Review of Thinner (1996) by In Your D — 25 Oct 2013

It is said, "He who seeks revenge should dig TWO graves!" One for the other guy and one for HIMSELF! A good horror movie for people who hate gypsies. And who doesn't hate gypsies?

The lead actor is hysterical and finds the perfect balance somewhere between camp and caricature with his delivery and facial expressions. There were long stretches where I thought I was watching another Scary Movie satire starring Ronald McFatass, but credit where it's due for putting on a show in heavy prosthetic makeup. He is a highly offensive character, both physically and ideologically, and we are asked to identify with him only insofar as we wouldn't wish such a curse on anyone. The desperation of his performance late in the story at least shows that the actor driving him knew what he was doing.

Like a typical King yarn the entire premise is a little goofy from the get-go and the increasingly ridiculous story beats reinforce that the cast and crew aren't taking it too seriously. The whole ordeal ends up feeling like a fevered nightmare brought about by an evening at a small-town carnival and too many corn dogs, and like the best nightmares, it is often the protagonist who makes the worst choices. I would even go so far as to call it kafka-esque, though that might be giving the production too much credit.

My only complaint-- besides that fact that it is an incredibly low-brow accomplishment-- is that after a series of surprising builds it comes undone and ends with a whimper; sure, it makes sense in the context of the story, but it was disappointing that the fatass "hero" ended up learning little from the ordeal and came out the other side an even bigger douchebag. Once the main threat is out of the way the film could have gone in several interesting directions but instead chose the most obvious.

Bottom-of-the-barrel entertainment to be sure, it doesn't even reach the level of what could be regarded as "pop-culture". But it knows what it is and for what it is it manages to be involving throughout. Based on a Stephen King novel, you can expect mostly tasteful gore; his stories are more concerned with distasteful people caught in the vice of supernatural forces, and the gooey stuff is supplementary.

At the end of a long day, sometimes you're in the mood for a good, fun, macabre horror story featuring vengeful mobsters and murderous gypsy trash.