I'll admit, I have a love for the Stephen King adaptions. I'm not sure what it is but it's most likely the cause of how readily available they were when I was young. Think about it, you can walk into ANY video shop (besides porno shops) and find some Stephen King adaptions. Be it Carrie, Children of the Corn, Creepshow, IT, The Night Flier, Rose Red, The Shining, Sometimes They Come Back, The Stand, 1408 or any of the multiple adaptions; Stephen King is EVERYWHERE and that's exactly where I like him.
         I first watched Thinner back in 1997 after renting it from the local video store. It was tucked back in the dark, smokey room where they housed all the slasher, zombie and mondo films. I remember standing in that room nearly every week staring at the (very impressive) collection of boxes depicting very violent situations. Thinner caught my eye because the primary ink color on the cover wasn't the stereotypical blood-red, by rather a bright blue and purple. After realizing it was a Stephen King adaption, it was on it's way home with me tucked under my arm.
         We follow a morbidly obese man named Billy Halleck through his daily life as a successful lawyer when an unannounced gypsy circus comes to town. After accidentally killing the gypsy leaders daughter (while receiving road head), Billy turns to his friends for help who get him off without any punishment. Infuriated, the gypsy leader punishes all four men with grotesque and horrific curses. Billy, as you may have guessed, gets the "thinner curse," causing him to lose weight drastically and without any signs slowing. After witnessing his friends die or commit suicide, Billy declares war on the gypsies witch causes mayhem and an amazing ending.
         Thinner is an excellent film. If you're a fan of the art of prosthetics, this is a real treat to be savored. It's amazing to watch Billy lose weight considering everytime he drops about 15 pounds they had to make another "fat suit" and all new facial prosthetics. That's a massive undertaking! They ended up making 8 fat suits and countless facial prosthetics.
         Not only was there the character of Billy Halleck that had to be created but also the character of Tadzu Lempke, the gypsy leader. This character also required a massive amount of work to be brought to life.
         The acting is very good. Robert Burke was excellent as the lead fat man and we even get the pleasure of having Joe Mantegna in the film. I was impressed with Lucinda Jenney as the unfaithful wife of Bill Halleck and Kari Wuhrer (ex MTV VJ), although very attractive, had some moments of bad acting. Nearly everytime she pulled out her slingshot she let out a scream that was less-than-believable. But besides that the acting was great!
         Thinner is a great film to make some popcorn on a Friday night and roll up naked in a sleeping bad with your partner/s. It's in the true form of a Stephen King adaption and has enough blood and gore to keep you happy.