SHOCK sings the praises of Sandor Stern’s 1988 thriller PIN.
Paranoid schizophrenia: the most common type of schizophrenia defined as a chronic mental disorder in which a person experiences psychosis (a loss of touch with reality), delusions and hallucinations, particularly auditory (hearing voices) and perceptual disturbances.
If youve never had the pleasure of experiencing Sandor Sterns 1988 film PIN, prepare yourself. No special effects, no supernatural occurrences, no menacing slasher just pure fucking madness.
Based on the haunting novel by Andrew Neiderman, PIN is the coming of age story of siblings Leon and Ursula Linden. Their father Dr. Linden, who is mostly referred to simply as The Doctor even by his own children, is masterfully portrayed by Terry OQuinn, fresh off his equally disturbing turn in THE STEPFATHER. The Doctor is unemotional and clinical in his approach to everything in life, including his childrens development. Their Mother (portrayed by Bronwen Mantel) has a clear case of OCD, obsessed with cleanliness and preservation from the constant de-sanitizing down to the plastic covers to protect the furniture.
The novel, while not directly covering the taboo subject, has strong underlying themes indicating an incestuous suggestion. However, the narrative focuses more on the siblings sexual development and abnormal maturing in an emotionally dysfunctional household. Sanders film prefers to focus more on the latter concept, with a brother and sister and the two different pathways they embark on given this dysfunction they were raised in. One does their best to develop stability with healthy relationships and work while the other descends into escalating madness.
And then theres the one character who has not been mentioned yet: Pin. You see, Dr. Linden has a unique approach to his practice. In his office he has an anatomically correct skinless mannequin whom he not only confers with in front of his patients, he uses ventriloquism to personify it to discuss the patients prognosis and explain clinical findings. While most of his child patients are frighteningly fascinated with Pin, his own children are divided. The younger Ursula, who gave Pin his name as a shorter version of Pinocchio, catches on quickly to her Fathers mimicking, whereas the emotionally vulnerable Leon not only believes Pin to be real, he becomes the one family member beyond his sister that he feels bonded to.
The Doctor realizes much too late the damage he has caused to his young son when one night he comes to the office after hours to walk in on Leon conferring with Pin. Attempting to rid them of the artificial man, The Doctor and his wife have a fatal car accident, leaving a now 16 and 18 year old Ursula and Leon on their own. Naturally, the children embrace their new-found independence, quickly removing the plastic covers and forming their own goals for their futures. But with freedom comes impulse, especially given Leons tendencies. He brings Pin to live in the home with them and begins to use him to ward off outside threats, quickly using Pin to scare a meddling Aunt to death, literally, by inducing a heart attack. Before Ursula can contest Leon has developed an outer skin for Pin and fully replaces their Father with him, dressing him in The Doctors suits and demanding he have a place at the dinner table with him. This is only exacerbated when Ursula attempts to form an adult relationship with a young man she meets, spiraling Leon (and Pin) into the ultimate defense stage.
PIN succeeds for all the right reasons. Stern knows how to weave an effective psychological thriller by keeping things simple, from his adapted screenplay to his camera work. He carries over Neidermans best plot points and modernizes the ones that would not have transferred as well to the screen (for example Ursulas boyfriend Stan in the novel is a Vietnam war vet with a wooden prosthetic leg which Stern abandoned and made him an intellectual jock for the local college). This is not surprising as Stern was previously best known for writing the screenplay for THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979) which he adapted from Jay Ansons novel telling the Lutz familys story. He also amplifies Pin and uses him to full scare potential, involving him in scenes that he was absent from in the novel such as the parents car crash, but never using him in way onscreen that would not be feasible as being puppeteered by Leon.
Much of the successful outcome is also due to the fine performances of the cast. A Canadian production, the cast consists of all Canadian actors aside from OQuinn who is the only American cast member. Leon and Ursula are portrayed by three sets of actors respective of their age at the point in the film. The young actors are exceptional, delivering the very adult situations to full professionalism and effectiveness given their young ages and the adult actors carry this over seamlessly. As Leon, David Hewlett begins to morph into his Fathers mannerisms only to then sidetrack into mental instability when either having enraged conversations with Pin or working on his sexually vengeful poetry. Cynthia Prestons Ursula matches this perfectly with a balance of sweetness and protectiveness given the realization that her beloved brother is a paranoid schizophrenic.
But lets not forget who the real star of this film is. To say Pin is creepy wouldnt do him justice. His almost human appearance with flat affect reflects whatever the viewers fears project on him. While he never actually comes to life beyond Leons fantasies and literally is simply a still mannequin on camera the simple placement of him in a shot evokes fear and uneasiness. Sanders sells this personification by casting separate voice actors for Pin, one for when The Doctor is speaking through him and one for when it is Leon, thereby never actually having the on-screen actors provide his voice and furthering his character development. And although Stern chose to alter the novels much darker ending to include some element of hope for survival the film ending is still a disturbing one, which circles back well to the opening scene in showing how Pin has become a local legend to the youth in the area.
So, given all this gushing over a film the question comes around to why have most people never heard of it? PIN is one of those surprises that most come across via a late night catch on SyFy or some other happy accidental tripping over it. This could be due to the fact that the company that financed the film shut down their theatrical releasing chapter while it was being shot, limiting it to a few short runs only. It also has yet to receive a Blu-ray release and only has an almost barebones DVD in circulation, although it does contain a quite informative commentary track with Stern.
Given these circumstances, PIN slowly gained status as a cult favourite amongst those who were lucky enough to discover it. With ongoing re-releases and collectors editions dusting off old titles for rediscovery, PIN continues to do what he does best: sit patiently and await his moment…
