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 could be the most unintentionally funny movie that I have ever watched. And let me say that I've seen a lot of those. There are some parts that are so funny. Like ever time someone accidentally falls into the huge, gaping hole in the ground that no one can seem to see. The wheelchair scene is a standout. And I'm not saying that the movie is bad. I own it and I recommend it to friends. Mainly because of the dark comedy elements. And also because Jamie gives me the creeps. He's way scarier than the Tra-la-logs. The back of the box mentions that he is autistic, but no where in the movie is the word autism ever used. Instead, you hear words like weird, stupid, crazy, funny person, and even hippie. The Pit is an extremely ridiculous movie, and I hope no one takes it too seriously.

Creepy, weird, unpredictable and yet satisfying! I think I could watch this a few more times! This kid is a genuine nut case weirdo!!!!!!

Yes, this is a bad movie - the previous user comments have touched upon some of the more ridiculous parts of it. And the movie doesn't know when to quit! We have those monsters, ghosts, voyeurism, murder, talking teddy bears, nudity, perversion... this movie puts EVERYTHING in it! It's a glorious mess, but it's one that remains quite entertaining all the same, because it's so nutty that you can't help but see just what insanity will come next. As well, the movie actually succeeds in being somewhat disturbing at times, in the portrayal of Jaimie. Having personally encountered autistic children, I can say that Snyder's performance, though uneven to say the least, does at times capture how one of these unfortunate children can act. Autism does happen in various degrees, and Snyder does at times creepily capture the mild infliction of it, as well as the added infliction of being disturbed (to say the least). So although this movie is (entertainingly) bad, there is at least a little something to give genuine praise to.