The Initiation of Sarah

Synopsis

The film opens with Sarah (Kay Lenz), a painfully shy young woman, and her beautiful sister Patty (Morgan Brittany) playing on the beach at sunset. Patty wanders off to play in the surf with a young man, only for him to try to force himself on her. After a moment the man recoils and it is implied that Sarah has used telekinesis to save Patty. The film then cuts to the two sisters driving to college. On the way there Patty and Sarah discuss plans for the two of them to join Alpha Nu Sigma (ANS) as their mother was a member of the sorority. Sarah points out that she (Sarah) is adopted and that Patty is their mother's only biological child, as she was adopted shortly after she was born.

Once at the campus the two girls attend a rush week party at ANS. Patty is instantly welcomed into the sorority's clique while Sarah is directed to the nearby Phi Epsilon Delta (PED) house, as they do not view her as a potential candidate. The sisters both go to the PED house, where they are met with a general lack of enthusiasm from almost all of the girls other than Mouse (Tisa Farrow), an awkward and shy young woman who is instantly drawn to Sarah. After rush week is over Patty is overjoyed to get into ANS, but is somewhat hurt when she discovers that not only did Sarah not get in, but that ANS president Jennifer (Morgan Fairchild) insists that Patty not speak to Sarah, as she was accepted into PED. This causes friction between the two sisters, as Sarah is frustrated at Patty's reluctant willingness to follow Jennifer's orders.

As the semester progresses Sarah begins to strike up a relationship of sorts with Paul (Tony Bill), a teaching assistant for her psychology classes, and becomes somewhat closer to Mouse. She's unnerved by the PED's den mother Mrs. Hunter (Shelley Winters), who recognizes that Sarah has special powers and insists that she use them to lead PED to glory against the ANS. Patty continually tries to find ways to talk to Sarah but is repeatedly unsuccessful and Jennifer's taunting ultimately leads Sarah to use her powers to push Jennifer into a fountain. Feeling vindicated by the encounter, Sarah begins to open up to the idea of her powers but does not fully embrace them until Jennifer orchestrates a cruel prank against Sarah where she is pelted with rotten food, eggs, and mud. While the prank is successful in humiliating Sarah, it finally pushes Patty to leave Jennifer's sorority. Angry, Sarah rebuffs Paul's attempts to persuade her that Mrs. Hunter is evil and that she should leave the sorority, ultimately deciding to hold an initiation ceremony with Mrs. Hunter.

On the night of the ceremony Sarah and the other PEDs eagerly follow Mrs. Hunter's lead. Sarah notes that Mouse is not at the ceremony but is pacified by Mrs. Hunter's assurances that Mouse will show up at the final portion of the night's events. As the group is led through the ceremony, the ANS are also going through their own initiation rites. At Mrs. Hunter's prompting Sarah uses her powers to disrupt the ceremony for an interruption, causing the wind to blow the ANS' dresses and cause Jennifer's face to permanently warp into a horrific visage. However, when Sarah discovers that the ceremony will end with Mouse getting sacrificed, she uses her powers to stop the ceremony but ends up burning herself and Mrs. Hunter alive. The film ends with Patty deciding to join PED at Mouse's insistence and the two sorrowfully gaze at a picture of Patty and Sarah in happier times.

Cast

Reception

Critical reception for the DVD release of The Initiation of Sarah has been mixed to positive. Most of the reviews shared the opinion that while the film was cheesy, they enjoyed the acting. Multiple reviewers also noted its similarity to the 1976 film Carrie, which also dealt with the subject of a female outcast that discovers telekinetic powers, with comparing it unfavorably to the earlier film while still maintaining that The Initiation of Sarah was overall enjoyable.