“Pin” may be the best horror movie you’ve never heard of.
It’s a 1988 Canadian effort, both written and directed by Sandor “the Hound” Stern. The plot is inventive, unsettling, and creepy in lieu of scary. And the central device is one of the most chilling things one can look at.
The cast consists of relative unknowns, save for my boy Terry O’Quinn, and all are impressive. It’s a weird movie, with several WTF moments, and that works for psychological horror.
Paging Doctor Crazy
We meet the Linden family at their massive estate. Dr. Frank Linden (Terry O’Quinn) is the patriarch of the bunch. He has a clean-freak wife (Bronwen Mantel). Leon and Ursula are his two young kids.
The fifth member of the family is Pin. Pin is a medical dummy that Dr. Linden uses to teach his kids about health. Linden uses ventriloquism to insinuate that Pin is sentient, and the kids believe it. The voice used for Pin is uncanny and adds to the chilling design of the dummy.
The initial scenes use the unsettling Pin effectively. Dr. Linden is also shown communicating with Pin when the kids aren’t around, leaving room for something supernatural at play. We learn that the dummy is anatomically correct when Linden’s nurse uses Pin to masturbate in the first WTF scene of the movie. Unbeknownst to the nurse, young Leon watched the dalliance, and it emotionally traumatized him.
Teenage Leon (David Hewlett) continues conversing with Pin behind his parents back, much to the dismay of Ursula (Cynthia Preston). The siblings have an unhealthy relationship, and as Ursula tries to be a normal teenager, Leon has crossed the boundary of sanity.
Points for Creativity
The story is weird, but original. Terry O’Quinn is best known for the show Lost. Here, he demonstrates a knack for subtle spookiness. The character of Dr. Linden is off, from the inability to communicate with his family or the strange fondness he has for Pin. But O’Quinn never overplays his hand. It’s odd behavior, but we can accept it, nonetheless.
David Hewlett is great at playing a psycho. He talks to Pin but goes several steps further. You’ll have to watch to experience. As the film progresses, we’re left questioning whether Pin is actually alive.
“Pin” isn’t perfect. But for horror, it’s effective in its own way.
