Pin (1988) - 7/10
An isolated youth finds comfort in a medical dummy.
David Hewlett stars as Leon, who along with sister Ursula (Cynthia Preston) are the children of two unusual parents - a regimented doctor (Terry O'Quinn) and a clean freak housewife (Bronwen Mantel). The siblings find solace in each other and also in Pin (voiced by Jonathan Banks), a medical dummy in their father's office. Dr. Banks knows ventriloquism and uses Pin to teach his children various medical lessons. For Leon, the isolated lifestyle eventually becomes too much for him, and he forms an obsession with the dummy...
Pin was wirtten and directed by Sandor Stern. The film is based Andrew Neiderman's 1981 novel of the same name. Neiderman is also known for writing The Devil's Advocate, which was later adapted into a 1997 film starring Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves. Stern, who was previously a doctor himself, took interest in the plot due to its focus on a medical dummy. The film was scheduled to be the final New Worlds Production to hit theaters, but at the last second was pulled and was released direct-to-video instead. How does Pin fare?
Really well. Pin is a psychological slow burn of a movie, with many disturbing elements and deeply unsettling scenes. None of this has to do with the doll itself. The scenes that make the audience uneasy instead tackle real-life issues, like emotional abuse, mental illness, and sexuality. Pin (the medical dummy) is just a plot device helping to tie all of this together.
Being vague, though this is a horror movie, there's not a lot of outright horror. There are some creepy scenes, but as mentioned, a lot of that comes from how unsettling certain situations are. Pin (the film title) is a character-driven story, and a lot of the time the audience is likely feeling pity more than fear.
I do have one small critique. There's a scene where a character (sorry for the vagueness) witnesses something and it seems to rattle them to their core. Though it is unsettling, logically that character should've had an idea/been clued into the situation based on previous events in the film. It's a small nitpick, but a nitpick nonetheless.
Overall, Pin was a very good movie. I'm on the fence about whether my rating is too low, so this one has the potential to go up after repeat viewings. My review is purposely vague and I recommend this hidden gem of a movie, though it's not necessarily the greatest choice as a Halloween season watch. I couldn't find any budget or earnings information for this direct-to-video (Canadian) movie.