BY TIM GREAVES
Trotted out towards the tail end of the early 1980s slice-'em-and-dice-'em
heyday, The Initiation is a competent
if unremarkable entry to the subgenre, notable if anything for its 'name'
casting – Psycho's Vera Miles, Clu
Gulager from long-running TV western The
Virginian – and an early performance by Daphne Zuniga; despite the fact she
receives an "introducing" credit on the opening titles, the actress
had actually appeared in an earlier slasher feature, 1982's The Dorm That Dripped Blood.
College student Kelly Fairchild (Zuniga) has been suffering
from nightmares, possibly manifested by a repressed childhood memory in which
her affluent parents (Miles and Gulager) were attacked in their home by an
intruder. Submitting herself to experimental dream therapy under the college's
psychology lecturer (James Read), Kelly is also one among a group of sorority
pledges who, as part of their initiation into Delta Rho Chi, have been tasked
with breaking into the shopping mall owned by her father’s company. She and her
friends subsequently find themselves locked in for the night, unaware that
they’re in the company of a shadowy prowler who's just stopped off in the
sports department to pick up some handy hunting goods...
Former actor Larry Stewart was an episodic television
director when he took up the reins on 1984's The Initiation and it represents his only theatrical feature. One
can see why. The pacing is painfully pedestrian, in fact aside from the
enigmatic flashback/dream sequences – which, since they’re swiftly shelved once
the stalkin’ ’n’ slashin’ kicks into gear- are clearly in situ to lay the
foundations for some dark familial revelations come the finale – the first hour
is notable only for its dearth of engaging incident. At least when the killing
begins the pace picks up a little, yet although the bursts of violence are
convincingly staged – which is more than can be said for some of those in a
number of The Initiation's genre
siblings – Stewart and screenwriter Charles Pratt, Jr fail to muster up anything
particularly imaginative; this is strictly paint-by-numbers stuff. Even the
twist ending – which despite some heavy handed attempts at audience
misdirection at least manages to remain fairly unpredictable – falls shy of unique.
Coming to the party so late in the day, The
Initiation needed something – anything
– to make it stand out; sadly it just comes up wanting.
Still, the movie looks
good, the multi-floor shopping mall location lending it a goodly measure of
production value, and the strong cast alone makes it worth a visit, especially
Vera Miles, who'd just recently revived her Psycho
heroine Lila Crane in a 23-years-later sequel. Daphne Zuniga is excellent too
and manages to eschew the script’s nudity demands, the decoration in that
respect befalling former model and future soap star Hunter Tylo. James Reid is
also entertaining as the college lecturer sidelining in unauthorised therapy; I
must admit though, whenever I see the actor I can't help but think of him as that
dodgy dentist in TV movie Columbo: Uneasy
Lies the Crown.
In summation, where seasoned slasher aficionados are
unlikely to find anything here they’ve not seen a dozen times before, as
undemanding booze'n'popcorn terrors go The
Initiation makes for an adequate enough time-passer.
Released on DVD in the UK by Arrow back in 2013, the company
has reissued the film in a newly restored Region A/B dual format Blu-Ray/DVD
package. There's a moderate level of grain present throughout the feature and
the hi-def image occasionally serves to accentuate poorly focussed shots. The
mono soundtrack is nice and clean. Extra features comprise a chatty commentary
from podcast team The Hysteria Continues, a short piece of footage from a frat
party sequence (omitted from the restoration due to the loss of the original
soundtrack) and a trailer. Additionally there are interviews with writer
Charles Pratt, Jr and supporting cast members Christopher Bradley and Joy
Jones; sadly, though perhaps to be expected, there’s no input from stars Miles
or Gulager, whilst disappointingly Zuniga is also conspicuous in her absence. Reversible
sleeve artwork and a limited edition collectors' booklet spruce up the deal.
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