Thinner (1996)
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An obese lawyer is cursed to rapidly lose weight after accidentally killing a Romani woman.
The story
Billy Halleck is an obese upper-class lawyer living in Connecticut who celebrates his acquittal on a murder charge. While driving, he is distracted and accidentally runs over and kills an elderly Romani woman named Suzanne Lempke. Despite the tragedy, Billy is acquitted of manslaughter through the help of a friend and a police chief who commit perjury. Outraged by this injustice, Suzanne's father, Tadzu Lempke, places a curse on Billy by touching his face and uttering "thinner." Soon after, Billy begins to lose weight rapidly without any effort, leading to a series of terrifying physical transformations and supernatural consequences.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Billy Halleck, an obese lawyer in Connecticut, is acquitted of manslaughter for accidentally killing a Romani woman, Suzanne Lempke. Her father, Tadzu, curses Billy to become "thinner." Billy begins to lose weight rapidly, while his friends, Judge Rossington and Police Chief Hopley, are also cursed—Rossington becomes a lizard-like being and Hopley develops purulent ulcers; both eventually commit suicide. Billy suspects his wife, Heidi, is having an affair with a doctor, Mike Houston. Billy tracks down the Romani camp to confront Tadzu, who refuses to lift the curse. After a violent encounter involving Tadzu's granddaughter, Gina, Billy enlists a Mafia boss, Richie "The Hammer" Ginelli, to attack the camp. Ginelli kidnaps Gina's husband as a decoy and threatens Gina to force Tadzu's cooperation. Tadzu mixes Billy's blood into a strawberry pie, stating that anyone else who eats it will die quickly while Billy is spared. He urges Billy to eat it and die with dignity, but Billy refuses. Billy returns home and gives the pie to Heidi, who eats it and dies. Billy finds his daughter has also eaten some of the pie. As he prepares to eat the rest, Mike Houston arrives unexpectedly. Billy invites him in for pie, closing the door with a smile.
- First release year
- 1996
- Runtime (minutes)
- 92
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Tom Holland
- Writers
- Michael McDowell · screenplay; Tom Holland · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Robert John Burke · Billy Halleck; Joe Mantegna
- Genres
- body horror; supernatural horror; revenge
- Themes
- curse; obesity; revenge; guilt; morality
- Tone and mood
- horror; dark; broadly comic
- Premise and plot tags
- supernatural; body horror; revenge; curse; lawyer; obesity; Romani people
- Source material / true-story basis
- Stephen King's 1984 novel Thinner (written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman)
- Reception
- The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, with a consensus describing it as a bland and weightless horror film.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 19% · review count: 27
- Awards and nominations
- Saturn Award · Best Makeup · win
- Production trivia
- Producer Mitchell Gallin considered the script the best he had ever worked with.; The studio feared the rapid weight loss might be seen as too similar to the AIDS epidemic.; Stephen King reportedly wanted John Candy to play the lead role.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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