Themes: Sibling Relationships, Mental Illness, Mind Games
Main Cast: David Hewlett, Cyndy Preston, John Ferguson, Terry O'Quinn, Bronwen Mantel
Release Year: 1988
Country: CA
Run Time: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
An obscure and offbeat novel by Andrew Neiderman comes to life as this strange, disturbing, but fairly compelling psychological thriller. The title refers to a life-sized medical dummy (the name is short for Pinocchio) through which strait-laced physician and would-be ventriloquist Doctor Linden (Terry O'Quinn) communicates with his children, Leon (David Hewlett) and Ursula (Cyndy Preston). Although Pin seems to have served a useful purpose by providing the emotionally distant Linden with a means of opening up to his family, the mannequin's importance gradually becomes a decidedly unhealthy influence for Leon, whose latent psychosis emerges fully after his father's death and compels him to "adopt" Pin as a member of the household. As Ursula, now a beautiful woman, begins to enjoy a relatively happy love life, Leon is consumed with jealousy and, goaded by the 'Pin' aspect of his personality, turns to murder as release. In its depiction of a psychotic who loses his will to an increasingly lifelike dummy, Pin is remarkably similar in theme to Richard Attenborough's Magic (which itself owed a debt to films like The Great Gabbo). Though it breaks no new ground in this respect, this quirky horror film does present an irresistibly eerie charm (thanks in large part to Hewlett's fine performance) and generates a decent amount of suspense, building to a chilling, if not entirely surprising, climax. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
Jacob Tierney - Leon, Age 7; Michelle Anderson - Ursula...Age 5; Steve Bernarski; Katie Shengler; Jonathan Banks - PIN; Patricia Collins - Aunt Dorothy; David Gow - Officer Wilson; Robin Mac Eachern - Richie; Joanna Noyes - Mrs. Henry; Bruce Ramsay - Teenager; Helene Udy - Marcia Bateman; Marty Finkelstein - Teenager; Terence Labrosse - Dr. Bell
Credit
François Séguin - Art Director, Sandor Stern - Director, Patrick Dodd - Editor, Pierre David - Executive Producer, Peter Manning Robinson - Composer (Music Score), Guy Dufaux - Cinematographer, René Malo - Producer, Richard Nichol - Sound/Sound Designer, Patrick Dodd - Sound Editor, Sandor Stern - Screenwriter
