← Back to results
Thinner
1996 92 min United States of America R 18+
★5.3
Fantasy, Horror
Director: Tom Holland
🎭 Based on
«Thinner»
byStephen King
Trailers
Description
An obese lawyer finds himself growing "Thinner" when an old Romani man places a hex on him. Now the lawyer must call upon his friends in organized crime to help him persuade the old man to lift the curse. Time is running out for the desperate lawyer as he draws closer to his own death, and grows ever thinner.
Budget:
$8M
US Gross:
$15.32M
Worldwide:
$15.32M
Starring
Robert John Burke
Actor
Joe Mantegna
Actor
Lucinda Jenney
Actor
Awards
Saturn Awards 1997
— Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Key opinion
Thinner is widely regarded as a faithful, if stylistically uneven, adaptation of Stephen King’s novel that effectively balances supernatural dread with a dark, cynical moral fable. While opinions vary on the film's shift between horror and black comedy, there is strong consensus regarding the impressive prosthetic work and the lead actor's physical transformation.
| Acting | Robert John Burke's physical transformation through makeup serves as the film’s anchor, evolving from a caricature of gluttony to a terrifyingly gaunt figure. | |
| Adaptation | The film retains the core narrative and cynical spirit of the original novel, successfully capturing King’s themes of guilt, justice, and personal responsibility. | |
| Ending | The final scene is widely praised for its uncompromising, fatalistic, and shocking impact that perfectly encapsulates the source material's tone. | |
| Pacing | The pacing of the screenplay is a point of contention: some viewers appreciate the relentless, compressed narrative, while others find the character development rushed and lacking the novel's nuance. | |
| Direction | The film occupies an uneasy middle ground between serious psychological horror and dark, ironic comedy, leaving some viewers unsettled by its stylistic inconsistency. |