L'Initiation de Sarah

Twin sisters (Mika Boorem & Summer Glau) start college in Louisiana where the former joins a sorority of outcasts while the latter is accepted by an uppity sorority. Both houses have uncanny secrets. Costars include: JoAnna Garcia, Jennifer Tilly and Morgan Fairchild.

"The Initiation of Sarah" (2006) is a remake of the 1978 television movie that was a knockoff of "Carrie" (1976) mixed with "Satan's School for Girls" (1973). Fairchild returns here to play the mother of the two girls.

This is more of a revamping than a faithful remake as the only thing that's the same is the basic set-up, which I'm fine with because who needs an exact repeat? There's also a change in tone. The original flick was relatively realistic with weighty drama whereas this one is decidedly comic booky with unbelievable paranormal happenings and cheesy satanic rituals. The garish opening sequence tells all. The two protagonists aren't as likable either.

On the positive side, JoAnna Garcia is beautiful (despite the devious character she plays) and Jennifer Tilly is more fascinating than Shelley Winters' character in the original. There are also some thought-provoking new ideas. Unfortunately, the dull first act and the tedious fiery climax with the corresponding gobbledygook doom it.

The movie runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot at Centenary College, Shreveport, Louisiana.

GRADE: C-/C.

Corinne (JoAnna Garcia) leads a ritual sacrifice but the girl turns out not to be 'The One'. Eighteen years later, twins Sarah (Mika Boorem) and Lindsey Goodwin (Summer Glau) are freshmen at Temple Hill University. Sarah has supernatural powers. Lindsey is desperate to be popular by joining the best sorority Alpha Nu Gamma. Corinne is the big sister and still looks exactly the same as 18 years ago. The secretive sorority Pi Epsilon Delta led by professor Eugenia Hunter (Jennifer Tilly) is in a timeless fight against Alpha Nu. Sarah befriends outcast Vita (Amber Wallace) while dorm RA Finn (Ben Ziff) falls for her.

The movie is trying to do a lot of things and ends up rather bland. It's definitely not scary especially on ABC Family. It has the looks of a TV movie. There is no tension as a thriller. The movie spills its various secrets in unexciting ways. It's also rather blasé about dangers. She's told that they're trying to kill her and she's simply chatting it up with the boy in the library. Jennifer Tilly really plays down her character. Lindsey is a really dumb character. She is somehow mentally defective. There seems to be some good story material but it's not put to good use here.

Where do I begin? The music is probably the worst part throughout the movie although it ends with a good song, one that doesn't fit the theme of the movie at ALL, not even the most forgiving listener could not be turned off by the awful garageband wannabe tripe used here, and when it first started, I wanted to stop watching immediately, but to my persisting regret I continued in hope of improvement down the line. My mistake. The acting, well, I do like both Summer Glau and think Mika Boorem is good, the material they had to work with is nothing short of a tween girl-party turned bad with clichè and predictable beginnings and ends. Fairchild is great in my opinion, but she has just about 5 minutes of screentime. The entire storyline is frankly PATHETIC, how this even got to be shown on TV MUST be entirely because it has some stars in it like Tilly, Fairchild, and Glau (whom many 14 year old boys 100% will give this movie an undeserved good rating for). It's so simplistic and goofy, there are barely any tense moments until the movie is basically over, which I guess that was supposed to be some big finish, but by the time the end came I already felt like my soul was gone. Who ever called this "horror" or "thriller" must have been sniffing asbestos and lighterfluid! This is a COMEDY! This is a boring high school drama set at a college campus, that has the classic frat vs frat storyline with a barely existing plot, no excitement, and an unsatisfying finish. ANY witch movie is better, unless you're one of those viewers who will watch anything as long as "so and so" is in it. The horrendous soundtrack alone is reason enough to give this a 2, but Fairchild is pretty awesome although she's on screen for about 5 minutes total, and the main protagonists do well also, had it not been for that, I would definitely give this a 2. I want my 90 minutes back!

Sisters Sarah and Lindsey (Mika Boorem and Summer Glau) are pledging the alpha Nu sorority at Temple Hill University, unaware of the devilish forces afoot. Sarah just might be the "chosen one" that her new friends have been waiting for.

Indeed, the Alpha Nu's are an ancient coven of witches using the black arts to get what they desire. Sarah must get in touch with her inner witch in order to combat these practitioners of eeevil.

THE INITIATION OF SARAH is a fun update of the original classic. Especially good is the magnificent Jennifer Tilly as the demonically delectable Dr. Hunter! Also, Morgan Fairchild returns from the original in a pivotal role.

So, grab some wine, this movie provides the cheeeze...

Notable points were: 1) Joanna Garcia... This is the first time I've seen her and she surely can turn heads around. Very eye-catching and the bitchy role suited her well. She did a good job.

2) For a TV film, it was decent quality...Cant expect much more than what it delivered for a TV film.

3) The campus scenes and the college backdrop was really nice and spectacular. Whoever decided the filming locations gets a Thumbs Up!

4) I've seen Mika Boorem before in Smile and thought she was fabulous in that film, here she is OK.

5) Summer Glau was below average here...she looked a little mechanical like her character from Terminator...