Pin (1988)

Director: Sandor Stern

Starring: David Hewlett, Cynthia Preston, Terry O’Quinn

Isolated by his strange parents, Leon finds solace in an imaginary friend, which happens to be an anatomy doll from his father’s doctor office. Unfortunately, the doll begins to take over Leon’s life, and his sister’s life as well.

I remember how disappointed I was in the movie when I watched it as a child. Back then I was a big fan of the slashers that dominated the 80’s. With no guts or gore, I guess the movie was too tame for my liking back then.

Having watched it now as an adult I have very different opinions of the movie. I view it very differently now, and the film is more of a character study and psychological thriller than a horror movie. Regardless, even so I did find the antagonist too passive. The film’s main focus is an anatomically correct dummy called Pin in a doctor’s office, that may or may not be alive.

The Doctor in question is Dr Linden, who convinces his children, Leon and Ursula, that the dummy is in fact able to talk, but he does this via means of ventriloquism. When Leon and Ursula are all grown up, Ursula is convinced Leon is using ventriloquism to ‘bring the dummy to life’. When Pin is brought to the Linden mansion and he moves around in a wheelchair, we notice Leon with a remote control. Therefore, we never truly discover whether Pin is alive, or Leon’s doing.

I suppose one has to analyze this a bit further, with Leon being the actual antagonist, and not Pin. Leon is very protective of Ursula and comes across as a father figure instead of a brother. When Ursula meets a fine young man and starts going out with him, Leon actually becomes jealous that she is spending less time with him, causing him to dislike the boyfriend.

Later, it is revealed Leon has psychotic tendencies and might be schizophrenic. This makes me believe Pin was merely an imaginary friend to Leon, and that he never actually spoke. ‘Pin’ is one of the most stylish of the 80’s horrors, with good performances, and a good script.

Would I watch it again? No.