We continue #DIEcember 2: Slay Bells Ring with another obscure slasher, 1984’s THE INITIATION. This one is filled with family secrets, sharp hand rakes, and hot – temperature hot – sex. It’s a movie about the power of dreams or at least the power of attraction that comes from participating in a sleep study. It’s about a mother’s sacrifice, and how, no matter what you do, it doesn’t matter. It’s about real dads and fake dads and dressing up like a penis to a party, only to get murdered in an empty mall.
Listen as we discuss this early entry into New World Pictures’ second ownership group output, released the same year as ANGEL and CHILDREN OF THE CORN. You may ask yourself: could a crowd of people with lit candles enter my room while I’m asleep without me noticing? Is it ethical for a teaching assistant to date a student? How comfortable would it be to have sex on a stack of rugs?
Enjoy this slice of 1980’s slasher history, as only the NWPP crew can deliver!
The Initiation Gallery
CREDITS
Directors: Larry Stewart, Peter Crane
Writer: Charles Pratt Jr.
Stars: Vera Miles, Clu Gulager, Daphne Zuniga
The Initiation Fun Facts
- The opening credits lists Daphne Zuniga as “introducing”. This was her second film with the first being “The Dorm that Dripped Blood”.
- Vera Miles only agreed to work on the film because she wanted to work with Director, David Crane. She didn’t find out that Larry Stewart replaced David Crane until she arrived on location.
- This movie technically counts as a Christmas movie.
- One of the Executive Producers, brother of Angela Lansbury, was also responsible for getting the script for Reform School Girls to Roger Corman at New World Pictures.
- The dream research lab scene was shot in a maid’s closet at a Holiday Inn.