The Initiation (1984) New World/Horror RT: 97 minutes Rated R (violence, full frontal nudity, sexual content/references, language, alcohol use) Director: Larry Stewart Screenplay: Charles Pratt Jr. Music: Gabriel Black and Lance Ong Cinematography: George Tirl Release date: April 27, 1984 (Philadelphia, PA) Cast: Vera Miles, Clu Gulager, Daphne Zuniga, James Read, Marilyn Kagan, Robert Dowdell, Frances Peterson, Deborah Morehart (Hunter Tylo), Paula Knowles, Trey Stroud, Peter Malof, Joy Jones, Mary Davis Duncan, Rusty Meyers. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ***
One thing’s for certain about slasher movies; filmmakers will never run out of ideas. That’s because they just keep using the same scenarios over and over again. It’s always pretty much the same, a bunch of horny idiots putting themselves in a dangerous situation involving a deformed homicidal maniac in a confined space. In The Initiation, a bunch of mindless sorority pledges get locked in an upscale shopping mall as part of their initiation. Their mission, to steal the night watchman’s uniform. And guess what? They’re not alone, there’s a killer on the loose in the mall. But I’m getting ahead of myself here, there’s more to the story.
Before I get into the plot, I’d like to express my disappointment at New World for not taking advantage of a golden opportunity to shamelessly sell The Initiation as a gimmick movie. There’s a surprise twist at the end. I won’t say what, but most viewers probably won’t see it coming. The studio could have done something similar to Psycho and Happy Birthday to Me. The tagline could have read something like this: “The makers humbly implore you not to give away the ending. Due to its shocking nature, no one will be seated during the final ten minutes.” It might have piqued the curiosity of indecisive moviegoers deciding what to see on a Friday or Saturday night. [Insert heavy sigh] I hate to see a missed opportunity like this.
Kelly Fairchild (Zuniga, Spaceballs), one of the Delta Ro Kai pledges, has recurring nightmares about something terrible that happened when she was a child. Or maybe it didn’t. She doesn’t know because she can’t remember anything before the age of nine. Yes, our old pal amnesia! A psychology major (of course!), she goes to Dr. Peter Breck (Read, Eight Men Out), her handsome young TA who just happens to be conducting a study of nightmares. This doesn’t please her overbearing, wealthy mother (Miles, Psycho) who’d rather her daughter not exacerbate her delicate condition. Could it be Mom and her stepdad Dwight (Gulager, The Return of the Living Dead) are keeping something from her? Might it have something to do with a recently escaped mental patient they seem to know?
Meanwhile, bitchy sorority leader Megan (Peterson, The Trip to Bountiful) orders Kelly to steal her stepfather’s keys to the mall (he owns the place) and deliver them to her for the initiation prank. Along with two other pledges, virginal Marcia (Kagan, Foxes) and slutty Alison (Morehart/Tylo, The Bold and the Beautiful), Kelly goes along with the prank and heads to the employee’s locker room to obtain a night watchman’s uniform. Megan and three guys from their brother fraternity sneak into mall and set out to scare the pledges. Then there’s the unseen killer who has a penchant for sinking a hand-held gardening cultivator into chests and necks.
I give credit to the makers of The Initiation for trying to do something a little different even if it does cause it to be convoluted and confusing. Since I’m unable to alleviate things without dropping spoilers, I’ll only say Kelly’s nightmare turns out to be a repressed memory. But you probably figured that out already, didn’t you?
My primary complaint about The Initiation is that it’s not as bloody as it should be. Besides the aforementioned garden implement, the killer dispatches two victims with a bow and arrow, one with an axe to the face, another with a harpoon gun and decapitates one unlucky dope with a machete prompting another character to comment that this person would forget their head if it weren’t attached. The movie has a fairly respectable body count of 10, but the gorehound in me wanted more of the red stuff. At least the movie has plenty of hot babes and a fair amount of nudity, something that absolutely appealed to 16YO Movie Guy 24/7.
It’s cool to see a couple of horror movie vets like Miles and Gulager in action; the presence of established actors is always an asset to B-level horror movies like The Initiation. Zuniga does a good job in her first leading role. Horror buffs will remember she made her debut in 1982’s The Dorm That Dripped Blood. As for the rest of the acting, it’s a little better than one expects from movies of this particular genre.
Director Larry Stewart, in his one and only theatrical outing, keeps things interesting with nifty ideas like the frat party where guests come dressed as their favorite repressed desire. I also got a kick out of Peter’s bespectacled lab assistant Heidi (Jones), a Girl Friday with a lot of spunk.
As far as slasher flicks go, The Initiation isn’t too bad. It’s pretty good actually. For me, it got better with repeat viewings. I just wish it didn’t skimp on the gore. Oh well, I guess you can’t have it all. One thing’s for sure, it’ll make you think twice about “harmless” college pranks. You never know when a deranged killer is going to show up to spoil the fun.
