Fantasy

Horror

Thinner

Spelling Films

Richard P. Rubinstein Productions

United States of America

English

Robert John Burke

Michael Constantine

Lucinda Jenney

Kari Wührer

John Horton

Sam Freed

Daniel von Bargen

Joe Mantegna

Elizabeth Franz

Walter Bobbie

Bethany Joy Lenz

Time Winters

Howard Erskine

Terrence Garmey

Randy Jurgensen

Jeffrey Ware

Antonette Schwartzberg

Terrence Kava

Adriana Delphine

Ruth Miller

Irma St. Paule

Stephen King

Patrick Farrelly

Bridget Marks

Mitch Greenberg

Angela Pietropinto

Michael Kevin Walker

Ed Wheeler

Peter Maloney

Robert Fitch

Sean Hewitt

Josh Holland

Allelon Ruggiero

Michael Q. Martin

Tom Holland

Marc Laub

Kees Van Oostrum

Richard P. Rubinstein

Mitchell Galin

Michael Green

Stephen F. Kesten

Sean McCarron

Ha Nguyen

Leonard Finger

Bud Davis

Laurence Bennett

Michael McDowell

Joey Box

Kristi Frankenheimer

Jay Caputo

Joie Chitwood Jr.

Tony Guida

Chuck Parker

Erik Stabenau

Bernie Pock

Thomas Wazney

Joseph E. Bates

Scott Hersh

Charles W. Wayt

Tricia Ronten

Nicholas Bernstein

Michael M. Krevitt

Michael Haynes

Brad Orrison

Lynn Salvatori

Mike Moyer

Al Lieberman

Jay Meagher

A. Welch Lambeth

Stephen Collins

David Burnett

Dustin A. Huber

Evan A. Lottman

Louis Bertini

Gerald Donlan

Thomas A. Gulino

Miles Teves

Christopher J. Kristoff

Louis Cerborino

Charlie Vogel

Thomas Floutz

Janice Hampton

Shawna Callahan

William A. Kohout

Ken Estes

Billy Myatt

Robert Eli Bodford Jr.

Linda Lazar

Fred Cramer

James Kagel

Cheryl Cravedi

Harriet Fidlow

Yvette Nabel

Hal Levinsohn

Michael W. Mitchell

Pam DeMetruis-Thomas

Pete Anthony

Stan Bochner

Jon Kull

Mark Kilian

David Bondelevitch

Robert Garrett

Anne Pope

Pamela Kahn

Sherry Klein

Jill Schachne

Frank Morrone

Timothy Pearson

Warren Kleiman

Shari Johanson

Paul Zydel

Joseph Kearney

Stephen R. Sheridan

Russell Davis

Gary Burritt

Celest Ray

Robert Martini

Robert Draper

Lisa M. Rowe

Vebe Borge

Morgan Neville

Carolyn Jean White

Greg Cannom

Larry Goodwin

Daniel Licht

Nina Bradford

Chris Miller

Tim Chilton

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.

Official Trailer

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Thinner

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Robert John Burke

Michael Constantine

Lucinda Jenney

Kari Wührer

John Horton

Sam Freed

Daniel von Bargen

Joe Mantegna

Elizabeth Franz

Walter Bobbie

Box office

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