Georgian Bay Productions, 1984. Distributed by New World Pictures. Written by Charles Pratt, Jr. Produced by Scott Winant. Directed by Larry Stewart. Starring Vera Miles, Clu Gulager and introducing Daphne Zuniga. DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2002.

     By Stephen Pytak 

     This is a pretty standard 80s slasher flick.
But it'll retain shelf life because of the last
five minutes, and a little nudity here and there.
     "The Initiation" stars Daphne Zuniga. 
Many will remember her as "Princess Vespa"
from Mel Brooks' "Spaceballs (1987)." Here,
she's "Kelly," a college girl with a violent 
recurring dream and an obsession with mirrors.
     We're given a taste of this dream at the
start of the show. It's got something to do
with peeking in her parents' bedroom after
hours, seeing Clu Gulagher and Vera Miles
in an Oscar winning performace, and 
some other guy catching on fire.
     At college, Kelly strikes up a platonic
friendship with "Peter," a teaching assistant 
researching dreams for his master's. If you
can imagine Hugh Jackman wearing a 
Member's Only jacket, you got this guy's
number.
     So, what does this flick have to do with
an initiation?
     There's this stupid tradition at the 
fluff sorority Kelly belongs to. To be a "sister"
or whatever, the new pledges have to play
a prank. It's important only because it gets
our characters from point A to point B. There
is no other foundation for the title.
     Point B is the multi story office and 
shopping plaza Kelly's father owns. To become
part of Delta Ro Kai or whatever it's called,
Kelly agreed to break in and steal the security
guard's clothes. 
     A few of her classmates follow. So do some
troublemakers. And so does a killer with clear
plastic gloves and a mean hoe (the kind you
garden with). 
     There is some suspense along the way. 
The filmmakers did an O.K. job of making a
psycho/slasher/stalker flick. It's like, there's a 
shadowhere. There's a shadow there. Oh. 
That one's got a bow and arrow. 
     This film isn't going to give anyone any 
nightmares. 
     But the ending was cool. No question about
it. If I say too much about it, somebody will try
to guess about what's going on here. Just watch
it. Suffer through some of the bad editing and
the generic score, and then savor the cookie at 
the end. Trust me.
     I'll also remember this flick for some funny
and strange moments.
     There's this character named "Marcia,"
played by Marilyn Kagan. She's got a story
about her violin teacher. I promise, you'll
never forget it.