Thinner turns 30 this week, and its Stephen King curse still has bite. Marketed as Stephen King’s Thinner, the 1996 American body horror film was directed by Tom Holland and written by Michael McDowell and Holland. It stars Robert John Burke and Joe Mantegna and is based on King’s 1984 novel, which he wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. The setup is pure King: an obese lawyer accidentally kills a Romani woman and is cursed by her father to rapidly lose weight. But the film’s path to release and its reception are stories of their own.
The studio feared an AIDS echo
One of the reasons Thinner took so long to get greenlit was that the studio feared Halleck’s rapid weight loss would look too similar to the ongoing AIDS epidemic. Producer Richard P. Rubinstein said the delays came from ever-changing studio reasons, including budget worries and doubts that production could create convincing effects.
Warner Bros. held the rights for years
Rubinstein acquired the rights to King’s novel in 1988 and initially set the project up at Warner Bros. Pictures. Tom Holland was hired to direct the following year, but the wait continued. The film only moved forward after a turnaround from Warner Bros. to Paramount Pictures.
Tom Holland landed the job through Child’s Play
King was a fan of Holland’s earlier films, such as Child’s Play. That helped put Holland in the director’s chair for Thinner. Holland also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael McDowell.
The Langoliers filled the delay
Because production was stalled, Rubinstein, Holland, and King were able to work on The Langoliers in the interim. The project was later greenlit after moving from Warner Bros. to Paramount Pictures.
Greg Cannom built the weight-loss transformation
To depict Halleck’s obesity accurately, makeup effects artist Greg Cannom created a number of fatsuits for actor Robert John Burke. The suits included matching latex pieces for his face and hands.
Rotten Tomatoes: 19 percent
Thinner received mostly negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds an approval rating of 19% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. The critical consensus calls it “A bland, weightless horror film that seems to want to mock itself as the proceedings drag on.”
Metacritic was even harder
On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 33 out of 100 based on 14 critic reviews, indicating “generally unfavorable reviews.” James Berardinelli gave it two stars out of four and said the film emphasized its Death Wish aspects over questions of morality.
The makeup still earned praise
Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times offered a brighter note. He wrote that the production is slick, the Maine scenery is bracing, and the characters are well-acted. He called the makeup by Greg Cannom and Bob Laden “most admirable.”
From studio fears to a 19% Rotten Tomatoes score, Thinner has always been a strange curse. Which fact about the film is your favourite? Tell us below.
Facts from Wikipedia: Thinner (film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.