The Initiation (L'incubo)

(**1/2 out of *****) This okay slasher thriller tries to offer more than the standard slice-and-dice affair by having as its main character a young college student (Daphne Zuniga, a year after her cameo in the wretched "The Dorm That Dripped Blood") who is traumatized by an event in her past that caused her to forget everything up through age ten. From the opening scene, we already have a pretty good idea of the surprise involving the girl's secretive parents (played by Clu Gulager -- excellent in "Return of the Living Dead," but just mediocre here -- and Vera Miles from "Psycho"), but there's another twist at the very end that, in spite of some clunky hints here and there, is impossible to see coming (it's hardly fair, but it still provides a bit of a jolt.) With all the background and character development out of the way in the first half hour or so, we finally get to the more-familiar second half, where a group of sorority babes (including Zuniga) and frat boys break into a department building at night as part of an initiation stunt and are subsequently killed off by a maniac who uses a variety of gardening tools and other sharp objects. People are shot with arrows, shot with guns, shot with spears, stabbed, axed, and decapitated until the surprise killer is finally revealed (and it's probably not who you think.) Gaping plot holes abound, but, all in all, this one isn't too bad (and, besides, you're not supposed to pay attention to that kinda stuff in these kindsa movies anyway.)

HIGHLIGHT: The pretty, blonde sorority girl happens to be holding the public address intercom microphone when she is attacked at the security guard's booth, and her shrieks echo throughout the entire building.

The Initiation (1984) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a sorority hazing ritual that is being performing in a warehouse after hours; little do they know a killer is stalking them...but why?

This movie is directed by Larry Stewart (director of a few episodes of The Bionic Woman) in his lone major motion picture project. This picture stars Vera Miles (Psycho), Clu Gulager (The Return of the Living Dead) and Daphne Zuniga (One Tree Hill).

This is a fun slasher that felt more like a 70s movie than an early 80s picture. The horror elements are uneven with some kill scene better than others. I will admit some kills scenes are great, but most of them are very average. I did enjoy that they used a different instrument for each kill scene. The cast is well selected with gorgeous ladies and cliche shower scenes 🚿. The storyline is very straightforward with a fun unveiling of who the killer is at the conclusion.

Overall, this is an above average addition to the horror genre that I would score a 6.5/10 and recommend seeing once.

Oh here we go again. A college slasher… from the 80s. But hey, "The Initiation" was surprisingly an effective and playful little slasher item and delivered on what you look for in these ilk of presentations. While nothing groundbreaking, I thought it stood out. It has some clever touches, adds moments of mystery, tension, ominous atmospherics, and the ghoulish violence has a real nasty streak, a Burt Reynolds poster pops up and the characters are resilient. You got some veteran actors in Vera Miles and Clu Culager. Likable teens played by Daphne Zuniga, Frances Peterson and Hunter Tylo. Then there's good support from James Read, Paula Knowles and Robert Dowdell.

What takes a while to get going, only does so to build-up its story arches and characters before reaching its outrageous stalk and slash traits when everything erupts in its creepily daunting after-hours shopping mall setting. It does have a soap-like quality, where it does get silly when it comes to the end with a shockingly hysterical revelation. The first half of the film sets itself up by concentrating on our heroine's (an affable Zuniga) traumatic recurring nightmare, where she goes about trying to understand it with the help of an assistant professor (Read). While her parents are trying to keep her past secret, which only comes to the forefront when they're told of a breakout of a patient from an asylum. But also Kelly and a few friends are about to undertake a sorority pledge, involving sneaking into a shopping mall one night to steal the security guard's uniform where everything comes together.

The direction is durably crafted with style and a budget to boot. Slick photography and numerous killer POV shots. Even the music score keeps the mood spot on. Traditional, but entertaining.

"There's nothing to be afraid of."

Have you ever had dreams that were so scary that you wished they would just stop. You don't really tell anybody about them because after all, they are just dreams and you don't want to sound silly. But that dream is just so intense that it really gets the best of you.

So is the premise for this film. What is kind of fascinating is to see Daphne Zuniga in a pre-Sure Thing role. When I think of Daphne, even all of these years later, I think of her as the prude Allison from The Sure Thing. But she is not a prude in this film. Quite the contrary. Here she gets naked, has blood as a part of her waredrobe and she has a great scream.

What is memorable about The Initiation is that it is quite scary and it is filled with blood and gore. This is a typical 80's slasher flick but it is fairly well done. And the end of it will scare you, at least the end of it will. But I feel the film does a great job of making us scared and that adds to the intrigue for the last fifteen minutes. Check this one out. It may surprise you. Believe me it is better than almsot any horror film that "graces" our screens today. But then again, all 80's horror films had that feel to them. And sadly the modern era of horror films is lacking. The Initiation is at least a good horror film. And it is from the 80's to boot. That makes it worth looking at.

This is one of those slasher films from the 80's that I love to watch. When it comes to good horror ideas, nothing gets better than a bunch of sorority girls being killed at a mall after midnight.

There are few things in this movie that are funny. It's mostly scary. And it has a nice twist at the ending. Rent it a your video store; if you can find it.