Pin... (1988)

Director:

Sandor Stern

Writers:

Andrew Neiderman (novel)
Sandor Stern (writer)

Release Date:

6 January 1990 (Japan)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Is Pin alive? Leon knows... but nobody believes him!

Plot:

In this low-budget descendant of Psycho, Ursula and Leon are sister and brother, living alone, save...

Plot Keywords:

Pinocchio | Doctor | Ventriloquism | Murder | Nervous Breakdown

Cast

David Hewlett	...	Leon Linden
Cynthia Preston	...	Ursula Linden (as Cyndy Preston)
Terry O'Quinn	...	Dr. Linden
Bronwen Mantel	...	Mrs. Linden
John Pyper-Ferguson	...	Stan Fraker (as John Ferguson)
Helene Udy	...	Marcia Bateman
Patricia Collins	...	Aunt Dorothy
Steven Bednarski	...	Leon...Age 13
Katie Shingler	...	Ursula...Age 11
Jacob Tierney	...	Leon, age 7
Michelle Anderson	...	Ursula...Age 5
Joan Austen	...	Nurse Spalding
Jamie Stern	...	Eddie Morris (as James Stern)
David Gow	...	Officer Wilson
Terrence Labrosse	...	Dr. Bell

Also Known As:

Pin: A Plastic Nightmare (Canada: English title)

Runtime:

USA:103 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Belgium:16 (video rating) | UK:15 (video re-rating) | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | Canada:R | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Iberville, Québec, Canada

Company:

Lance Entertainment

Trivia:

The film that Leon (David Hewlett) and Marcia see while on their date is Scanners (1981). David Hewlett would later star in Scanners II: The New Order (1991) (V).

Quotes:

PIN: Have you heard from Leon?
Ursula Linden: No.
PIN: I miss him a great deal.
Ursula Linden: [camera pans down to reveal Leon has become Pin and Ursula begins to cry] So do I.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Nightmare in Canada: Canadian Horror on Film (2004) (TV)

Decent psychological horror flick

I read the book Pin by Andrew Niederman many years ago and i have to say this is a pretty decent adaptation of the book. Pin (short for Pinocchio) is a plastic dummy, one of those "see through" ones with all the internal organs showing, that universities and such have. Pin talks to Ursula and Leon when they're small children, but only when Dad is around (he's a doctor). What they don't know is that he only talks to them when dad's around because dad (Terry O'Quinn) is a ventriloquist. As the children get older it's obvious that one (Ursula) know that Pin's a dummy but Leon has taken all this a bit too seriously.....well, FAR too seriously. And when mom & dad die in a car wreck Pin comes to live with Ursula and Leon and Leon continues to have wonderful conversations with him...it...whatever. Now, Ursula is living life like a normal person, having dates, getting a job, etc., but Leon writes poetry, cooks, and chats with Pin. When Ursula brings home her date, a young man who she finds to be very nice, she tells him that her brother isn't all there and then the real trouble begins because, of course, he overhears. This isn't really bloody or gory but it's got a good feel to it as far as horror movies go, and it's well done considering that the cast is mostly unknown to anyone in the US (this is a Canadian film). A decent little horror thriller, to be sure, worth seeing. 7 out of 10.