Film Forum

Sandor Stern’s rarely screened Canadian cult classic PIN: A PLASTIC NIGHTMARE returns to Film Forum 35 years after its US theatrical premiere as part of our regular series, the Young Film Forum (YFF) Archive Dive.
 
A psychological horror story starring an anatomically correct dummy, written and directed by Sandor Stern, screenwriter of THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979), based on the best-selling novel by Andrew Neiderman, and from the executive producer of David Cronenberg’s SCANNERS and VIDEODROME.
 
Leon and Ursula have the worst parents in the world: cold, uptight, obsessively clean. Fortunately Pin (short for Pinocchio), a life-size medical dummy their father (Terry O’Quinn, star of 1987’s THE STEPFATHER) uses to explain anatomy to his patients, is an understanding friend. At first a source of amusement and comfort, Pin soon evolves into the dominant force in the household.

Presented with support from The Ada Katz Fund for Literature in Film

Originally programmed by Karen Cooper for Film Forum

1988     103 MIN.     CANADA

THE YFF ARCHIVE DIVE is a screening series programmed especially for YFF, curated from FF’s rich 56-year history of first-run premieres. The series introduces important, challenging works and underseen masterpieces to members in their 20s, 30s, and early 40s. Learn about YFF here. YFF-eligible members, please email yff@filmforum.org for details on this and future YFF gatherings.
 

Reviews

“A cool, bloodless, well-made thriller with a taste for the quietly bizarre.”
– Janet Maslin, The New York Times
 
“The kind of film that works its way into your subconscious and roosts there, ominously... an unusually intelligent and brilliantly acted psychological chiller... Like the eerie stare of its titular doll, PIN mesmerises from start to finish.”
– Den of Geek
 
“A massively underrated psychological thriller/gothic family tragedy.”
– Stephanie Monohan, Screen Slate

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