Just so...so bad

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I loved the book when I read it. It's a simple tale of revenge with a twist. Like a lot of King's work that has been adapted this fell short of matching the book in its creepiness. Although, I didn't think it was awful. There are much, much worse King adaption's out there.The acting is pretty decent and the score works well. The technical aspects are all solid. There isn't a lot I can nitpick about on that level. In many ways, this almost feels like a made for TV movie. For the most part, the FXs are solid. This story never really needed to be super gory anyway. What the film failed to capture was the creepy vibe of the book. The hell Billy goes through as he withers away is pretty hard to capture on screen. While they do an okay job of it, it fails to reach the same heights. The film is still watchable and enjoyable on a certain level. It's very middle of the road. I'll still throw this one on again at some point. The runtime is a plus when it comes to this one. It scratches the King itch without having to go to one of the standbys.It's worth a watch for fans of King and horror movie junkies. Outside of that, I'm not so sure it will have a lot of mass appeal. My Rating: 5/10

*contains spoiler possibly* Just found myself wanting to watch something new after working out... Saw this on a list of things that were leaving Netflix in May so I said "what the hey, let's give this a try" Although I haven't read the book the book I find the premise Fascinating & Frightening: grossly obese man cursed to becoming as thin as a skeleton. I'm not a horror/gore person but I thought this would have just enough to not completely gross me out(it did not minus that one scene in the car with that cute younger dude). I agree the acting was laughable as well as the fat suit. My biggest critique is with the ending. I haven't the faintest idea where the main character got the idea of his wife's infidelity from or why the story switched from Billy's revenge on the gypsy chief to trying to kill his wife and the man he THINKS she's sleeping with! Plus what was the deal with mantegna's character becoming more obsessed with killing the gypsies than billy?? Also nothing gets resolved nor was there a cliffhanger. I think had the second half of the movie been better I woulda given a higher rating. Think being inebriated and having a free afternoon/night would make this more enjoyable :) OK decided to watch again after reading the other comments and found the movie to b worse than my initial rating of 3! The acting from EVERYONE was lifetime quality (maybe worse) like when Leda tells Bill about her husband dying she says"he always wanted to be cremated" after running into a gas truck. Who says that after their husband jus died? Plus the final line of the movie: horrendous. And the actor playing Bill (that steely cold demeanor works on SVU) but in this he seemed better suited for a serial killer role. Ultimately I think this movie would've been better if it was really scary or if it played on the bad acting as a dark comedy

As Stephen King adaptations go, this is a fair attempt at what I found to be one of King's most disturbing novels. The idea of your own body gradually changing for the worse, and you not being able to do a damn thing about it, is a particularly horrifying one and one which translates well to the big screen. Okay, so the acting isn't that great, but it's the clever storyline which carries this film through from the start to the finish and it works.What I like most about King's novels - and filmed works - is the theme of gradual transformation, or decay. In SALEM'S LOT and NEEDFUL THINGS it's the community which is slowly taken over, while in CHRISTINE - and indeed, THINNER - it's the individual who becomes taken over by evil. This film works due to some very good special effects work which sees Burke transform from a 297 pound monstrosity to a human skeleton, with skin stretched taught over his thin frame. Due to the excellent nature of the effects, this transformation is always 100% believable, which is lucky really as it carries the whole film along.There's a slow tension which burns in the background here, a feeling of unstoppable damnation which follows Burke whenever he's on screen. Obviously the revelations at the end don't live up to the audience expectations, but the build-up is very suspenseful. The acting is not brilliant, but good enough for this kind of mainstream film, with Joe Mantegna stealing the show as a cruel, heartless gangster type. His role would be a godsend for any actor, giving them a chance to be extremely vicious in a fun way. Lucinda Jenney is also effective as Burke's leech-like, two-timing wife. Burke himself is hardly convincing, but he manages to convey that harassed/frightened/disturbed look pretty well.Although not gory, there are some gruesome moments involving various dismembered or desiccated corpses which pop up every now and then for that shock moment. The one I liked best was a man who had been deformed with a chicken or something - pretty disgusting. There's another good moment where Burke is shot through the palm with a ball bearing, giving the producers a chance to use a perforated hand special effect, much the same as the one in FROM DUSK TILL DAWN. Some out of place action turns up to keep the wheels turning, along with a voluptuous and glamorous gypsy girl (there just aren't enough of these in films these days). The twist ending is a fun one, and there are plenty of things to enjoy here if you don't mind a bit of light entertainment. This is a film which is difficult to take seriously, but a lot of fun.

Thinner (1996): Dir: Tom Holland / Cast: Robert John Burke, Joe Mantegna, Kari Wuhrer, Michael Constantine, Lucinda Jenney: Gruesome horror film about evaporation. It stars Robert John Burke as a lawyer with an eating disorder. On his way home one evening he accidentally hits an elderly woman with his car and she dies. Seeing that Burke is a respected lawyer he is rendered innocent by the judge and arresting officer but outside the courthouse he is touched by an old gypsy with a curse that will evaporate him regardless how much he eats. To add to problems his wife is having an affair. The judge and arresting officer are cursed also but he is advised to seek revenge. Interesting concept is quite detailed but wayward. Directed by Tom Holland who previously made one of the best vampire films of the 1980's in Fright Night. He also made the doll possessed Child's Play. Burke plays his role with subtle humour despite plans that don't quite fan out. Joe Mantegna is interesting as a client who owes Burke favors. He is a criminal who answers Burke's problem by disrupting the gypsies. Kari Wuhrer plays a gypsy girl given a unique interrogation. Michael Constantine steals scenes as the old gypsy who may have met his match. Lucinda Jenney plays Burke's cheating wife who may meet karma. Clever horror about consequences that evaporate our senses. Score: 8 / 10