‘Alpha and Omega’ is a recurring feature that examines a famous director’s best critically received film and their worst reviewed installment (according to Rotten Tomatoes). It will compare and contrast these two efforts, looking at the difference in the auteur’s work and seeing if any overlap exists as these two extremes of the director’s career are examined.
Arguably Tom Holland’s best and worst films, ‘Fright Night’ and ‘Thinner,’ are collectively examined
“You’re so cool, Brewster.” – ‘Fright Night’
“Billy, I want you to stop digging your grave with a spoon and fork.” – ‘Thinner’
Tom Holland might not have the same name recognition of some of the other auteurs of the horror genre, but any director who has crafted not one—but several—horror classics is certainly worthy of reverence and a deeper degree of introspection. Holland made a name for himself as a director by turning out integral films from the genre, titles like Child’s Play and Fright Night, but he’s also especially accomplished with an enviable screenwriting career with titles not only like Cloak & Dagger being to his credit, but also the underrated Psycho II, both of which are masterpieces that show off Holland’s refinement of the form.
Holland would also play around in the anthology game for a bit, crafting episodes of not only Tales From the Crypt and Masters of Horror, but also his very own take on the format, Tom Holland’s Twisted Tales. While generating all of this original content, Holland would prove himself to be formidable with transformation stories, with it practically becoming a trademark of the director. Tastes of this are seen throughout Fright Night, Child’s Play, Thinner, Holland’s Masters of Horror entry, and even in bits of his two-part Langoliers miniseries. After playing around with practical effects so much, the guy arguably becomes a contemporary of John Landis in terms of bonkers metamorphoses.
Through all of this talent and experimenting with the limitations of horror, Holland was certainly also guilty of creating more than a few deplorable films. Temp, Holland’s film before Thinner, was reamed by critics while also earning Faye Dunaway a Razzie in the process. Holland’s Fatal Beauty didn’t fare much better. This seems to be indicative that the director can be incredibly hit-or-miss, especially when he leaves out the supernatural and delivers a more straightforward thriller. In spite of Holland’s misfires—which are mostly towards the end of his filmography—he’s still working today, with Rock, Paper, Dead being set for a 2017 release. Holland’s films may jump all over the map, but that almost makes the director’s choices more interesting accordingly. “Alpha and Omega” will take two films from Holland’s career, Fright Night (which has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes) and Stephen King’s ‘Thinner’ (which has a 16% on Rotten Tomatoes), and pair them against each other.
What’s kind of remarkable about both Fright Night and Thinner is that these are both transformation films, yet one is full of joy, wonder, and a story that jives with a fresh director who’s eager for experimentation, whereas the other highlights a collection of compromises and cowardice where constant interference holds a weak film back from being anything more than a bad idea. Fright Night might seem like your basic “boy cries vampire” sort of story, but it takes that simple structure and deconstructs it in an impressive way that makes this film just as much about people realizing their potential as it is about monster movies. Part of the reason that Fright Night packs such a punch is that Holland was trying to say something here. Holland made this film out of the disappointment that he experienced with seeing how his Scream For Help script turned out. He intentionally wrote Fright Night with the aim of directing it himself as his debut film. After gaining notoriety with his script work from films like Class of 1984, Cloak & Dagger, and Psycho II, Columbia Pictures took a chance on Holland and allowed him to direct his script.
While Holland had certainly cut his teeth at screenplays for a few years, it’s kind of remarkable how precise he is as a director right out of the gate. Fright Night is his first directorial effort and yet there is such a strong voice present in this picture as well as a real quality that makes it feel timeless in the process. There’s a reason that people still freak out about this film and shout out “You’re so cool, Brewster” at any given opportunity. This isn’t some hackneyed, low budget vampire flick that coasts by on its shoddiness. No, this is a damn good layered story that happens to involve vampires and is just brimming with heart.
More than anything, Fright Night works because it’s a film that has fun and knows how to have a laugh at itself. It’s a vibe that’s not unlike what Holland has going on in other works of his, like Child’s Play, whereas this level of playfulness very much feels gone by the time Holland gets around to making Thinner. By then, it’s almost turned into a bitter cynicism. Fright Night begins with a great subversive opening that already shows off the film’s self-awareness. What appears to be a spooky encounter on a moon-lit night, is actually merely a schlocky piece of late-night horror programming. More than that, the program is even being ignored while Charley (William Ragsdale) is more concerned with getting past second base. However, inexplicably the situation flips on itself with Charley prolonging his virginity as he gets swept up in the very real horror that’s going on next door. This sets the tone of the film perfectly in a brilliantly economical sort of way.
We even get treated to seeing two title cards for “Fright Night” appearing—both the one for Peter Vincent’s (Roddy McDowall) programming block as well as the one for the film itself. The film’s final showdown is even prefaced by the film’s vampire, Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) announcing, “Welcome to ‘Fright Night’…For real.” This all urges you to be deconstructing the horror genre in a way that’s just fun, whereas Thinner certainly lacks such introspection and commentary on the form. It’s just bad horror where if you squint you might see a message.
Holland is also smart to plant the seeds for horror early on in Fright Night with there being some very effective peppering of terror being done to Charley that only increase his unilaterally held paranoia. You share this secret with Charley as he tries to get people on his side and that union with the character makes the film work so well. When the film begins it seems like it might even be doing a bit of a Rear Window impression, however while much of Hitchcock’s classic is about waiting and rooted in inactivity, Fright Night jumps to action immediately. The film operates at such an alarming speed. Nothing takes its time and people act right away. The film is constantly upping the game and racing things along that makes you as anxious as Charley is, as well as creating very entertaining viewing.
I think a major reason that Fright Night still resonates with so many viewers is because it has such fascinating, realistic characters coursing through it. It’s basically the polar opposite of Thinner in terms of characterization, with Fright Night practically revolving around Charley Brewster and Peter Vincent’s bond. It’s crazy how out of whack Holland’s barometer for this sort of thing would get in the ‘90s. It cannot be said enough times how much William Ragsdale fucking kills this performance of Charley Brewster. It’s super entertaining to watch him unravel and lose his mind over the increasingly bad luck he’s experiencing over Jerry Dandridge and the vampire situation next door. Nearly the entire first half of the film is Charley constantly not catching a break as he sinks in deeper and deeper over his head. It makes the turn and final act of the film all the more compelling and effective.
On the other side of things, Roddy McDowall’s performance as Peter Vincent is brilliant in all sorts of other ways. His highly articulated, theatrical way of going about everything is a beautiful foil for Charley’s panicked nature to bounce off of. It’s great seeing Vincent trying to shed his macabre image while simultaneously thinking back fondly on it and knowing how much of it is a part of who he is. There’s great duality to these characters that goes far beyond Billy Halleck or anyone featured in Thinner. Amy and (Evil) Ed are also a fine supporting cast that aren’t just throwaway characters or filling stock roles. You actually care about these guys and want to see them make it through Charley’s ordeal once they get more involved with everything.
All of this is aided by the fact that Holland depicts this particular sect of teenage and high school life endlessly well. He pulls it off effortlessly. There’s plenty of gratuitous nudity and the constant pursuit of going to the bone zone that is so prevalent in films from the ’80s. In fact, the same sort of clever juxtaposition seen in the film’s opening minutes are again put into play here. This moment of titillation for Charley where he gets a free peepshow ends up perverting into the fright of his life. He gets his first real proof that he’s dealing with vampires in this moment of teenage sexploitation.
Fright Night continues to prove its originality when it comes to the film’s aesthetics. Holland puts some creative camerawork into play, like the bounding, airborne material that’s meant to simulate a bat’s perspective. There’s also a nice, creepy score that even feels reminiscent of the B-movie horror fare that Vincent Price, Elvira, and other Peter Vincent-approximates would introduce late at night. It’s another simple, yet super effective touch. There are other wonderful soundtrack choices that continue to punctuate this film and accentuate its time period so well (the selections during Amy and Dandridge’s dance at the night club, as well as the ensuing chaos at said night club, in particular).
The real thing to get excited about here are the practical effects that Holland pulls off. They’re far from perfect but they’re oozing in so much charm and personality that it’s hard to not admire what the film is throwing at you. The vampire effects for instance are rough around the edges and Holland is clearly not working with a big budget, but the work doesn’t look damn bad and is much more original than generic vampire fare that you come across. The spooky spectral fog and haunted house ambience going on outside the Dandridge residence is also super on point and eerily effective. Holland shoots for the moon and pulls off some pretty ambitious sequences, too. That whole bit and the ensuing death throes on the floor as Ed reverts back to normal as he dies is some truly remarkable work for any time period—let alone the ’80s. The as Jerry Dandridge dies is another strong piece of practical effects from the film that shows off Holland’s early visionary work.
Fright Night effectively goes into some unexpected directions, such as Ed choosing to go down a dark path and embrace the allure of vampires. It’s a welcome direction that adds some nice depth to the film beyond that of Charley just trying to stay alive. Furthermore, it’s an increasingly bold choice to have the film go as far as it does with Dandridge and Amy. The hero’s girl essentially loses her virginity to the villain and he later breaks his arrangement with Charley. These choices highlight a film that has such a unique voice and truly does its own thing. It’s hard to believe the decisions with Dandridge and Amy being allowed now.
Fright Night’s ending provides some appreciated symmetry with the movie’s opening, where it more or less recreates the scene, only with there being a heavily different context injected into all of this now. It’s the perfect note to close on. Holland succinctly achieves his goals here while also coming onto the scene hot with a certain ability that should feed a healthy career. While Holland would bounce between extremes in the 11 years between Fright Night and Thinner, his maligned adaptation of a Stephen King novel is certainly the director’s most notorious work to date.
Thinner is the sort of horror film that’s worse than just being bad—it’s boring. I’ll always prefer something that’s abundantly terrible as long as it’s still interesting. This barely achieves “interesting” status. In fact, it’s a lot like sloughing through a big meal that you’ve got no appetite for. A horror that the film’s protagonist, Billy Halleck (Robert John Burke) could more than relate to.
It’s a true shame that Holland’s Thinner turns out to be the sloppy mess that it is because this is a project that Holland at one point had genuine passion towards before the film was caught in an arduous production hell (honestly, it maybe would have been better if the film stayed there and never escaped from its purgatory). A lot of this had to do with the studio worrying that people would think this was some sort of parable for the AIDS crisis, which is crazy, but pushed the film back six years. At one point, there was even a version of the film in production that had Sam Raimi directing along with Scott Spiegel writing (and Bob Tapert producing), but they ended up being occupied with Evil Dead II at the time instead. In fact, by the end of things Thinner was paired with Michael Jackson’s ‘Ghosts’ to air before the film, which gives you an idea of the stunts that were being stooped to in order to help push this dud.
So right away Thinner is perhaps not meant to be taken super seriously. It’s about a fat man who gets increasingly thinner to a dangerous degree because of a gypsy curse that’s placed on him. Oh, and he’s a lawyer, so there’s a whole “theme” about corruption going on as well. It’s hard to not think that Stephen King wasn’t trying to have some fun and poke at the genre, but while his novel has a much darker tone and a number of disturbing scares, a film version of this seems to inherently air on the more humorous aspects of the story. It certainly feels like director Tom Holland is trying to make some ultra-black comedy here, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t inject this story with some legitimate terror, too. We know that Holland’s capable of it and tonal shifts like this would make the horror pop even more when it’s happening around this absurd, broad premise that’s surrounding everything.
For instance, it’s a little bonkers that the film’s whole plot is kicked off by Billy’s wife going down on him while he’s driving in order to get his mind off of food. While he’s distracted he ends up running over and killing an elderly gypsy. Accordingly, the gypsy’s husband places a curse on Billy and suddenly we’re off to the races with this one. At the same time, one really effective visual that happens immediately after this ridiculous scene involves the gypsy’s blood staining Billy’s car’s windshield and the wipers only smearing the mess and making it worse. It’s a stark visual that hints at some sort of horror ability amidst this story that’s arguably a dark comedy.
Right from the start of the film Holland throws a dreamy, fairy tale-like sort of score at you as if this is all some sort of whimsical fantasy story rather than some foreboding piece of horror. Granted, something like Carrie (or the underappreciated Ghost Ship) and other effective pieces of horror start with similar misdirection, but it’s intentionally done to subvert your fear. This all feels intentional too, but for non-scare inducing purposes. It’s emblematic of how the film’s tone sort of goes all over the place and how the movie could benefit from really just embracing a horror angle rather than trying to indulge the comedic aspects of this story, too.
It also doesn’t do the film any favors that Billy Halleck looks unconvincingly fat from the start of things. The decision to make Robert John Burke extra big before all the curse chaos happens is evidently maybe not the best approach here even though I know they’re just going for the greatest effect and contrast possible. Billy just looks awkward from the start though, which adds a weird level of disconnect to the film just as you’re trying to get invested in all of this. Thinner also doesn’t exhibit a shred of subtlety when it comes to Billy and his weight. The film shows us that daily rituals like getting on the scale are dreadful acts for him. He desperately takes off his watch and wallet to scrape off any extra pounds as he later argues with his wife about choking down diet shakes instead of pieces of bacon for breakfast. We literally see Billy with a cartoonish bib tucked into his shirt and sitting down to a huge feast within ten minutes of the film. There’s a scene where he leaves the courthouse and inconspicuously just has a bag of opened Doritos in his hands. He’s also eating them in another scene where he’s getting a diagnosis from a doctor about his health. In case you didn’t clue in, this guy is fat!
As we get into the “characters” that inhabit this film it’s worth mentioning that many of the performances here are people just screaming in mania and going out of control while Billy repeatedly announces his cursed fate in melodramatic deep grumbles. These performances by the supporting cast that lean on the more ridiculous side of things add a real B-horror quality to everything, even though it doesn’t feel like that’s exactly what Holland is going for with this film or the performances within it. We’ve come a long way from the rich characters that you’re actually rooting for from Fright Night. In fact, Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide goes as far as making the claim that Thinner’s complete and utter failure is due to the fact that the “mean-spirited film did not have one single likable character.” And it’s not exactly wrong. There is also a bizarre obsession with gypsies that the film brandishes that truly dates it and holds it back from being anything other than something silly.
“A gypsy caravan. Honest to God, gypsies!” is the first line of dialogue that’s uttered in the film and it’s just as ridiculous as it sounds. There’s really no justification at all for gypsies being a part of this story, or why they’re there. They’re merely the clumsy hook that ignites this supernatural story. The depictions of gypsies in the film amount to a bunch of firebreathers, slingshot archers, and oversexed Xena cosplayers. Just in case there was any confusion on what gypsies are. There’s another scene where Billy simply gives a gypsy an innocent smile, so she playfully shows him her cleavage, pulls up her skirt to reveal her crotch, but then gives him the finger and spits at him. There are all sorts of problems going on here. Ahh, the blissfully offensive ‘90s. This charming exchange takes place during another scene:
“We’ve been invaded by a bunch of filthy, thieving gypsies.”
“I don’t know, judge. They might bring a little fun with them.”
“They bring disease, crime, and prostitution. What fun is that?”
And this is a judge that’s talking this way! It’s also pretty funny to see Billy screaming, “No, it’s gypsies!” whenever people offer up alternatives to whatever he’s going through. Even if he’s right, it doesn’t stop seeming absurd. With all of this lightly veiled racism on the table (not to mention the “Curse of the White Man From Town” that comes up), weirdly enough, whenever I think of gypsies in cinema and their increasingly hackneyed use in stories, this is the film that I think of. It just comes out of absolutely nowhere and feels entirely out of place, and yet, it’s gypsies that kick off the main threat here. Okay. While on the topic of them, Stephen King also appears in a perplexing cameo as the pharmacist that’s helping the gypsies before Billy runs them over. You’d think that his appearance would signify that he must have given his stamp of approval on this adaptation to some degree, which makes this production all the more confusing.
After Billy receives his gypsy curse, a lot of the novelty of the film lies in seeing the many decreasing stages of weight that Billy experiences each day. The film makes a meal out of this, not unlike Billy himself, as it shows you every step along Billy’s reduction. Some of the worst of which show Billy brandishing a concave chest as his body swallows itself in some fairly impressive effects work. That being said, his thinning relatively stops once he gets to a “normal” weight and I’d have appreciated seeing the film going a few steps further. The ridiculous poster for the movie shows Billy’s condition getting that much worse, so actually seeing things progress to that level in the film would have helped sell all of this a little more. He never looks that uncomfortable here, whereas a barely-there skeleton would help sell that illusion all the better.
On this note, it’s worth addressing that much more elaborate “thinning” effects actually were in fact planned for Billy. Some of these versions even had Billy’s flesh literally dangling off his gaunt face, but producers thought it looked too gruesome in the end and so they opted out. Are you kidding me? Go with the too gruesome version! The current version doesn’t go far enough. I’d prefer something that at least stands out due to how upsetting it was, even if it ultimately felt out of place. It’s touches like this that make Fright Night stand out so much. It’s a production full of taking risks rather than fearing for the worst.
The film delivers constant scenes of Billy both doing a bunch of activities to accommodate his new, slimmer weight, while also scarfing down as much food as possible, impossibly contrasting the two extremes that his body is experiencing. The manic behavior begins to be somewhat chilling at a certain point in the film, but Robert John Burke never completely sells the experience that Billy’s going through. He does show some range and is a lot more menacing than when the film begins, but it’s a lot of him doing a Christian Bale Batman voice to convey he’s going through a change. It’s interesting to think of what someone else could do with this material if they really tried to throw themselves into it.
At one point in the film we hear that someone else who’s been afflicted by a gypsy curse, Carey, has been turned into a lizard. Why not show us that too? It’s a perfectly good excuse to get another fright in this thing, especially one of such an incredulous nature. What Holland does offer up is showing us a mutated Duncan, the final curse victim, but the whole thing reads as comical more than it does unnerving. That being said, why not go further with all of this, do one better, take some creative ownership and make Billy team up with Carey the lizard man, mutated Duncan, and have the lot of them trying to collectively end their curses?
There are a surprising amount of ideas that are hinted at in this movie—even if a lot of them are crazy—that could turn it into a much more engaging picture. Even something that’s so over the top would stand out and have left a mark with audiences (let’s not forget that Fright Night, a film about vampires, inexplicably fits werewolves into the big picture). The biggest tease is that Holland even gives us a glimpse of this in a nightmare that Billy experiences where he and Lizard Carey do set off to take on the gypsies. Things ratchet up to an insane, chaotic degree before Billy ultimately awakens. The film that’s going on in Billy’s nightmare feels like the better movie here! That’s the nutso curse film that I want. At least we still get to see Holland’s interpretation of Carey’s lizard curse. Also, the whole fact that Billy is suddenly having prophetic dreams is totally glossed over and never addressed again. Shrugs.
The crazy circumstances that revolve around Billy’s salvation in the end of the film require him to bleed into a gypsy pie and then pass this blood pie onto some other unsuspecting sap so they’ll inherit the curse. It’s a resolution that doesn’t make any sense (although it ultimately still is King’s idea rather than Holland’s) and feels like an excuse to go out on some gross imagery, but that’s the final thread that the film chooses to follow as Billy struggles to hang on. This all results in some rather gross scenes where Billy feeds his wife the pie, it kills her, and then he proceeds to kiss her dead face and eat the remaining pie from her mouth while bemusing, “Mmm, strawberry pie…” It’s all sorts of ridiculous and never really justifies why Billy’s wife is the best culprit here. It’s just upsetting weirdness for the sake of it, really. Later he even casually leaves the pie out on the table, allowing his daughter to try some of it, as if he wants the loved ones in his life to get hurt.
The final sadistic note of all of this considers the idea of Billy gorging on his own poison pie and ending himself. We see plenty of Billy frustrated with his new situation, but never contemplating suicidal thoughts or ever giving up. Getting into Billy’s mental state here where he’s seriously messed up and can’t help himself from eating pie that he knows is going to kill him is actually a rather scary, psychological note to play with, but the film doesn’t approach any of that level of poignancy. Instead we kind of just get a glib note of revenge where Billy maybe gets one up on Dr. Houston, a man who’s been a thorn in his side all film. It’s a super weak note to go out on that’ll make you say out loud, “That’s it? That’s what all of this was for?”
For what it’s worth, Holland’s original ending for the film was the same as King’s novel where Billy intends to curse his wife with the blood pie, but she and their daughter both end up getting into it instead. Accordingly, Billy decides to join in the pie, cursing them all together. Test audiences hated this conclusion, so the studio came up with the new ending where rather than cursing himself, Billy decides to invite Dr. Houston in on the blood pie instead, which is an ending that’s hated by Holland. And it’s not a good revision! At least in the original ending Billy gets some sort of redemption or learns a lesson.
There is so much nonsense in Thinner that just doesn’t come together properly, but perhaps the most insane story of the lot involves Holland developing Bells-Palsy while filming. This is something that could have been handled and relatively minimized if Holland had immediately got a steroid shot. Producers however insisted that they couldn’t stop shooting and Holland wasn’t able to see a doctor for another 36 hours. As a result, he not only had a half-paralyzed face for nearly a year and a half, but it also stopped his career in Hollywood for practically a decade! Holland is fortunately back in the saddle again now, but this is still such a crazy story! And it’s not as if he suffered this trauma in order to create The Shining or Psycho. This is Thinner we’re talking about. The film with plenty of fat jokes, road head, and gypsy blood pies.
Thinner might be a tough ride to get through, but it still features slim reminders of Holland’s creative flair and enthusiasm towards tales of perverted transformations. At least the travesty here doesn’t tarnish the rest of Holland’s filmography. If anything, a double feature of Thinner and Fright Night is only going to make the latter shine even brighter. At the end of it all, you’ll find yourself still wanting to say, “You’re so cool, Holland” rather than slurring some Romanians.
Previously on ‘Alpha and Omega‘…
| | | Tom Holland
