Movie Review: Stephen King's Thinner (1996)

Thinner is a 1996 horror film directed by Tom Holland. The film is an adaptation of Stephen King's novel under the same name. Thinner was never one of Stephen King's best hits. In fact, King wrote the novel under his pen name Richard Bachman. The book isn't bad, but it didn't reach the fame and iconic success and status that books like Carrie and Misery did. That being said, Thinner is a thought provoking movie. The film stars Robert John Burke, Joe Mantegna, Lucinda Jenney, and Michael Constantine to name just a few. Thinner tells the story of a man named Billy who after accidentally killing a gypsy woman with his car, is tracked down by the father and the gypsy father puts a curse on him. One that causes Billy to gradually lose weight until he is nothing....or "erased" as Billy says it. Thinner is a movie that up until today I'd not seen since middle school. When I saw it then I thought it was a great movie. When I saw it now, I realized many more flaws, but I actually do like this movie. Thinner is sort of a guilty pleasure for me. The movie isn't downright awful and yes it does have boring scenes sprinkled throughout, but I really think there are some good scenes in here. Not to mention the tone of this movie. You get this very dark and mysterious feel and for fans of the horror genre, they will appreciate this. Yes, the acting is all very over the top (especially from our lead) and there are scenes that get far too melodramatic. I recognize all of those things, but as a die-hard Stephen King fan I actually enjoyed most of this film. The one thing about this movie that bothers me (and plenty other people and critics) are how no character in this film is innocent except for Billy's daughter Linda. Everybody is corrupt in this film and I don't know how I feel about that. To make a character lack good morals you need to have them be likeable in one way or another. The characters in this film aren't all that likeable and that to me is often where this film falters. The characters are people we don't root for. Don't get me wrong though, I think this movie is a little unfairly treated by critics. It's kind of been overshadowed in the last twenty years and while I do see what the critiques were talking about...I think this movie is actually better than it's got credit for. Solely because the story is there and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the plot. It's how this movie is done that sort of makes more faults come through. I'd highly recommend watching Stephen King's Thinner if you're a fan of Stephen King, a horror fan, or just want an entertaining and suspenseful time. Overall, Thinner is a mixed bag of elements, but I actually like this movie and respect it as a work of Stephen King and as a guilty pleasure. Two stars