La iniciación de Sarah

This is one of the most entertainingly ridiculous TV movies ever made. It has often been written off by many smug critics as "Carrie Goes to College", but that's not entirely accurate. It has a bit more of an occult angle for one thing (Why not "To the Devil, a Coed"?). Mostly though, unlike "Carrie" it's pretty hard to take seriously, and I think most of the people involved in it were perfectly aware they were making a cheap TV movie and were in on the joke.

The casting is pretty ridiculous. There is ugly and then there is "Hollywood ugly", but Kay Lenz wasn't even "Hollywood ugly", and it's pretty hard to buy her as a socially shunned girl who has to join the loser sorority. Lenz (who was married to 70's heart-throb David Cassidy at the time) was actually a lot prettier than walking, talking Barbie dolls like Morgan Brittany, who plays her much more popular sister, or Morgan Fairchild, who heads the popular sorority. Anyway, it is testament to her acting ability that Lenz is at all believable in this role. Tisa Farrow who plays a put-upon character named "Mouse" is highly annoying but not exactly ugly either. (She is famous for three things: she is Mia Farrow's sister,she was the female lead in Lucio Fulci's "Zombie",and she was involved in a famous falling out the Beatles had with the Maharishi in the 60's after the transcendental mystic couldn't transcend the urge to pinch the butts of her and the other young starlets in their entourage).

Of course, the best thing as usual is Shelley Winters as a house mother with an interest in the occult who encourages "Sarah" to use her latent telekinetic powers against their popular rivals. Winters was derided by some for gaining a lot of weight late in her career, but given all the scenery she typically chewed (or simply swallowed whole), I thought she stayed remarkably svelte. (Around the same time as this movie, Winter squared off with a giant octopus in Italian "Jaws" knock-off "Tentacles", and frankly she was far, far scarier than the octopus). The handsome but rather bland Robert Hays ("Airplane"), on the other hand, has an especially bland role as the Morgan Fairchild character's boyfriend and mostly just fades into the 70's wood paneling.

This doesn't really compare to "Carrie", but I would definitely recommend it highly to fans of cheesy 70's TV horror flicks.

Two loving sisters, one beautiful & popular and the other adopted & withdrawn (Morgan Brittany & Kay Lenz), start college in SoCal where the former is accepted by an uppity sorority while the latter joins a sorority of outcasts. Havoc ensues. Costars include: Morgan Fairchild, Shelley Winters, Tony Bill and Robert Hays.

"The Initiation of Sarah" (1978) is a television knockoff of "Carrie" (1976) mixed with "Satan's School for Girls" (1973). While not on the level of the former, it's superior to the latter because it's dramatically weightier, plus you can't beat the notable cast (this was before Fairchild and Brittany shot to fame).

It was remade in 2006 with Morgan Fairchild returning as the mother of the two sisters, Mrs. Goodwin.

The movie runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot at S. Lorraine Blvd, Los Angeles (the PED sorority house) and California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.

GRADE: B.

Here we have kind of a 'Carrie-look-alike' film, but I'd say a little bit moralist. Sarah (Kay Lenz), a weird girl (yes, she does have telekinetic powers) scorned by snobbish dull colleagues is admitted in a strange sorority where she is manipulated by the evil house mother Mrs. Hunter (Shelley Winters). On the other hand, her beautiful and ingenuous sister Patty (Morgan Brittany) joins a renowned sorority where she is forced to cast Sarah away by no less manipulative Jennifer Lawrence (Morgan Fairchild). The entire film has a 'gloomy aura', it's a somewhat sad story which could never have happened if it wasn't for the juicy 70's!... The TV production is poor, nevertheless it doesn't matter once this is a very enjoyable flick.

Arriving at college, sisters Sarah and Patty Goodwin (Kay Lenz and Morgan Brittany) try to join ANS, the most popular sorority on campus. Patty's in, and Sarah is advised to join PED, a less popular sorority.

SIDE NOTE: Sarah joins the cooler house by far! I mean, Tisa Farrow is a member named Mouse! Not to mention, Shelley Winters is the house mother, Mrs. Hunter!

Anyway, Patty's new "sisters", led by the snotty Jennifer Lawrence (Morgan Fairchild), are thrilled to tell her that she can no longer associate with Sarah, since she's in PED! Sarah is crushed, and it becomes clear that when she's upset, she can make things happen with her mind.

As the story unfolds, we learn that these two sororities have an antagonistic history. A rivalry that goes far deeper than school or harmless hijinks! Mrs. Hunter certainly knows about Sarah's abilities, and has plans of her own.

THE INITIATION OF SARAH does have a bit of a CARRIE thing going on, especially between Kay Lenz's Sarah and Morgan Fairchild's Jennifer. The dynamic is very similar to the one between Sissy Spacek's Carrie White and Nancy Allen's Chris Hargensen. Sarah is humiliated in a way that is reminiscent of the prom in CARRIE. Jennifer even gets her boyfriend, Scott Rafferty (Robert Hays) to do her bidding, like Chris put Billy Nolan (John Travolta) up to no good.

In spite of this, the stories are not at all alike, and INITIATION is a decent made-for-TV movie, though the cheeeze-factor does come into play.

EXTRA POINTS FOR: The two VERY different initiation ceremonies!...

This "CARRIE For Seventies Television - With Witchcraft" doesn't quite go where you expect it to, thanks to a surprisingly sympathetic performance by Morgan Brittany as Sarah's adopted sister Patty, Key Lenz's complete commitment to Sarah's mousiness and the strength she finds once she uncovers her psychic (or is it witchcraft?) powers, and Tisa Farrow as Sarah's depressive violinist friend "Mouse". The rest of the cast doesn't fare quite as well, either due to less commitment to their roles or the simple fact they're completely unconvincing as college students - Morgan Fairchild, though only a year older than Brittany or Farrow, comes off more like a Bitchy Society Wife in her thirties than as Snooty Sorority Queen, while Robert Hayes (two years before AIRPLANE!) makes about as old a college student as the geriatric ones in MST3K favorite RING OF TERROR! Shelley Winters sadly turns in one of her over-the-top performances that she all too often gave in the Seventies, so when the final act "twist" comes in I doubt anybody's in the least surprised.

If you can get past that? It's not a bad TV-Movie - no TRILOGY OR TERROR, but enjoyable and with some strong lead performances.