Watch The Initiation of Sarah For Free

That was an excellent one.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Blistering performances.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This "CARRIE For Seventies Television - With Witchcraft" doesn't quite go where you expect it to, thanks to a surprisingly sympathetic performance by Morgan Brittany as Sarah's adopted sister Patty, Key Lenz's complete commitment to Sarah's mousiness and the strength she finds once she uncovers her psychic (or is it witchcraft?) powers, and Tisa Farrow as Sarah's depressive violinist friend "Mouse". The rest of the cast doesn't fare quite as well, either due to less commitment to their roles or the simple fact they're completely unconvincing as college students - Morgan Fairchild, though only a year older than Brittany or Farrow, comes off more like a Bitchy Society Wife in her thirties than as Snooty Sorority Queen, while Robert Hayes (two years before AIRPLANE!) makes about as old a college student as the geriatric ones in MST3K favorite RING OF TERROR! Shelley Winters sadly turns in one of her over-the-top performances that she all too often gave in the Seventies, so when the final act "twist" comes in I doubt anybody's in the least surprised. If you can get past that? It's not a bad TV-Movie - no TRILOGY OR TERROR, but enjoyable and with some strong lead performances.

Beautiful college freshman and her plain-Jane adoptive sister shop around their university for the perfect sorority, eventually separating once they've been accepted into rival houses off-campus--one the popular clique for the spoiled and pampered, the other a haven for misfits. So far, so good for this TV-made thriller with an exceptionally fine cast, particularly Kay Lenz as Sarah, the psychology major harboring a life-long secret: when she's angry, she can make things 'happen.' Unfortunately, the teleplay by Don Ingalls, Carol Saraceno and Kenette Gfeller, working from a treatment by Saraceno and Tom Holland, is too intent on aping the 1976 theatrical feature "Carrie" (one might call it Carrie Goes to College). Characters are introduced, but not taken into consideration; there's speculation about Sarah's biological mother that might have provided some insight into Shelley Winters' odd-acting housemother, but none of this is built upon. It must have been troubling for Lenz and the supporting cast to see their hard work go up in flames (literally); the movie sidesteps all the points it has initially made about being true to one's self in order to have a cataclysmic conclusion. Had the telekinesis and black magic been taken out of the mix, they might really have had something here.

"The Initiation of Sarah" tells the tale of a college freshman (Kay Lenz) with telekinetic powers. She is pressured to join a sorority after her sister (Morgan Brittany) is recruited to a rival chapter run by a group of popular bullies. It just so happens that the house Sarah pledges is run by a witch (Shelley Winters). She wants to use the girl to exact revenge on the daughter (Morgan Fairchild) of the sorority girl that spurned her when she was a student 20 years earlier. Will Sarah give into the temptation to put her and the house mother's tormenting rivals in their place or resist the unrelenting anger brewing within her?Although it's a bit slow, "The Initiation of Sarah" serves up some fun TV-safe scares. I can see this airing the week of Halloween in 1978 and doing quite well in the Nielsen ratings. No one can deny the influence "Carrie" had on this movie. Shelley Winters ("The Poseidon Adventure") effectively plays the creepy old house mother with diabolical plans for the naïve Sarah. Morgan Fairchild ("The Seduction") is perfect as the venomous leader of the mean sorority girls who pick on poor Sarah. Morgan Brittany ("Dallas") and Kay Lenz ("Moving Violation") are wonderful as the two sisters torn apart by their rival houses.

Shy Sarah Goodwin (a strong and sympathetic portrayal by the lovely Kay Lenz) and her more outgoing half sister Patti (stunning brunette Morgan Brittany) go off to college together. Patti gets accepted into the snobby ANS sorority while poor Sarah has to stay at the oddball intellectual misfit sorority PED. PED's weird witch housemother Erica Hunter (the indomitable Shelley Winters at her most gleefully unrestrained and over the top) encourages Sarah to use her potentially lethal psychic powers on the ANS sorority, specifically targeting snotty stuck-up bitch Jennifer Lawrence (deliciously played to catty perfection by Morgan Fairchild) as the key deserving recipient of Sarah's wrath. Adequately directed by Robert Day, with decent cinematography by Ric Waite, a spooky score by Johnny ("The Evil") Harris, a rousing fiery conclusion, and fine acting by a solid cast, this modest made-for-TV "Carrie" cash-in clone does the trick as a fun little fright feature. Lenz and Fairchild excel in juicy substantial roles, with nice supporting performances by Tony Bill as an affable teaching assistant, a pre-"Airplane!" Robert Hays as a friendly frat guy, and Tisa ("Some Call It Loving," "Zombie") Farrow as the frail, timid Mouse. Moreover, there's a pretty racy and surprising gay subtext to be discerned in the relationship between Sarah and Ms. Hunter, who appears to be a repressed lesbian with a lascivious interest in comely young ladies. My sole criticism: the gorgeous Kay Lenz is rather miscast as a character who's supposed to be a frumpy and unattractive plain Jane wallflower. That minor quibble aside, this nifty flick overall rates as a most entertaining item.