Really Awful Movies: Ep 178 – Pin

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Pin (also known as Pin: A Plastic Nightmare) is a 1988 Canadian-made horror film released in 1988 that many people haven’t seen. Directed by Sandor Stern and starring David Hewlett, Cynthia Preston and Terry O’Quinn, the unconventional psychological thriller is based on the novel of the same name by Andrew Neiderman.

Pin went the direct-to-video route, released in the United States on January 27, 1989. The IMDb synopsis says it all: “Isolated by his strange parents, Leon finds solace in an imaginary friend, which happens to be an anatomy doll from his father’s doctor office. Unfortunately, the doll begins to take over Leon’s life, and his sister’s life as well.” The strange parents include Dr. Linden, who puts his kids through the paces before bed, with math puzzles (doesn’t sound like the guy who’ll have a mug that reads “World’s Greatest Dad”) and the imaginary friend, from which this film’s title derives (and is short for Pinocchio).

Kids Ursula and Leon, are not allowed to be in their pop’s doctor’s office alone with the anatomical doll (as we find out, this is because the doctor speaks through it like a ventriloquist). However, the strange, stoic, plastic face of the “creature” becomes more of a malevolent force. This is weird stuff, folks.

On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, Chris and Jeff discuss:

  • How we came to discover this underseen Canadian tax shelter horror movie
  • How as we get older, we come to appreciate psychological horror rather than merely gore
  • Similarities between Pin and Hitch’s Psycho
  • The surprise man behind the pin-doll’s voice
  • Coming-of-age sexual dyanamics

(and much much more!)

Check out new episodes every Friday!

Really Awful Movies: Ep 177 – Grizzly and The Car with Scott Drebit of Daily Dead

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On this special episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast…two movies “inspired” by the great JAWS, The Car and Grizzly.

We’re gonna need a bigger boat…and we’re going to need a special guest too.

We decided to bring back one of our favorite people in the horror community, a gentleman and a scholar, Scott Drebit from Daily Dead (who’s previously joined us to talk about all sorts of terrific eco-horror films) to chat about these two very similar films.

If there’s ANY type of creature, from the slimiest little protozoa to the largest blow-hole spewing whale, that’s going around killing people…SIGN US UP.

We really dig animal attack fare, and yes, The Car is a a killer sentient vehicle…but in the film, the title car still adopts the mannerisms of a predatory creature…huffing and stalking its human prey. And both films feature the killer POV as a car/grizzly hunts down victims.

The 70s was a fertile time for horror, and it’s easy to forget just how weird and undeniably fun the films were.

On this episode of the podcast, we delve into these topics:

  • Blumhouse offerings, from Get Out to Split and Sinister
  • The Editor
  • The Void
  • Why it is that certain creatures in the animal kingdom are frequently depicted, while others not
  • The excellent square-chin presence of iconic Christopher George
  • The similarities between the characters chasing the giant bear in Grizzly, to the cast in Jaws
  • The awesome force that was the late William Girdler
  • The predatory instincts of sentient vehicles
  • The fantastic facial hair of James Brolin
  • How everyone does not love a parade
  • How it is that someone playing a French horn met their demise
  • Ratings and how films were violent and yet easily accessible to the (younger) masses in the 70s.
  • What’s up with John Carpenter
  • The upcoming summer blockbuster season

And much much more!

Really Awful Movies: Ep 176 – Nightmare

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Nightmare is also known in some circles as Nightmares in a Damaged Brain.

It’s a 1981 horror film, made during the height of the slasher boom, and seems to have been forgotten amidst all the titles that were being churned out during the period.

Directed by Romano Scavolini, the lurid low-budget affair gained instead street cred when it was added to the Video Nasty list in the UK, and its distributor jailed for failing to remove some of its violent content. Still, when compared with others of its ilk, Nightmare is fairly tame.

The film also courted controversy by adding special effects man Tom Savini to its promotional materials, despite it being a movie Savini denies having worked on.

In the film, George Tatum (Baird Stafford) is given an experimental drug treatment by psychiatrists. Then, on the lam, he sojourns back down to his home in Florida.

Along the way, he has recurring nightmares (hence the name) of a violent incident from his childhood, which forces him to spree kill.

On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, Jeff and Chris discuss:

  • how we came to watching this film
  • the peep show circuit in major cities (a phenomenon that’s since disappeared)
  • the involvement of Tom Savini in Nightmares
  • mommy issues in horror films
  • daddy issues in horror films
  • depictions of New York City in horror, and other types of films.

Join us, as we delve into (say it with us) NIGHTMARE. There’s even a Bette Midler reference!

Every week, we upload new episodes of the Really Awful Movies Podcast. Send us an email if you like what you’re listening to.