They pledge themselves to be young, stay young…and die young.
When a group of new pledges from the Delta Ro Kai sorority are given the task to sneak into a mall in the middle of the night to steal a security guard’s uniform as a prank, things get ugly when the young college co-eds start turning up dead. Not only that, but one of the recruits, Kelly Fairchild played by Daphne Zuniga is being tormented by recurring nightmares which suggest that her past is a bit more complicated than she knows.
They’re no Pis but the Delta Rhos don’t mess around. Someone ought to put them on double secret probation.
The Initiation is quite an interesting 80s slasher movie that took me a bit by surprise. It’s not your typical predictable college horror flick, no, this movie has a pretty solid back story that revolves around main character Kelly’s recurring nightmares that slowly unravels through-out for a big payoff in the end. We are thrown some red herrings early in the movie and just when you think you’ve got the killer figured out we are given quite the surprise.
No dorm room is complete without a Tom Selleck poster to watch over you.
As for the kills, there isn’t anything too complex, they are basic with a number of them happening off screen. Though the killer’s main choice of weapon is a simple hand held garden tool, which is one of the more obvious red herrings, meant to mislead us on the killer’s identity… I mean, do they seriously expect us to believe it’s the gardener with the burn scarred face… a bit too obvious.
It’s a guy dressed like a boner…
While they don’t get into the mall until about an hour in to the movie, it does create a nice setting for a killing spree. Although, I have to wonder why none of the store owners seem to think it’d be a good idea to lock their shops up when they close for the day? Regardless, it helps that there are plenty of props for the characters to get into trouble with and certainly no shortage of creepy dolls.
“Listen buddy, you’re not getting any action until you lose the hat.”
For an 80s slasher, I have to give The Initiation some accolades considering that it has a more involved plot than most slasher sorority movies of the same era. The acting is solid, with Daphne Zuniga giving us a sexy, smart, and strong final girl to face a surprising killer who goes unseen until the very end. There’s no doubt that the twist ending is the coup de grace for a film that already stands on solid ground. Overall, I give this flick seven severed doll heads out of ten.
This review is a submission to the excellent Final Girl film club, so be sure to take the pledge, sneak into her blog late at night and steal her uniform.
