman, makes a successful transition to the screen. Billy (Robert John Burke) is a highly successful defense attorney, getting an acquittal for known mobster Richie (Joe Mantegna). He is trying to diet, topping the scales at three hundred pounds. One night while driving home, Heidi (Lucinda Jenney), Billy's wife, begins fooling around in the car with him while he is driving. In the throes of passion, Billy does not see an elderly gypsy woman crossing the street, runs over her, and kills her. The judge and police chief conspire to cover the crime up, and the death is ruled accidental. That does not sit well with the old woman's even older father, Lempke (Michael Constantine), who brushes Billy's cheek and whispers the title of the film. Soon, Billy is dropping three or four pounds a day. He seems to be disappearing before everyone's eyes, but concern sets in. He is eating twelve thousand calories a day, still losing weight, and now Heidi and his doctor (Sam Freed) are spending a little too much time together. Billy decides to track down the gypsies, especially after hearing and witnessing others in on the conspiracy were cursed as well, and he mistakenly enlists Richie to help him.

Greg Cannom's special effects make-up is phenomenal. He has won Oscars in the past, and he should have won again for this film. Burke is totally believable going from 300 to 124 pounds in the span of the story. It helps that Burke's performance is as flawless as his make-up. He does not let all that latex and rubber get in the way, and goes from sympathetic to slightly deranged rather well. Jenney is also good as Heidi, although her character is often relegated to the "supportive wife" routine. The first hour of the film is very suspenseful. Billy is chasing the gypsies, and the authorities are chasing him. However, the film's biggest flaw was also the novel's biggest flaw- letting the convenient mob friend Richie help get revenge on the gypsies. Mantegna is one of those great actors who never receives his just credit, but here his character is just a caricature of mob types Mantegna has played before especially on "The Simpsons"- try listening to Mantegna and not hearing Fat Tony. Holland's direction keeps things fresh, he shockingly shot this on location in Maine instead of fleeing to Canada like most Hollywood films, but the screenplay feels rushed most of the time. I wonder if this would have made a more effective transition to mini-series form, something King has done before. I was surprised by "Thinner." Considering what some film makers have done to King's work, it is a better adaptation when put in that context. Strongly anchored by believable make-up and gore effects, and a fantastic central performance, I recommend it.

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