Thinner

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tom Holland directs. Kees Van Oostrum behind the camera. Daniel Licht scores. Marc Laub cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 130 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 2Directed by Tom Holland, shot by Kees Van Oostrum. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Daniel Licht. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Editor Marc Laub shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Robert John Burke and Michael Constantine and Lucinda Jenney carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "Let the curse fit the crime.".
• 7IMDB entry: tt0117894 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Kees Van Oostrum

Original score

Daniel Licht

Editing

Marc Laub

Production design

Laurence Bennett

Costume design

Ha Nguyen

Makeup / hair

Scott Hersh

Sound

Sherry Klein

Stunt coordinator

Bud Davis

Runtime

92 min · 1h 32m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$8,000,000

Box office

$15,315,484

Return

191% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Thinner (1996) ↗

Also by

Tom Holland

• 
  Tales from the Crypt

  1989 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Eerie, Indiana

  1991 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Amazing Stories

  1985 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Masters of Horror

  2005 · ★ 7.1
• 
  Fright Night

  1985 · ★ 7.0
• 
  Child's Play

  1988 · ★ 6.8

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• tmdb766221952023-09-28
  ★ 8/10

  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.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Spelling Films

  US

• RI

  Richard P. Rubinstein Productions

  US

Key crew

• Post Production SupervisorMichael Q. Martin
• EditorMarc Laub
• NovelStephen King
• ProducerRichard P. Rubinstein
• ProducerMitchell Galin
• First Assistant DirectorMichael Green
• Unit Production ManagerStephen F. Kesten
• Second Assistant DirectorSean McCarron
• Costume DesignHa Nguyen
• CastingLeonard Finger
• Executive ProducerStephen F. Kesten
• Stunt CoordinatorBud Davis
• Production DesignLaurence Bennett
• StuntsJoey Box
• StuntsKristi Frankenheimer
• StuntsJay Caputo
• StuntsJoie Chitwood Jr.
• StuntsTony Guida
• Art DirectionChuck Parker
• StuntsErik Stabenau
• StuntsBernie Pock
• Associate ProducerRandy Jurgensen
• Second Company GripThomas Wazney
• GripJoseph E. Bates

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• based on novel or book
• curse
• fat suit
• disturbed
• body horror

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1996-10-25R

Also known as

International titles

• La Maldicion GitanaSV
• MaleficioES
• yaseyuku otokoJP
• Stephen King's ThinnerUS