Pin (1989)

good back-story, and good acting

An Exercise In Nonsense

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

After the death of his parents, a teenager grows closer and closer to his father's anatomically correct medical mannequin called Pin in this offbeat Canadian thriller from 'Amityville Horror' screenwriter Sandor Stern. The film begins with two episodes from protagonist Leon's boyhood that capture his fascination with the dummy who would speak to him and his sister. Growing up, his sister came to believe that ventriloquism brought Pin to life, however, Leon grew up believing that Pin was alive with some grisly results. Stern litters the film with nice touches. Most notably, we never see any lips move and while we may assume that Pin isn't alive, it is ultimately left ambiguous with a few moments (Pin sitting up in the car) that could point otherwise. Another nice touch is how Stern avoids making Pin scary or menacing with all chills and thrills instead coming from the implied. The film also has a highly memorable ending. All that said and done, the earlier scenes are the best with voyeuristic shots as Leon watches a nurse 'use' Pin privately and so on. The film may have also benefited from emphasising the incestuous tones; we are left to assume that he has developed an unhealthy relationship with his sister as the result of overprotective parenting, but the extent of this is never clear. Whatever the case, the film still resonates a portrait of a mind turned mentally disturbed due to misguided parenting.

I heard of this film when it was released but it didn't get much word of mouth, as often happens with Canadian films. Pin is too restrained to be a true horror film and not deep enough to be a good psychological drama as often happens with Canadian films. The opening makes one speculate how the story might go--and a supernatural explanation seems possible--but the film ultimately goes with the mundane option as often happens with Canadian films.It has competent performances by the main leads--and has an interesting/weird first act that might compel or repulse viewers, but as it goes on, it starts to show strains and the ending felt bland to me. The ho-hum aspects of the film may be explained by the fact that it is funded by the Canadian government, and in the 1980s, following a decade where it had an anything goes policy--which launched the careers of David Cronenberg and allowed for the funding of just about anything-even a porno film, they radically cut back in what they would give money to. Among the restrictions was that serious criminal activity and homicidal violence could not be shown. The movie follows that rule closely. We see some beatings, and there is a few deaths, but they do not happen in violation of the government rules. Even a scene near the end involving an axe is ambiguous. One might notice that in one scene the boyfriend is shown studying french for a foreign trip--this is likely to follow rules on bilingual content! In the end the film is really about dysfunction and illness--which is once again a feature of Canadian filmmaking. The real question--and the most disturbing aspect of the film, is how anyone could think it would be commercially viable, even with the attempt at an Anywhere USA setting. There are elements in it that reminded me of the UK films Peeping Tom and the Maniac but unlike this film, they did not face such restrictions in content thus they could go deeper into psychological and horror elements and leave a stronger viewing impression.

Just a heads up.... the full plot synopsis on IMDb stupidly gives away the whole story so try not to read it. I wish they wouldn't do that it ruins so many movies.Anyway - back to my review - which contains NO spoilers at all.Although it does lean towards drama more than horror it still delivers in a similar way to Hitchock's atmospheric style. This is a superbly crafted chiller and even more so given it was a low budget offering in the middle of the 80's horror flick bonanza. There's no gore, excessive violence or cheap thrills in this baby. A fascinating tale refreshingly free of cliché or predictability and beautifully directed with excellent acting add up to a must see movie. Although those looking for the slash & scream/giggle end of the horror genre might be disappointed. I loved this. And I think you will too. Why is it always so hard to find these gems?

Although I acknowledge that this film is well written and directed I can't say I personally enjoyed it. It was too boring for me, too slow. We do get to know the characters and even care about them a bit, but the pace is just too slow and doesn't really fit a horror film. We don't get any moments of sudden rage where people get murdered. I can see that this film was intended to be suspenseful and atmospheric - and it succeeds at achieving that, to an extent. But it's not enough for me, it doesn't have that "something" to grab my interest. I found some scenes quite creepy and sickening, particularly the one where the woman uses PIN as a sex doll. I also found the whisperings of incest disturbing. The ending was clever too. Overall though I would only recommend PIN to those that can tolerate very slow-paced, subtle horror that requires a bit of thought. Gore-hounds, look elsewhere!