Teddy: La mort en peluche

The description on the box said our protagonist is autistic and taunted by other children, which would surely make him a very sympathetic character. However after watching the film, either the box was in error or the writers didn't know anything about autism. The character displays no symptoms of autism, but instead just appears to be a very creepy and disturbed kid. There are a couple of kids that make fun of him, but other than that the movie revolves mostly around his peering in windows at naked women and luring people to this pit in the woods. Instead of feeling sorry for him, you want just want him to die.

I first saw this on a couple of UHF (pre-cable for me) stations in the late 80s or early 90s. The first time was, I think, on Grampa Munster's (Al Lewis) Saturday morning B-movie show on TBS (which is a broadcast station for the Atlanta area). The second time was on another Saturday on our then Fox affiliate, WATL. Like any traumatic experience that defines one's life from then on, I have a great love-hate relationship with this movie. The second time I saw it was like looking through a photo album from an extremely romantic and cherished relationship...albeit with the eating of human beings, a teddy bear with an oscillating head, snakes, frogs, abuse of the handicapped elderly, childhood cruelty, jealousy, and lust. This movie really is quite effective. The composition of the shots works well, the movie is technically competent, the acting...is creepy. As mentioned previously, Sandy is almost just as unsettling a presence as Sammy. Personally, a couple of my favorite characters are the cartoonishly prim librarian (check out those glasses) and her butt-ugly daughter who laughs hysterically at Jamie. Oh yea, who can forget the beginning scene with the Halloween party and Jamie getting punched in the face and being laughed at. This film has a...rawness too it that's hard to put into words. It's more disturbing than most movies with twice the dialogue, twice the names and twice the violence. You must see it.

The Pit is a great film not in the traditional sense. If you are looking for an award winning movie, go look at something else. The Pit is great on B movie levels. This is the definition of a cult classic.

Jamie is what you call an "Autistic" child. Getting in trouble by running around in his underwear with a superman cape on at the age of 12 is rather unusual. He also has a good friend, that being his Teddy, his Teddy bear. He also has a few more friends. They live in a big hole in the ground. They are called trollalogs and they like to eat... people that is! When Jamie discovers that they aren't getting enough food and that they may die, Teddy tells him he should start luring all the people that have been mean to him to the pit.

This is such a strange movie. Originally, I don't even think it was suppose to be a horror film. The idea of the pit, originally, was suppose to all be in Jamie's head but the directer didn't want to have such a serious approach. Thus, we end up with the silliness that is The Pit. Not to say that the film doesn't have a few gory moments or not to say that this movie dosen't have a few decent scary moments in it, because it does have a few very memorable scenes, in general it is just hilarious though. Look for scenes like when Jamie is pushing an old blind lady in a wheelchair to the pit. If you don't laugh during that scene there is something seriously wrong with you.

Anyway, The Pit is an awesome film and if you are a fan of B horror I highly recommend this movie. 9/10

When twelve-year-old alienated boy Jamie Benjamin stumbles across a deep pit housing centuries-old troll-like creatures,he takes it upon himself to see that the monsters are well fed.But the finances of a twelve-year-old go only so far.After stealing both money and meat prove to be dead ends,Jamie decides to take the advice of his perverse teddy bear and lure all the unfriendly members of town into the inescapable bowls of 'The Pit'."The Pit" by Lew Lehman is a mixed bag:it definitely has an interesting concept and the acting is surprisingly decent,however the plot is quite boring and there is a minimal amount of blood and gore.Still the relationship between Jamie and Teddy is well-developed and has to be the strongest aspect of the film.Despite some obvious flaws "The Pit" is a truly original horror flick that kept me entertained.Give it a look.7 out of 10.

I've heard a lot about this movie, each time hearing it was boring, stupid, pointless, etc. Ok not really boring but definitely the latter of the complaints. I recently acquired a copy and from start to finish, I was having the time of my life. The movie just threw me for a loop time and time again. At first I felt bad for the main character, Jamie. He's looked down upon and pretty much hated by the local people. But after he acted perverted on several occasions (which grants the viewer with a handful of RANDOM GRATUITOUS BREAST SHOTS!!!!) I called into question how I felt about him. And another thing that confused me was Jamie's demonic Teddy Bear (which may have been the main character originally, hence the film's original title "Teddy"). But I ignored that fact since it added to the feeling that maybe Jamie was crazy, or just didn't get the love and appreciation he needed. And the Pit itself? It contains four flesh eating beasties that Jamie names the Tra-la-logs (or Trolls, but that isn't nearly as much fun to say). Jamie kind of treats the monstrous creatures as pets, first feeding them beef he purchases with his babysitters money; later feeding "nasty people" to the Tralalogs. All in all, I liked this one. It's different, it's strange, and there are plenty of funny scenes (and the occasional breast shot for the guys) that keep it interesting. Plus it has a great (but somewhat predictable) ending. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd certainly sit and watch it again.