The Initiation (1984)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Larry Stewart

Writer:

Charles Pratt Jr. (writer)

Release Date:

December 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

. . the night new blood is pledged.

Plot:

Kelly Fairchild has become a college student and a member of the Delta Ro Kai sorority. During all her life...

Plot Keywords:

Nightmare | Sorority | College | Dream | Student

Cast

Vera Miles	...	Frances Fairchild
Daphne Zuniga	...	Kelly (Terry)
Clu Gulager	...	Dwight Fairchild
James Read	...	Peter
Marilyn Kagan	...	Marcia
Robert Dowdell	...	Jason Randall
Patti Heider	...	Nurse Higgins
Frances Peterson	...	Megan
Hunter Tylo	...	Alison (as Deborah Morehart)
Paula Knowles	...	Beth
Trey Stroud	...	Ralph
Peter Malof	...	Andy
Christopher Bradley	...	Chad
Joy Jones	...	Heidi
Mary Davis Duncan	...	Gwen

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:R | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Dallas, Texas, USA

Company:

Georgian Bay Productions

Trivia:

The first feature starring role for Daphne Zuniga.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)

a gruesome film

Have you ever had dreams that were so scary that you wished they would just stop. You don't really tell anybody about them because after all, they are just dreams and you don't want to sound silly. But that dream is just so intense that it really gets the best of you.

So is the premise for this film. What is kind of fascinating is to see Daphne Zuniga in a pre-Sure Thing role. When I think of Daphne, even all of these years later, I think of her as the prude Allison from The Sure Thing. But she is not a prude in this film. Quite the contrary. Here she gets naked, has blood as a part of her waredrobe and she has a great scream.

What is memorable about The Initiation is that it is quite scary and it is filled with blood and gore. This is a typical 80's slasher flick but it is fairly well done. And the end of it will scare you, at least the end of it will. But I feel the film does a great job of making us scared and that adds to the intrigue for the last fifteen minutes. Check this one out. It may surprise you. Believe me it is better than almsot any horror film that "graces" our screens today. But then again, all 80's horror films had that feel to them. And sadly the modern era of horror films is lacking. The Initiation is at least a good horror film. And it is from the 80's to boot. That makes it worth looking at.