Thinner (film)
Encyclopedia
Thinner is a 1996
horror film
directed by Tom Holland
and written by Michael McDowell
with the screenplay by Tom Holland
. The film is based on the Stephen King
novel of the same name
.
upper-class lawyer living in suburban Maine
. One day, while driving, he accidentally runs over an old Gypsy woman with his car when his wife distracts him by performing oral sex
on him. The Gypsy woman's father, 109-year old Tadzu Lempke ("Taduz Lemke" in the book), curses Billy by touching his face and saying the word, "Thinner". The curse
causes Billy to lose weight rapidly, regardless of how much he eats. The old man also curses two of Billy's close friends who helped him avoid punishment for the Gypsy woman's death. Later, one of them starts turning into a lizard; the other becomes mutated with oversized pimples and commits suicide.
Because only Lempke can remove the curse, Billy must persuade the ancient Gypsy to lift the curse. He flees his family when they disbelieve the curse and insist he seek psychiatric help. Lempke is unmoved and has his daughter shoot Halleck with a slingshot. As his family grows frantic, he enlists the help of a friend, an underworld crime boss by the name of Richie "The Hammer" Ginelli. Richie pays someone to track down the gypsies for him. Richie kills off the camp dogs with poison, and leaves a note saying "WHITE MAN FROM TOWN SAYS TAKE IT OFF." The gypsies find the man who tracked them down and kill him, and vandalize Billy's car. Richie turns up the heat and kills one gypsy at the camp, then poses as an FBI agent to lure Lempke's granddaughter away from the group. Billy stops Richie from killing her. Ritchie threatens the girl with acid and gives her a message for her grandfather: meet them at the lighthouse.
Lempke arrives at the meeting, convinced that only by lifting the curse can he prevent further attacks on his people. He explains to Halleck that he cannot remove the curse, but it can be transferred to another victim. This is to be done by mixing Halleck's blood into a pie which must them be consumed by an unsuspecting person, causing painful but rapid death. Lempke urges Billy to end the curse and commit suicide with dignity by eating the pie. However, Billy believes that his wife has been cheating on him during his ordeal, so he leaves the pie out for her to eat. The next morning he wakes up to find her disfigured corpse next to him in bed. Initially gleeful to be free of the curse and of his disloyal wife, he finds to his horror that his daughter has also eaten a slice. His guilt compels him to "die with dignity" and eat a piece as well. Before he can do so, a local doctor (whom he suspects as his wife's lover) arrives at the door. The doctor immediately suspects something is wrong and attempts to leave. However, Billy invites the man in to share the pie with him.
Tomatoes gave the film a score of 18% based on 17 reviews, with an average score of 3.8 out of 10.
1996 in film
Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...
horror film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Tom Holland
Tom Holland (director)
-Early life:Holland was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, the son of Lee and Tom Holland. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1962. He is the uncle of Dexter Holland, the singer and guitarist for the American punk rock band, The Offspring, and father of American actor Josh Holland.-Dead Rabbit...
and written by Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell (author)
Michael McEachern McDowell was an American novelist and screenwriter. He received a B.A. and an M.A. from Harvard College and a Ph.D in English from Brandeis University in 1978...
with the screenplay by Tom Holland
Tom Holland (director)
-Early life:Holland was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, the son of Lee and Tom Holland. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1962. He is the uncle of Dexter Holland, the singer and guitarist for the American punk rock band, The Offspring, and father of American actor Josh Holland.-Dead Rabbit...
. The film is based on the Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
novel of the same name
Thinner (novel)
Thinner is a 1984 novel by Stephen King, published under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman. It would be the last novel which King released under the Richard Bachman pseudonym until the release of The Regulators in 1996 . The photo is claimed to have been taken by Claudia Inez Bachman...
.
Plot
Billy Halleck is an arrogant, obeseObesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
upper-class lawyer living in suburban Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. One day, while driving, he accidentally runs over an old Gypsy woman with his car when his wife distracts him by performing oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
on him. The Gypsy woman's father, 109-year old Tadzu Lempke ("Taduz Lemke" in the book), curses Billy by touching his face and saying the word, "Thinner". The curse
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
causes Billy to lose weight rapidly, regardless of how much he eats. The old man also curses two of Billy's close friends who helped him avoid punishment for the Gypsy woman's death. Later, one of them starts turning into a lizard; the other becomes mutated with oversized pimples and commits suicide.
Because only Lempke can remove the curse, Billy must persuade the ancient Gypsy to lift the curse. He flees his family when they disbelieve the curse and insist he seek psychiatric help. Lempke is unmoved and has his daughter shoot Halleck with a slingshot. As his family grows frantic, he enlists the help of a friend, an underworld crime boss by the name of Richie "The Hammer" Ginelli. Richie pays someone to track down the gypsies for him. Richie kills off the camp dogs with poison, and leaves a note saying "WHITE MAN FROM TOWN SAYS TAKE IT OFF." The gypsies find the man who tracked them down and kill him, and vandalize Billy's car. Richie turns up the heat and kills one gypsy at the camp, then poses as an FBI agent to lure Lempke's granddaughter away from the group. Billy stops Richie from killing her. Ritchie threatens the girl with acid and gives her a message for her grandfather: meet them at the lighthouse.
Lempke arrives at the meeting, convinced that only by lifting the curse can he prevent further attacks on his people. He explains to Halleck that he cannot remove the curse, but it can be transferred to another victim. This is to be done by mixing Halleck's blood into a pie which must them be consumed by an unsuspecting person, causing painful but rapid death. Lempke urges Billy to end the curse and commit suicide with dignity by eating the pie. However, Billy believes that his wife has been cheating on him during his ordeal, so he leaves the pie out for her to eat. The next morning he wakes up to find her disfigured corpse next to him in bed. Initially gleeful to be free of the curse and of his disloyal wife, he finds to his horror that his daughter has also eaten a slice. His guilt compels him to "die with dignity" and eat a piece as well. Before he can do so, a local doctor (whom he suspects as his wife's lover) arrives at the door. The doctor immediately suspects something is wrong and attempts to leave. However, Billy invites the man in to share the pie with him.
Cast
- Robert John Burke — Billy Halleck
- Joe MantegnaJoe MantegnaJoseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
— Richie Ginelli - Lucinda JenneyLucinda Jenney-Career:Jenney began her acting career in 1984 with Hearts and Diamonds. Several roles followed throughout the eighties, appearing in the 1986 comedy The Whoopee Boys, the award-winning Peggy Sue Got Married, with Kathleen Turner and Nicholas Cage. She appeared as 'Iris' in the Oscar-winning film...
— Heidi Halleck - Michael ConstantineMichael ConstantineMichael Constantine is a Greek American actor.He is probably now best known for his portrayal of Gus Portokalos, the Windex bottle-toting Greek father of Toula Portokalos , in the 2002 surprise hit film My Big Fat Greek Wedding.Prior to that, he was well-known for his extensive TV work, especially...
— Tadzu Lempke - Kari WührerKari WührerKari Samantha Wührer is an American actress and singer, mostly credited as Kari Wuhrer, sometimes as Kari Salin.-Early life:...
— Gina Lempke - Bethany Joy Lenz — Linda Halleck
- Time WintersTime WintersTimothy G. "Time" Winters is an American television actor and voice actor. He also provided Boc's voice in the video game Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. He replaced Victor Griffiths in Amadeus on Broadway, and played King Pellinore in the national tour of Camelot with Michael York/Lou...
— Prosecutor - Howard Erskine — Judge Phillips
- Terrence Garmey — Bailiff
- Randy Jurgensen — Court Clerk
- Jeff WareJeff WareJeff Ware may refer to:* Jeff Ware , American player in Canada* Jeff Ware , Canadian player in US & Canada...
— Max Duggenfield - Antonette Schwartzberg — Mama Ginelli
- Terence Kava — Gabe Lempke
- Adriana Delphine — Gypsy Woman
- Ruth MillerRuth MillerRuth Blanchard Miller was an American artist.Miller was born to Kempster Blanchard Miller and Antha Miller in Chicago, Illinois...
— Billy's Secretary
Critical reception
The film was panned by critics. Review aggregation website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
Tomatoes gave the film a score of 18% based on 17 reviews, with an average score of 3.8 out of 10.
Trivia
- Author Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, who lives in Bangor, MaineBangor, MaineBangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
, appears as the pharmacist Dr. Bangor. - The movie was filmed largely in Thomaston, Camden, and Rockland, Maine. These towns are about an hour and a half drive from King's home in Bangor, Maine.