The 1978 one. Not to be confused with the 2006 remake, also called The Initiation of Sarah, that is somehow simultaneously better (slightly more going on) and worse (dumber).
Before I get into this, since I did just *lightly* imply that it’s dumb, I want you to know: I like The Initiation of Sarah. I actually like both versions, but I like the original enough that I spent American dollars on it back when those were worth something.
It’s not a “good” movie, per se, but…what does that even mean, to be a good movie? This is a hill I will die on – what makes a movie good is not a universal. You (or me, or anyone) liking a movie doesn’t make it good any more than hating a movie makes it bad. Like, I’ll fight someone over Timecrimes or Session 9 – two movies people think are sooo good that make me want to blind myself. Ok, maybe not that serious, but…I hate them both. Despite Session 9 being one of the most frequently recommended movies in my recent history. Everyone was so sure I was going to love it. Nope. Sorry. Is it David Caruso? Maybe. But…as usual, I digress.
Sorry. Back to The Initiation of Sarah. Is it objectively good or bad? No. But to me, it’s a little of Column A, a little of Column B. I mean, it’s a made for TV movie. If you’re old enough to remember them, or smart enough to subscribe to the LMN app (omg LIFETIMESPLOITATIONNNNN), you know – made for tv movies can be pretty incredible.
Sarah (played by Kay Lenz) is the adopted daughter of Alpha Nu Sigm alumni and megabitch Mrs. Goodwin (I just realized she doesn’t actually get a first name. Whatever, she sucks). Mrs. Goodwin raised her alongside her biological daughter Patty (Mrs. Goodwin’s daughter, not Sarah’s), after Sarah’s mysterious mom mysteriously disappears? I guess? They don’t really make this super clear, how she ended up with them. it seems like she agreed to take her in rather than picking her up from an orphanage, thus implying she must have known Sarah’s mother, but alas – we don’t get to know that.
Anyway, it’s post high school, and Sarah and Patty are off to college. They’ll both be pledging Mrs. Goodwin’s sorority Alpha Nu Sigm, but SPOILER ALERT – Sarah isn’t going to get in because she’s weird and the Alpha Nu Sigm ladies are Mean Girls (marvelously headed by Morgan Fairchild). So she ends up in Phi Epsilon Delta with Tisa Farrow! I’d way rather be hanging around with Tisa (who you may remember from classics such as Anthropophagus and Zombie) than Morgan Fairchild anyway. She seems more fun.
ANS (which, hoo boy, hear them say that over and over) and PED apparently have a long and storied rivalry. And Jennifer Lawrence (Fairchild) now knows that Patty and Sarah have a strong relationship so she’s determined to destroy it, naturally. Because she sucks. So she takes a special interest in tormenting Sarah with the help of her sorority gang.
But, it’s worth noting that Sarah has weird powers. She has weird, telekinetic powers. For reasons. Don’t worry about it (they definitely don’t imply that somehow Carrie survived the prom and had an illegitimate child, or maybe had the child pre-prom, or…who knows). And her new house mother, played beautifully and bizarrely by Shelley Winters, wants in on that power. Because apparently, PED has a long history not just with ANS rivalry, but also playing around with the occult. We know this because the house has a locked-door-spooky-room with a doberman and an altar in it. That means occult, right?
Anyway, the whole thing comes to a head…kind of. And there is zero explanation for any of the questions you will definitely have at this point:
Why is the PED house mother so obsessed with the occult?
How does the occult tie into the sorority in general?
Why does the sorority only initiate magic girls?
What did she mean when she said that thing about Sarah using her powers to fight the evil or whatever? Did she mean those bitchy, stuck-up girls?
Why the sorority rivalry?
Why was she trying to sacrifice Mouse?
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!
