The Initiation

Rating:
Summary: Initiation
Review: 1980's teen-slasher flick that is pretty ordinary fare.The only novelty values in this film are a young pre-fame Daphne Zuniga (Melrose Place) and a young pre-fame Hunter Tylo (The Bold and the Beautiful).While the film is probabaly a forgotten past on the ladder up for both ladies it is Hunter Tylo who now campaigns for christian values who desperately tries to forget the film more.Hunter has the all-important vital role of - The pretty girl who takes off all her clothes in front of the cameraman takes a shower in front of him and then gets out and dries herself in front of him just in case the eager teen male moviegoer missed her completely nude body the first times around - .Oh the joy of hollywood!!

Rating:
Summary: cheesey
Review: I got this because I'm a big fan of Hunter Tylo and Daphne Zuniga. Hunter Tylo looks completely different (did she have surgery?) so it's fun and camp to see her here. If you like B grade stuff, this is for you!

Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: I love this video. It is 100% pure b-movie, but brilliant nevertheless. A definate recommendation!!!

Rating:
Summary: An 80's classic top 10
Review: Okay people so here is the review.

I'm sure many of you out there saw this take off of a "Friday the 13th" - KILLER in the shadows, body count, girls screaming, getting killed One-by-One" movie before... HELLO? It's all in the name of FUN and Entertainment. This movies is very watchable. The first killing of the Nurse at the Mental ward is very good and gory. Pay attention to detail people! =)

In between the movie, you have Kelly, getting into a Sorrority at College and you have the Snotty [girl] who hates her, making her life hell, brain-less teenagers having fun, going to parties. Oh but wait, there's more! Kelly is having these aweful dreams and just doesnt know what to do about them! And would you believe it? There is a Dream Specialist on campus!! Well, what do you know! and then while all of this is going on, you have a mysterious un-seen killer lurking, watching every move of our heroine Kelly played by Daphne Zuniga of Melrose Place fame and other movies.

In the end is the... 'but of course'... twist that i really enjoy and keep enjoying everytime i watch it. I will not give anything away but this is definately a sunday afternoon movie.
It's a 'no brainer' folks but any good horror fan will like and enjoy this movie.

Im hoping the Widescreen is a good ratio aspect and the sound/video is great as well... a few Feature extra's won't kill anyone either!

Hope this review is somewhat interesting but this movie is your typical Killer doing away with Co-eds trapped in a very large Shopping Mall... Peace to all!

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good horror film!
Review: The "Initiation" is very 80s! In the sorority, the girls prance around in their underwear while playing pranks. They overdid it a bit in this film. Doesn't hold up as well as other films.

Rating:
Summary: Dull beginning, pretty entertaining second half.
Review: The Initiation is another one of those sorority-type slasher films where a group of girls are offed one-by-one by a deranged killer. The catch in this one is that it's set in a huge department store. Fun times? You bet, well, at least once they get into that store. Before that, this one's a snoozer.

The opening does set up an intriguing premise, with Daphne Zuniga constantly having a dream in which she's a young child watching her father fighting another man. After that, the film bogs down quite a bit with repetitive hypnosis scenes, and at least one of the twists involving her dreams is entirely predictable, so for the first half, the film hasn't done much at all.

But then, cut to the second half, once the girls break into the department store, and are knocked off one-by-one by the killer, and the film suddenly turns from sluggish to suspenseful. The kill scenes are built up quite well with plenty of blood, there are a few good jump-in-your-seat shocks, and it's nice to see I couldn't quite guess who would die in what order. The huge mall works extremely well in the movie's favor, making for a fairly complex setting in which the killer could be hiding anywhere.

There are even two scenes of gratuitous nudity, provided by none other than goregous soap star Hunter Tylo (credited here as Deborah Morehart), who happens to look even hotter now then she did 18 years ago! Unfortunately, the film stars Daphne Zuniga, who makes for a very flat heroine. I've heard many describe her as a talented actress, but I just don't see it. The rest of the performances are pretty standard, not even Vera Miles or Clu Gulager stand out.

The big plot twist at the end is pretty ludicrous, but I happen to like absurd twists in slashers (to an extent and depending on the situation), and at least it ties in believably with the opening. Had the rest of the film been as entertaining as the last thirty-five or so minutes, The Initiation would have been one truly nifty little slasher. As it is, the film is simply middling.
** 1/2 out of *****

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Flick Overall
Review: The Initiation is very slow and dreadful movie. The first 40 minutes are wasted with flashbacks and talking but the end in the shopping mall is decently done. The ending plot twist was a nice surpise but other than that this movie is strictly rental material.

Rating:
Summary: Better than it should be
Review: The Initiation should be a horrible movie, but for some reason it isn't. The whole is better than the parts. We have all the stereotypes, we have college kids, angst-ridden wealthy kids, recurring nightmares, and big fat flopping red herrings. There's also some pretty borderline acting, even from people you have actually heard of.

So why four stars? The movie just works for some reason. Somehow the blantant red herrings, in-your-face clues, etc still leave you surprised when the "shocking" twist ending is revealed. Or, maybe I am just an idiot... but all the people I have watched it with never saw it coming either.

Half of the movie takes place in a huuuuuge mall at night. The mall provides endless hiding spaces for the killer (or killers?) to wait and pounce from. The gore effects are really top notch. The attacks come quickly and viciously and look quite real. Even though the mall is huge, there is a claustrophobic feel since the principle characters are locked in without a real way of getting away from their attacker.

Veteran actors Clu Gulager and Vera Miles add some weight to the light, early career performances of Daphne Zuniga (Spaceballs, The Sure Thing, Melrose Place), Hunter Tylo (The Bold and the Beautiful), and brief talkshow host Marilyn Kagan.

The DVD I bought was the Initiation-only version whose only feature was a theatrical trailer. There is now a double-feature DVD that contains The Initiation AND The Mountaintop Motel Massacre. I haven't seen that movie, but you might as well buy it instead and get an extra movie out of the deal. You certainly won't be sacrificing any special features. But, again, this movie is good. There are lots of things to pick it apart over, but as a whole, it delivers.

Rating:
Summary: Better than it should be
Review: The Initiation should be a horrible movie, but for some reason it isn't. The whole is better than the parts. We have all the stereotypes, we have college kids, angst-ridden wealthy kids, recurring nightmares, and big fat flopping red herrings. There's also some pretty borderline acting, even from people you have actually heard of.

So why four stars? The movie just works for some reason. Somehow the blantant red herrings, in-your-face clues, etc still leave you surprised when the "shocking" twist ending is revealed. Or, maybe I am just an idiot... but all the people I have watched it with never saw it coming either.

Half of the movie takes place in a huuuuuge mall at night. The mall provides endless hiding spaces for the killer (or killers?) to wait and pounce from. The gore effects are really top notch. The attacks come quickly and viciously and look quite real. Even though the mall is huge, there is a claustrophobic feel since the principle characters are locked in without a real way of getting away from their attacker.

Veteran actors Clu Gulager and Vera Miles add some weight to the light, early career performances of Daphne Zuniga (Spaceballs, The Sure Thing, Melrose Place), Hunter Tylo (The Bold and the Beautiful), and brief talkshow host Marilyn Kagan.

The DVD I bought was the Initiation-only version whose only feature was a theatrical trailer. There is now a double-feature DVD that contains The Initiation AND The Mountaintop Motel Massacre. I haven't seen that movie, but you might as well buy it instead and get an extra movie out of the deal. You certainly won't be sacrificing any special features. But, again, this movie is good. There are lots of things to pick it apart over, but as a whole, it delivers.

Rating:
Summary: Fairly Good B movie!
Review: This is quite a good movie. It could be better but for the time it was quite good. Watch out for some appearances of now famous people like Deborah Morehart now Hunter Tylo on the Bold and the Beautiful. She looked stunning even then!