Tom Holland’s 1996 adaptation of Stephen King’s bestselling novel, Thinner, has been given the Blu-ray treatment.
Thinner tells the story of Billy Halleck, a morbidly obese lawyer, who lands himself in a heap of trouble after he runs down the elderly wife of a mysterious and creepy gypsy man. The accident occurs as Billy is receiving a blowjob from his wife while he is driving. It all gets swept under the rug rather swiftly, as Billy gets off free and clear with a little help from his friends. This only adds insult to injury for the bereaved old man, and so he places a nice little curse on naughty Billy’s head. Soon, Billy begins to drop the pounds at a rapid pace. As he literally wastes away in front of his family, it becomes clear that he is being erased.
Unless the gypsy man can lift the curse, Billy will die.
With limited time at his disposal, Billy abandons whatever humanity he has left in order to track down this old man. He hires a former client – a member of the mafia – to assist him on this quest.
We’ll just say that things get very, very ugly.
Thinner is a somewhat mediocre film with an intriguing premise that it never fully explores. With that being said, it is never boring. The performances from Robert John Burke and Joe Mantegna – as well as the rest of the cast - are all over the map. This has more to do with the schizophrenic tone of the film than anything else. At times, Thinner doesn’t know whether it wants to be a horror or a comedy. It tries to be both, and on that end, it fails. The material isn’t funny. It’s disturbing and weird. Disturbing and weird is okay, and with a better script, perhaps the humor could have worked – but it never does. Still, I liked Thinner for the most part, and I’d probably watch it again.
Olive Films gives the film a typically beautiful transfer on Blu-ray. There are no special features, but this release is sure to satisfy fans of the film regardless.
Thinner tells the story of Billy Halleck, a morbidly obese lawyer, who lands himself in a heap of trouble after he runs down the elderly wife of a mysterious and creepy gypsy man. The accident occurs as Billy is receiving a blowjob from his wife while he is driving. It all gets swept under the rug rather swiftly, as Billy gets off free and clear with a little help from his friends. This only adds insult to injury for the bereaved old man, and so he places a nice little curse on naughty Billy’s head. Soon, Billy begins to drop the pounds at a rapid pace. As he literally wastes away in front of his family, it becomes clear that he is being erased.
Unless the gypsy man can lift the curse, Billy will die.
With limited time at his disposal, Billy abandons whatever humanity he has left in order to track down this old man. He hires a former client – a member of the mafia – to assist him on this quest.
We’ll just say that things get very, very ugly.
Thinner is a somewhat mediocre film with an intriguing premise that it never fully explores. With that being said, it is never boring. The performances from Robert John Burke and Joe Mantegna – as well as the rest of the cast - are all over the map. This has more to do with the schizophrenic tone of the film than anything else. At times, Thinner doesn’t know whether it wants to be a horror or a comedy. It tries to be both, and on that end, it fails. The material isn’t funny. It’s disturbing and weird. Disturbing and weird is okay, and with a better script, perhaps the humor could have worked – but it never does. Still, I liked Thinner for the most part, and I’d probably watch it again.
Olive Films gives the film a typically beautiful transfer on Blu-ray. There are no special features, but this release is sure to satisfy fans of the film regardless.
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