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Seldom is this film spoken of and that's a shame. Impressively written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Sandor Stern (who is probably best known for scripting THE AMITYVILLE HORROR), this underrated psychological thriller comes as a rare and welcome surprise, especially at a time when Freddy, Michael Myers and Jason were hacking their way through theaters (and sadly, hogging most of the attention).

The prosperous Linden family live in tight household headed over by a very stern doctor father (Terry O'Quinn) and an obsessive-compulsive clean freak mother (Bronwen Mantel) so extreme she keeps plastic slip-covers over all the furniture. When their sheltered children, Leon and Ursula, begin to start inquiring about the birds and bees, O'Quinn uses his ventriloquist skills to bring a medical display dummy named Pin to life to answer their questions. The film then jumps ahead ten or so years when the parents are killed in a car crash and Leon (David Hewlett) begins to display schizophrenic tendencies. He still believes Pin is alive and is eventually reduced to using Pin to murder his "enemies" to keep his sister (Cyndy Preston) in his life.

A film as subtle and quiet as this one requires solid, serious dramatic performances to work and Hewlett, Preston and O'Quinn don't disappoint in this thoughtful and eerie film. A real sleeper. Don't miss it! Based on a novel by Andrew Niederman (who also wrote the novel the film THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE was based on).

Score: 8 out of 10.

"Pin" has a strong, troubling, psycho-sexual undercurrent -- that's why I like it. I didn't mind the Andrew Neiderman novel, either, which presented the character of Pin from a totally realistic perspective. The atmosphere director Sandor Stern conjures here reminded me of the Virginia Andrews novel,"Flowers in the Attic", though not the ghastly film version. The children's world is enclosed and corruption of some kind is inevitable. In this, Pin is a life-size medical mannequin who is used as a parental surrogate for two children whose parents are too screwed up and occupied with their own affairs to see the folly of their decisions. The film is dark and moody, sexually loaded, and awfully grim in parts. The "voice" of Pin is disturbing in the extreme and his mere presence in each scene is fascinating but unnerving. Directed with enormous skill and beautifully acted. A treasure.

Leon and Ursula's parents aren't very affectionate. Their mother cares more about a spotless perfect household and their doctor father is always at work. He often brings them along, and uses ventriloquism to make it seem like his medical "anatomy" dummy is speaking to them. The kids are quite fond of the dummy (Pin) and believe he is really alive. As teens, after various upsetting events, they find themselves living in their home alone. Ursula is trying to become a well-adjusted adult, but Leon finds that his only true friend is Pin and still thinks he is actually alive. Is he? Or is Leon going crazy?

This is a very bizarre movie, and one of the better horror films I've seen from the 80s. The first half hour or so is sort of awkward to watch due to some of the children's experiences. The latter half of the film doesn't focus on Leon's psychology as much as one would expect, though it is clear that the kid has a warped idea of sexuality based on his twisted parental guidance and a freaky...incident he witnessed involving his beloved Pin. The acting is above average for an 80s horror film, and most genre fans will recognize David Hewlitt from "Cube." He does a good job playing the potentially-psycho teenager, and Cynthia Preston is marvelous as the sister trying to bring some stability to the family. Overall, this is an interesting, mildly creepy, and refreshingly toned-down offering from the decade of excess.

My Rating: 7/10.

This film is certainly unique - nothing like you've ever seen before. That's not necessarily a good thing, but it does make it intriguing. Sure, it may remind you of "Psycho" or of "Magic" (the 1978 thriller with Hopkins), but its slow pacing, its MORBID atmosphere and its weirdness make it feel completely different from those movies. It's not particularly good or bad, just EXTREMELY weird . Pay attention to the opening sequence, or else the ending will seem inconclusive and you'll have to rewind the tape - like I did.

In this low-budget descendant of "Psycho", Ursula and Leon are sister and brother, living alone, save for a large wooden puppet they call "Pin" (for Pinocchio). When Ursula starts hanging around with new boyfriend Stan, Leon and Pin take action.

What drew me to this film was Terry O'Quinn, who has never (so far as I'm aware) made a bad film. And although he is more of a secondary, supporting actor here, this film is no less good than anything else he has done.

What makes this film good is its relatively slow pace, building the suspense, waiting for the moment when all heck will break loose. And, for first time viewers, there is the mystery: is Leon crazy or is Pin truly alive and only willing to open up to specific people? (The answer was not what I expected.)

I watched this movie expecting some kind of a horror/thriller from most of the comments here. Of course the basic story has quite some resemblances of the famous "Psycho" but I think that this movie is far more into the psychological level and less into thrills and chills. Thats why I now get some of the negative remarks because if you want to get a psycho axe wielding maniac and his rotten mom you sure will be disappointed by nice guy Leon and his pretty boring doll.

If you just watch Pin for what it is and that to me is a kind of apsychological drama, then it makes much more sense and has some interesting insights. The story revolves around two kids Leon and his Sister Ursula who grow up in a very conservative upbringing. Their mother a 60s cliché of a cleaning obsessed house woman and their father a doctor whom his kids call "Sir" and who teaches them several things through an anatomical doll using ventriloquism. The doll named "Pin" becomes a part of their lives and especially Leon becomes attached to it also talking to him in his fathers absence. Years later their parents die in a car crash and Leon and his sister start living on their own. From here on Pin becomes Leons Alter Ego and kind of a family member ... the downward spiral picks up pace and troubled Leon who desperately tries to keep his "family" together by keeping Ursula from other peoples influences starts going over the edge.

Ursula know about Leons mental state and plays along with his schizophrenic role play and the Pin doll which Leon gives his voice just like his father did. She doesn't want her brother to end in a sanitarium, realizing too late that her playing along just makes things worse.

The movie is very slow and the deterioration of Leons mental state is not thrilling, everything is shown in kind of a normal way because thats what it is for Leon. People die in this movie but its not for thrills and especially the ending shows that "Pin" is rather a drama than anything else. If you are interested in a psychological study in a "Psycho"-like set watch this movie, if you want corpses, thrills and scary horror dolls this sure is the wrong movie for you.

Honestly I wasn't expecting a lot from this film, with it being a low budget horror from the 80s. Especially since I never heard of it in the past, but it really surprised me. The acting is good, and they make the most out of it.

Like at first I was worried about the effects being a bit dumb, but when you realise what's happening it makes perfect sense, and it's effective. It works very well with the plot.

It was well worth a watch.

Pin is a hard film to categorise, I'd say horrorish.......maybe just a thriller.

It tells the story of a strict family raising their two children. The father is a doctor who treats his anatomic educational mannequin as though it were a person and gets his children in on it as well.

As you can imagine this effects the kids quite severely especially the son who grows up to be more than a little odd.

Starring the excellent Terry O'Quinn and David Hewlett (Even though I didn't realise it was him until late in the film) this quirky little tale is filled with a combination of weird and deeply uncomfortable scenes.

Not sure who the demographic for this one would be, I'd say a definite one for those with a taste for the less than usual.

The Good:

Terry O'Quinn

David Hewlett is excellent but unrecognisable

The Bad:

Unsettling film

Not exactly engaging

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

I'm genuinely concerned for the writer of the film and their level of mental health. Some of the conversation matter from the kids, sex with an anatomy dummy and more moments raise questions I may not want to know the answers to.

The eighties produced a lot of horror films that were clearly made just for people to rent on Friday nights to ignore while they had a few beers and a laugh with their mates. While most of these films were instantly forgettable, some were actually quite good and unfortunately have been forgotten along with the forgettable ones. Pin is one such film. While the movie isn't a horror classic, and it takes essential elements from a range of sources, most notably Psycho; it still represents a good success in the psychological horror sub-genre. So, if you like your films to be dark and moody; you can go wrong here! Based on a best seller by Andrew Neiderman, Pin blends the story of a young boy growing up with murderous schizophrenia to horrifying effect. The plot follows a brother and sister, Leon and Ursula, whose father uses ventriloquism and an anatomical dummy as a learning tool for his children. What he doesn't count on, however, is Leon taking this act too seriously and believing that the dummy really is alive. A childish idea that leads to a very dark future for Leon.

While the film lacks any real potent bite, it blends it's elements together with a good plot pace well enough to ensure that the film always offers compelling viewing and although the action gets a little predictable at times, we always want to carry on watching to see what happens. The dummy itself is the centrepiece of the film and director Sandor Stern has managed to create a malevolent atmosphere around it. The thing looks creepy anyway, but when combined with it's put-on voice; I can imagine it giving some more easily scared viewers nightmares. Ventriloquism is a hobby that has always lent itself well to horror movies; from the dummy tale in 'Dead of Night', to this film and more; you can always count on a creepy movie if one of it's core subjects is the act of someone lending their voice to a plastic doll. The acting in the film is typically eighties; but it's not all that bad considering the type of movie that this is. On the whole; Pin is a nice atmospheric chiller that deserves more attention, so if you get the chance to see it; I highly recommend that you do!

Pin is half a weirdly interesting film and half a predictable and boring one; so I'll spend a bit of time on the first weird half and gloss over the sucky last hour.

Two young children Leon and Ursula live with their rich and ultra-strict parents in a large stately home. Dad is a children's doctor who uses a creepy dummy named Pin to explain concepts to his patients and the kids – who are not allowed to speak to Pin without Dad's presence. Mum is a clean freak who goes spare if a speck of dirt hits the carpet.

At the end of each day Dad gives his young kids complicated challenges and sums before bed – a wrong answer means no kiss goodnight. Leon seems to miss his kiss more often than Ursula, and he is none too pleased about it.

Anyway with Dad being a Doc the kids are exposed to some pretty frank discussions relating to the human body using Pin to explain what the future holds for their tiny bodies, including the various "urges" that they will soon face, but the two kids handle this news quite differently. In fact it is Ursula (about 7 ewwww) who looks forward to such a time, checking out skin mags and wondering if her equipment might one day measure up, and Leon who wants nothing to do with the topic. It seems young Leon has no real friends and sees Pin as his best and only bud.

Fast forward many years and it should be no surprise to learn 15 year old Ursula is a fully fledged (and exceedingly hot) jailbait slut, and Leon is the prudish older straight-laced brother. After he breaks up a seedy hookup Leon warns Ursula "Do it again and you can forget I am your brother!" Too late. A knocked up Ursula is already pregnant, they summon the courage to ask Pin even though Dad is not present, who says (much to their surprise) that she must deal with it, and not only does Dad get to perform his daughter's abortion – but he asks Leon if we wants to watch, telling him it might be interesting.

With the confidence gained by a chat to Pin, Leon starts visiting him alone with great frequency for long chats, and when Dad finally finds out he is none too pleased.

Now while this might sound like it is building up to something – this is actually where the movie becomes formulaic nonsense and peters out to a disappointing piffle.

Ma and Pa are killed and Leon moves Pin into the large family home that he and Ursula now dwell in alone. Leon assumes the patriarchal role and the two live in muted harmony for a while. Then Leon starts dressing up Pin and bringing him to the dinner table… ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The film then settles in to a nonsense fest. Leon spends more and more time with Pin and in between writes his own disturbing version of poetry, Ursula gets a job and finds a boyfriend, and the filmmakers try to make us decide what is going on. Is Pin real, is he imagining things or are all the main characters nuts? But it really is never in doubt from the first half hour.

Pin is more disturbing and unsettling, disturbing that anyone thought this was a horror film. It has an incredibly low body count, no gore and very little suspense.

Final Rating – 5 / 10. The only scare I got was when I realised that Leon dressed and looked like a young, straight Justin Timberlake – that was scary.

I will be brief. This movie, a fantastic piece of Canadiana, is one of the most underrated movies in the horror genre. This endorsement is purely for true horror fans. If you love the genre, you will want to see Pin. It's one of those rare movies that relys on someone's twisted perception of normal events to trigger a series of terrific scenes. It is also a true horror movie, for it depicts the real consequences of a dysfunctional family, and how one can be subsequently affected. Every one I have ever showed this movie too says the same thing. "That's not right." Suffice is to say, it's the kind of movies that keeps the lights on when you go to bed.

OK, this is supposed to be a horror/psychological thriller, right? Well, it fails on both parts - not too horror & not too psycho, either. What you DO get, however, is an overall decent movie with a few twists and turns to make it worth while and compelling.

Filmed in the 80s and it looks it. But, don't let this hinder you. Basic plot - 2 kids grow up with a doctor for a dad and a neat-nik NUT for a mother (opening to the kids - we see them having cookies & milk before going to bed - mom VACUUMS THE KITCHEN FLOOR FOR CRUMBS AFTER THEY'RE DONE!). Dad has a plastic medical model (life size) in his office - called Pin. They give you the way that his name comes around. Papa uses Pin in his practice to help kids feel at ease during the visit - and throws his voice to Pin - ventriloquism for dummies.

Fast forward to the 'present' - kids are grown (Leon & Ursula) and in their teens. I won't spoil the movie and give you the whole thing. Just suffice it to say that this is where the psychological aspect comes in. Suffice it to say that murder & mayhem and some general craziness come to play in this flick...

Parts of this movie are out of place - the nurse's sex party, for example, and parts are right in place - the eventual end of the story, the love interest that grows, etc.

Overall, a good flick with enough in it to keep your interest. Go for it.

I've heard this one referred to as an underrated horror classic for at least a decade now. Finally got to checking it out, thanks to the whole movie being available on YouTube. While I thoroughly enjoyed it, I can't say I quite agree with the level of accolade it typically receives these days.

The main thing it has going for it is a really great concept. Overall, the way the plot progresses has a solid cohesion to it, but the main problem is that all the beats it takes to run you through them feel SO immensely cliche, and, well, just obvious. Now, maybe I feel this way because I primarily grew up on movies, especially spooky movies, from the mid 80's to early 90's, but regardless, any great movie should hold up over time. I just found the majority of elements throughout this entire film to be fully predictable. I do kind of wish I saw it as a child - considering that nothing freaked me out harder than dolls & dummies at that age. I feel like this one would have stuck with me forever if that had been the case.

Main complaints aside, the committed dramatic performance of Cynthia Preston and the absolutely overblown performance of lead David Hewlett keep Pin very entertaining all the way through. The main thing I will walk away remembering after seeing this for the first time as a 37 year old adult is their intense character acting. Of course, the image of Pin himself (the anatomy dummy) will also remain pretty much entirely impossible to forget. If I ever see an anatomy dummy in the future, I will likely think of Pin, and that's worth something.

Though Pin is no masterpiece and feels just like watching 80% of 80's horror movies, it definitely has enough to make it worth seeing once, for horror completionists especially.

A movie I recently saw which is generally hated on but has a very similar tone and completely blew me away was William Friedkin's THE GUARDIAN from 1990 - now THAT is an underrated horror movie!

In the Northeast, a doctor uses an anatomically correct medical dummy named Pin (short for Pinocchio) to teach his son & daughter about how the body works. Years later, when they're adults, they maintain an attachment to the mannequin as the sister (Cynthia Preston) starts dating a guy (John Pyper-Ferguson), which interrupts her uneasy brother (David Hewlett)

"Pin" (1988) is a slow burn Hitchcock-ian psychological drama/horror that mixes "Psycho" (1960), "Flowers in the Attic" (1987) and a little "Paper Man" (1971) with the creepy mannequins of several 70's movies/shows, like Kolchak: The Night Stalker's "The Trevi Collection."

The low-key commentary on the negative effects of legalism is interesting, augmented by the fact that it's nonreligious legalism relating to a well-to-do, educated family, which is the opposite of the situation in "Carrie" (1976). Yet legalism is only one of the mental conditions explored.

The flick is smart to not spell everything out, making the viewer seek for answers. For instance, is ventriloquism being used or not? Meanwhile the ending ties everything up with a nigh 'wow' factor.

I shouldn't fail to mention that redhead Helene Udy is on hand for an effective sequence.

The movie runs 1 hour, 43 minutes, and was shot in Iberville, Québec, which is about 15 miles southeast of Montreal and 20 miles north of Lake Champlain & the US border, as well as Saint-Lambert, which is just across the river from Montreal.

GRADE: B+

Brother and Sister Leon and Ursula received fairly strict parenting, their father would use his medical dummy named pin to direct and instruct the children, using the medium of ventriloquism. When the parents die, Leon begins controlling his sister, through Pin.

What an unexpected gem of a movie this turned out to be, I thoroughly enjoyed it, there are so many quirky and unique horrors from the decade, this is one of the best I've seen for a while.

It's a story about control and obsession, Leon is very much a product of his strict and controlling father, he's clearly transferring his father's behaviours.

Full of suspense, it had me captivated til the very end, it really does manage to hold your attention.

What a creepy guy Pin is, I'm only surprised this film hasn't been remade, an audience is missing out on an updated version.

8/10.

Dr. Linden has a life size medical dummy called Pin (Short for pinocchio) and he uses ventriloquism to talk via the dummy to help educated his yound patients and his own two children, the little girl knows it is her dad doing a trick but the brother doesn't.

One day Dr Linden hears his son talking to Pin and and he hears pin replying , this freaks the dr out so he decides to take Pin and give him away.. later that night the Dr and he's wife have a car crash and snuff it.

The Two children now about 17 and 18 live in the house alone .

The son brings pin home to live with him an his sister .. he thinks pin is alive.

Nice Psychology horror with a strange atmosphere, the film builds the story up nicely and with decent acting makes this a really watchable film.

Its isn't a slasher so the he gore is limited to a the likes of bludgeoning etc but they still manage to bung in a pair of boobs.

Worth watching good story a bit like psycho and magic.

I remember seeing this movie some ten to fifteen years ago and thinking it was the creepiest thing ever.....i should have left that memory as a sweet one and not picked up a VHS copy i saw for sale on ebay two weeks ago. 'PIN' isn't the worst movie ever made -in fact there are some genuinely creepy moments albeit all too brief-,its just it waste's the main character of pin's inherent creepiness,concentrating instead on the kinda risqué but ultimately bland melodrama that wouldn't be out of place in a bad soap opera.

Like i said 'PIN' ain't awful,its just so uneventful and average that its hard too imagine repeat viewings

Although I acknowledge that this film is well written and directed I can't say I personally enjoyed it. It was too boring for me, too slow. We do get to know the characters and even care about them a bit, but the pace is just too slow and doesn't really fit a horror film. We don't get any moments of sudden rage where people get murdered. I can see that this film was intended to be suspenseful and atmospheric - and it succeeds at achieving that, to an extent. But it's not enough for me, it doesn't have that "something" to grab my interest. I found some scenes quite creepy and sickening, particularly the one where the woman uses PIN as a sex doll. I also found the whisperings of incest disturbing. The ending was clever too.

Overall though I would only recommend PIN to those that can tolerate very slow-paced, subtle horror that requires a bit of thought. Gore-hounds, look elsewhere!

Poor direction is perhaps the greatest highlight here. A brief shot of a topless woman is included to bring the film to an R rating as well as ease of editing for TV, which clearly exemplifies the artistic merit and general level of excitement found in the production. Don't bother.