Pin (1988)

Needs more blood but it IS creepy.



Pin (1988)
Directed By: Sandor Stern (Amityville: The Evil Escapes)


The Prologue
Hey! Hey! Hey! It's 1988 and we have a movie of a boy and his imaginary medical dummy friend in the movie, Pin! A film that for years seemed to be only available in VHS form until 2001 or so when Anchor Bay scooped in and scooped it all up for DVD. Now that is where you can find it, if it's not out of print. But as we've said here before, 1988 wasn't THAT good of a year in horror was it? Things were losing steam and heading into the black hole of the early 90's and there just didn't seem to be much out there that was quality. I'm happy to report that this one wasn't THAT bad.


The Movie
Ursula and Leon are sister and brother, living for year under the strict eyes of their parents. As they grew up, their father used a medical dummy called Pin, to help teach the kids a number of things. However, Leon didn't never "get" the fact that Pin wasn't real. In fact, he thinks Pin is a real person. After an accident that leaves Ursula and Leon alone, Leon moves in Pin as his mask of sanity continues to slip. Always being a little too protective of Ursula, that watchful eye turns deadly once she finds a new guy she is interested in romantically. As it turns out, "Pin" doesn't think she should be with the guy. And since that's the case Leon decides it's time to remove the problem.

This bit of a gem from the late 80's isn't talked about a lot in the horror community but it's a good watch none the less. While showing a huge influence from Psycho, the film takes a very creepy medical doll/dummy and it turns into an even creepier medical doll/dummy. I myself have always been a little uneasy with those things and this does a fine job of playing off the fact they are damn weird anyway. You don't just see a creepy medical device here that people think is a real person, you see some really weird things done with said doll that leads us to another very creepy element of the film.


That element is the underlying fact that Leon is clearly obsessed and possibly in love with his sister, Ursula (who is played by a very hot Cynthia Preston). That just adds to the creepy factor of the film and probably makes this one of the creepiest films you could have ever seen. It's not on a Flowers in the Attic level of incest, but it's a little uncomfortable. This of course sets forth the main plot towards the end when she finds a boy of interest and Leon and his imaginary friend decide it's time to do away with him. Of course sadly there isn't much killing or blood going on in this film overall, so while it's creepy, there just needs to be more chaos and a body count.

And then we have the last act, which is kinda interesting. It's got some drama, but things don't end as well as one would hope. The film isn't by any means a fast mover and still while you can find yourself a little weirded out by what you see, it's just seems to lack something. That doesn't ruin the overall film, it just makes it fall a little less on the ranks than it would have otherwise. But you do get a nice little creepy film that I believe would make for a good rent at some point if you just want to check out some old school horror that's a bit more of a thriller.


The Conclusion
If you'd like to check this bad boy out for yourself, you can click on over to the great folks at Anchor Bay who have once again pulled an old school flick out of the rubles and made it available to the masses. While it's a little slow, lacks blood, and maybe doesn't have a good/solid ending, I DO think it makes a better thriller than horror and packs enough creepy to earn at least a rent.


The Rating (6.5/10)