A Maldição

From what I've heard, this is a fairly faithful adaption of the Stephen King story of the same name, but I've never read the book myself. The plot is decent, but somewhat ridiculous... and the pacing is awful. I was bored for most of the other half of this movie, despite it only being about 90 minutes long. The acting varies, but it's mostly bad... Kari Wuhrer displays a particularly obvious lack of talent, and Robert John Burke proves that he doesn't have the charisma or talent to carry a movie. Actually, Joe Mantegna pretty much steals the show, and every scene that doesn't involve him has you bored and wanting to see him again. The humor in the film is actually surprisingly good. There are some pretty good exchanges of dialog, and, as a nice variation from the typical King film-adaption, most of the laughs are intentional(though there are a few parts which still seem lame and make you laugh, as opposed to seeming scary and frighten you). The special effects vary, but for the most part, they are quite good. The films gore and violence may be a little over the top, and is definitely extreme, though there isn't terribly much of it in the film(but when there is, it's very graphic), but it didn't bother me as much as I had expected, from hearing it described by someone who has seen the film. Since I haven't really seen any other films by the director, Tom Holland, I can't say if fans of him will like this film. One thing that the fans of King will surely enjoy is that he himself has a role in this, and a pretty easily recognizable one, at that(not the typical somewhere-in-the-immediate-background cameo that writers/directors typically have). All in all, fairly enjoyable horror, but not something that you'll want to see many times. I recommend it to big fans of Stephen King, huge fans of the various actors, and people who just enjoy watching somewhat uneven films just for the heck of it. 5/10

...for a King work: they've always had a mixed track record. Generally this one is a tribute to the F/X wizardry as Robert John Burke goes through multiple transformations. That in itself is pretty horrifying. Most of the King subtleties have been sucked out of it, but what's new? It's basically a decent supernatural thriller. There is a slow, relentless horror to the whole thing, which doesn't rely on huge "jump out of the closet" shocks (although there are a few of those). Basically a horror movie for adults.

The corpulent Billy Halleck(Robert James Burke)is a successful advocate in law. While he's driving along with his wife(Lucinda Jenney), he accidentally hits a gypsy with his car and run. Then he's cursed by an old gypsy(Michael Constantine) and his gorgeous daughter(Kari Wuher) with a continuous weight loss. With the complicity of local judge and the sheriff (Daniel Von Bargen)Billy is absolved. Furthermore, Billy is friend of a local mobster named Richie(Joe Mantegna) who is determined to save him, originating a cruel vendetta.

Thinner was written by Stephen King in 1984, based on horror master bestselling novel of the same name, under pseudonym Richard Bachman . Early the 90s, Warner Brothers attempted cinema rendition with John Candy, but death actor made the pre-production failed. The Paramount Pictures took the production with interesting script by Tom Holland(Langoliers) and Michael Mc Dowell( screenwriter of Beetlejuice and Tales from the darkside). Casting is frankly decent, Robert James Burke(usual of director Hal Hartley), recently his success in Robocop 3, Joe Mantegna(usual of David Mamet,Things change,House of games,Homicide),the beautiful Kari Wuher(Anaconda,Sliders). Besides, as always, habitual cameo by Stephen King as Dr. Bangor. The film displays adequate musical score fitting to terror and suspense by Daniel Licht The motion picture is professionally directed by Tom Holland(Fright night,Child's play), a director expert in horror and suspense movies. The result is better than previous Stephen king adaptation, the mediocre, Running man. Rating : Acceptable and passable picture, well worth watching for Stephen King fond.

Look, I was entertained for 90 minutes, long enough for a few brewskies and some popcorn, and that's all I asked of it. It's not a masterpiece. It's a simple story, simple characters... but why would you expect anything else? Just look at the DVD cover for f***'s sake. I'm baffled by the people who come on this movie's forum and are surprised by what a bad movie it was. Uh yeah, don't get me wrong, it's a RIDICULOUSLY stupid movie, but that's pretty much what I was looking for when I rented it.

Had I gone into this movie without any former expectations, I would have given it 5 stars overall. The acting was way over the top, the directing not so great, and the writing wasn't spectacular either. However, the story was moderately clever, and it gets points for keeping a fairly tongue-in-cheek humor about it; at no point did I feel like it was trying to take itself seriously. I give it another star based entirely off the strength of it's makeup effects (yes, they're that good, considering it was made in a time before digital makeup).

Finally, I give it 7 stars, simply because it met my expectations as a cheesy, over-the-top, horror romp, and I would've expected nothing less from "Stephen King's Thinner".

Alright people, what's up with all the negative reviews for this flick? Coming from a horror fan, I loved Thinner...simple as that. Working from a story by Stephen King, this is Tom Holland's return to kick-ass horror. Billy Halleck is a very overweight attorney who is cursed by a Gypsy after an unfortunate automobile accident. That's the set-up for this cautionary tale about accepting guilt. Greg Cannom's (Bram Stoker's Dracula) make-up is superb, the guy has two academy awards for Christ's sake. So lighten up. Joe Mantegna is hilarious as Ritchie the Hammer and Robert John Burke is intense ("I'm being ERASED!"). There might be a little hammy acting here and there, but what would a horror movie be without that? The story is just superb and the line between good and evil is very blurry here. Having no good guy makes it a very interesting film and a little more realistic. It's a perfect thriller in the Tales From the Crypt vein.