Tags:
Film: The Initiation
Year: 1984
Director: Larry Stewart
Writer: Charles Pratt, Jr.
Starring: Vera Miles, Clu Gulager and Daphne Zuniga
Review:
This was a film that I learned about through podcasts. It went on a list of ones to see at some point. This was selected by a randomizer for a segment I like to do in January called, New Year, New Movie. That is why I’m doing a featured review. It also doubles as a Foray through the Fours watch.
Synopsis: an amnesiac sorority member who has been plagued by a recurring nightmare is stalked alongside other coeds by a killer in a deserted department store where they are completing a hazing ritual.
We start this off with seeing the nightmare that Kelly Fairchild (Daphne Zuniga) has. She is a little girl and gets out of bed. Seeking comfort, she goes to her parent’s bedroom where they’re making love. Her mother is Frances (Vera Miles) and father is Dwight (Clu Gulager). There is then a man who comes into the room and is set on fire. That’s when Kelly wakes up.
When she does, she’s in the middle of a ritual for the sorority she is rushing. She is doing this along with Marcia (Marilyn Kagan), Alison (Hunter Tylo) and Beth (Paula Knowles). They’re the last four standing. They’re taken before Megan (Frances Peterson), who is coordinating their hazing. She wants Kelly to get the keys from her father to a department store that he owns, steal the uniform of the security guard and bring it back. The group of pledges agree.
Kelly then goes to class to discuss her paper with a teaching assistant, Peter (James Read). She wants to do hers on nightmares and he gets hot under the collar, because of a study that he’s doing. When he realizes her reasonings, he’s intrigued and wants her to be part of his research. He takes her to his assistant. When Kelly’s mother learns of what she’s doing, she gets upset and wants it shut down. We see why later when Peter can’t get Kelly out of the trance.
As the night of the prank gets closer, we shift over to the Fireside Sanatorium. There is a nurse who goes inside and gets uneasy when the patients get agitated. She blames it on a trustee who works on the landscaping, Jason (Robert Dowdell). We see that his face is scarred. That night when the nurse is leaving, there are a number of patients outside. She is stabbed to death in her car.
Dwight is then targeted when he’s leaving home to have an affair. Peter starts to look into why Frances isn’t telling Kelly the truth. All the while, Kelly prepares with her pledge class to complete their task. Beth quits right before they head over to the store. Megan has more planned than what she’s told the trio. When they get to the store, the security guard is nowhere to be found. They also cannot get out as the killer locks them inside. The truth of this person is even more shocking.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is by saying that there are good elements here. I don’t know if it does well enough at hiding the reveals. It could also be that I’ve just seen too many movies so most of it clicked for me. There was one thing that does feel a bit like a cheat but also makes sense. On the whole, I did find this to be enjoyable with things they were going for.
Now that I’ve set that up, let’s look at our lead character, Kelly. She is plagued by this nightmare that doesn’t make sense. It is getting worse so that leads her to seeking the aid of Peter. Her mother being so adamant about her not prying would be weird. It also could be that she remembers all the therapy and doctors they saw when she was younger, not wanting her to regress. How she, Dwight and this strange man factored in, I knew the connection within the first ten minutes of the movie. I’m glad there was more to it though.
Shifting gears, it is interesting that this is another slasher film from 1984 that deals with nightmares. The more successful one being A Nightmare on Elm Street. How they are used here are more grounded. Peter, being a student who is researching the parapsychology angle of it, was good. I love that he is trying to analyze what Kelly tells him to figure out the connection. There was one element that didn’t click until the reveal. I do love what that explains and how Jason factors into it.
The final story points concern Frances's reluctance to tell her daughter certain things, likely to protect Kelly's normal life from disruption. This creates a stalking risk though since she’s left in the dark. More likely that Frances is hiding it as a control element. For Kelly, the title The Initiation signifies a rite of passage into adulthood. Fitting that it also is a 'sisterhood,' and a 'baptism by fire' ordeal for survival. The use of an empty department store could be a critique of 'consumerism,' though it was likely chosen for filmmaking convenience and makes for a good backdrop.
Let’s then go over to the acting performance. It was cool to see veteran actors like Miles and Gulager here. Zuniga is good as our lead. I like that her inability to remember what happened to her is creating this issue of the recurring nightmare. We get a good arc for her, especially at the climax with a reveal. Read works as the TA who takes a liking to Kelly. Kagan actually has a heavy story that she reveals. Her delivery of that was good. I’d say that Dowdell, Peterson and the rest of the cast help round this out for what is needed.
The filmmaking aspects were solid, especially the cinematography and framing, which effectively used fuzzy focus to capture the nightmare/dream logic. The set pieces—college campus, sorority house, and empty department store—worked well. The limited practical effects looked good, and the range of weapons was a nice touch. The deliberate, slasher-typical pacing isn’t my favorite. The suspense-building soundtrack did fit the film's needs.
In conclusion, this is a solid entry in the slasher subgenre that benefits from serviceable acting and an interesting psychological element driven by Kelly’s amnesia and recurring nightmares. While experienced genre fans might predict some of the twists, the film effectively uses its central mystery and the isolated department store setting to build suspense. Thematically, it works as a dark coming-of-age story wrapped in a slasher framework. It is a worthwhile watch that showcases effective 80s filmmaking techniques, offering a satisfying blend of mystery and horror.
My Rating: 7 out of 10