Friday the 13th: A Curious Goods Manifest

Cursed Object	Series Episode
Doll	“The Inheritance”
Quill Pen	“The Poison Pen”
Cupid Statue	“Cupid’s Quiver”
Tea Cup	“A Cup of Time”
Magician’s Cabinet	“The Great Montarro”
Surgeon’s Scalpel	“Doctor Jack”
Boxing  Gloves	“Shadow Boxer”
Garden Mulcher	“The Root of All Evil”
Comic Book	“Tales of the Undead”
Scarecrow	“Scarecrow”
Lantern	“Bedazzled”
Make-up Compact	“Vanity’s Mirror”
Tattoo Needles	“Tattoo”
Electric Chair	“The Electrocutioner”
Trephinator	“Brain Drain”
Quilt	“The Quilt of Hathor”
Camera	“Double Exposure”
Foghorn	“The Pirates Promise”
Sheriff’s Badge	“Badge of Honor”
Pipe	“Pipe Dream”
Cradle	“What a Mother Wouldn’t Do”
Egyptian Urn	“Bottle of Dreams”
Voodoo Mask	“The Voodoo Mambo”
Violin	“Symphony in B#”
Make-up Box	“Master of Disguise”
Wax Figures	“Wax Magic”
Ventriloquist’s Dummy	“Read My Lips”
Pocket Watch	“13 O’Clock”
Key Chain	“Night Hunger”
Beehive	“The Sweetest Sting”
Playhouse	“The Playhouse”
Lantern	“Eye of Death”
Syringe	“Better off Dead”
Movie Camera	“Scarlet Cinema”
Ring	“The Mephisto Ring”
Pendant	“Mesmer’s Bauble”
Crystal Ball	“Wedding in Black”
Snow Shoes	“Wedding Bell Blues”
Victorian Symphonia	“The Maestro”
Ceremonial Rattle	“The Shaman’s Apprentice”
Jacket	“The Prisoner”
Witch’s Ladder	“Coven of Darkness”
Demon Worship Knife	“Demon Hunter”
Wheelchair	“Crippled Inside”
Hearing Aid	“Stick It In Your Ear”
Coin	“Bad Penny”
Car Radio	“Hate on Your Dial”
Crucifix	“Night Prey”
Fountain Pen	“Mightier Than the Sword”
Monkey Statues	“Year of the Monkey”
Aspirator	“Epitaph for a Lonely Soul”
Cameo locket	“Repetition”
Yin/Yang Charm	“The Long Road Home”
Dog Collar	“My Wife as a Dog”
Jack-in-the-box	“Jack-in-the-Box”
Television Set	“Spirit of Television”
Celtic Statue	“The Tree of Life”
Painting	“The Charnel Pit”

Friday the 13th: The Series: "Tales of the Undead"

“Tales of the Undead,” a first season installment of Friday the 13^th: The Series, is likely my favorite episode of the entire series. 

In part, this is so because the episode -- while being a crackling good horror tale – also speaks a lot of hard truths about the worlds of comic-books and science fiction fandom.  Specifically, those talents who create characters and stories that millions love aren’t always rewarded financially in the way they should be, and spend their final years in poverty and desperation.  It’s a sad fact of life.

In “Tales of the Undead,” a determined comic-book fan who loves the classic character “Ferrus the Invincible” (think Rom: The Space-knight), steals the ultra-rare first issue of the comic-book, which would sell at auction for twenty-five thousand dollars.  During this act of theft, the young man grabs the comic-book issue and suddenly transforms into Ferrus, a malevolent, indestructible robot.  In that form, he kills the comic-book store owner, a kind of live-action version of The Simpsons character, though this character probably precedes him by a year or so.

Ryan witnesses the violent act and traces the cursed comic-book back to Ferrus’s creator, Jay Star (Ray Walston), who has fallen on hard times and has become a bitter recluse since he first created the character in 1947. 

After the character Ferrus built the empire of Peerless Comics, Jay was shoved aside by corporate politics and his beloved creation was taken away from him.  When Star learns that the cursed comic-book can turn anyone who holds it into the indestructible Ferrus, he realizes he must possess it, himself.  This is especially so because he is succumbing to arthritis and a heart condition, and can no longer afford medication.  By becoming his own indestructible creation, he gets a second chance at life.

Micki (Robey) and Ryan (John D. Le May) attempt to retrieve the cursed comic-book issue, but realize that they must find a rare, legendary (unpublished) manuscript featuring the death of Ferrus to learn how to kill the robot once and for all…

Although the technique used is not expensive, I love how “Tales of the Undead” depicts the transformation from mortal man to monstrous machine.  The screen transforms into comic-book frames as the transformation occurs, and we watch the entire sequence in illustrated form.  The murders are also depicted as excerpts from a comic-book, and thus this episode gives once the chance to visualize Micki and Ryan in that form.

Some of the visual compositions in this episode -- in both illustration and video form – strongly echo familiar comic motifs.  My favorite image finds the colossal Ferrus emerging from an elevator, a slain enemy at his feet.

Beyond the non-conventional visualizations of the action, “Tales of the Undead” works remarkably well as a human story, and in fact, one of the most “human” stories of the canon.  A budding illustrator himself, fanboy Ryan holds Jay Star up as a hero, only to learn that he has clay feet.  His hero worship turns to sympathy and pity when he learns that Star has become weak and bitter with age and because of desperate conditions.  There’s something very powerful about this particular relationship, and Ryan’s slow realization that Jay Star, though incredibly talented, is as human and fragile as he is.

I mentioned above how the episode lingers on the idea of an artist dwelling in a kind of financial and creative exile.  We have seen this happen again and again in Hollywood, and in the comic-book world too. 

Inevitably, it seems that one partner in a beloved collaboration ends up with the lion’s share of the credit, or with the fame, while the other slowly disappears from sight.  Great works of art have also been taken out of their creator’s hands frequently by business interests, and of course, “Tales of the Undead” explores that truth as too.  In all, it’s a much more nuanced approach than the “cursed antique of the week” premise may suggest.

Finally, the episode is enhanced greatly by Ray Walston (1914 – 2011) one of cult-tv history’s greatest treasures.  Walston starred in My Favorite Martian (1963 – 1966), and The Magician (1973), and made the cult-tv rounds as a guest star on programs as diverse as Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century, The Evil Touch, and The Incredible Hulk. 

Walston makes the interesting acting choice in “Tales of the Undead” not to play Jay Star up for sympathy or pity.  Instead, he ramps up all the darker emotions, namely rage and bitterness.  And yet, in part because of Walston’s frail physicality partly because of his incredible, raspy voice, the character nonetheless gains our sympathy.  He wants what we all want: more life.

“Tales of the Undead” came early in the Friday the 13^th: The Series run but it stands out as one of the very best episodes of all.

Friday the 13th: The Series ""Hellowe'en"

Although Friday the 13^th: The Series features plenty of good episodes, the best of them invariably feature the late, great R.G. Armstrong as Lewis Vendredi, original owner of Curious Goods.  Armstrong could really portray a great villain, as one can detect from his performances in movies such as Race with the Devil (1975).  And on Friday the 13^th, he made for a very malevolent, if recurring presence.

“Hallowe’en” (original airdate, October 26, 1987) is another early first season episode of this syndicated series, and the first one to feature the return of Vendredi.  In this story written by William Taub and directed by Timothy Bond, Ryan (John D. Le May) and Micki (Robey) host a Halloween costume party at Curious Goods in an attempt to allay the fears of the (rightfully…) concerned neighbors.  The basement vault where all the cursed items are locked away is marked as “off-limits” by Ryan for the occasion, but two partiers ignore the warning and conjure up a spirit in a glowing crystal ball: the spirit of Vendredi, himself.

While Jack (Chris Wiggins) is mysteriously led away from the party (and Micki and Ryan) by a lost little trick-or-treater, Greta (Adrienne Pocock), Vendredi appears as a ghost in Curious Goods and begs Micki and Ryan for their help with an act of mercy.  He claims to desire only to save the soul of his long-suffering, deceased wife, Grace.  He even takes them to her corpse…which happens to be in a secret room in the store.

But in truth, Vendredi seeks only a powerful relic called the Amulet of Zohar so he can make himself flesh for a few hours…until daylight.  Misled by their uncle, Micki and Ryan give Vendredi what he needs to save Grace, and then learn they have been deceived, and that he has roughly three hours on Halloween night to find an undamaged corpse where he can permanently house his soul.

Unfortunately for Micki, Ryan and Jack, they must also contend with a demon dwarf, Greta (Victoria Deslaurier) who has come from Hell to do Vendredi’s diabolical bidding…

“Hellowe’en” proves a rather bizarre episode in the canon, in part because of the aforementioned demon dwarf (described in the teleplay and episode as a “midget,”), Greta.  At first she appears as a cute-as-a-button little girl, but then she literally becomes a hell spawn, with the power to levitate and hypnotize victims.  

The episode’s climax descends into something like high camp as Ryan and Micki attempt to escape from Greta in a mortuary, and she tears the place up, pulps coffins and attempts to keep them away from Vendredi as he conducts his all-important ritual.  Greta as a soldier villain from hell -- small in size; big in stature -- adds an unusual wrinkle to the story, for certain.

Otherwise, you have to wonder about a plot-line that sees Micki and Ryan hosting a Halloween party just one floor above a repository for hundreds of cursed antiques.  That’s just asking for trouble, certainly, and probably not the brightest move, wary neighbors or not.  On the other hand, one of the welcome character touches on Friday the 13^th: The Series (at least starting out) is that Micki and Ryan are naïve and inexperienced, and they make mistakes.  They aren’t professionals, and they clearly have a lot to learn about battling ghosts and demons..  If they pulled this stunt in the second season, it would seem a lot dumber, but since “Hallowe’en” is the fifth episode of the first season, perhaps the narrative isn’t so far-fetched.

After “Hellowe’en,” R.G. Armstrong returned in four additional Friday the 13^th: The Series episodes including “What A Mother Wouldn’t Do” (about a cradle from the Titanic), “Bottle of Dreams,” the second season premiere “Doorway to Hell,” and “Night Hunger.”  

Friday the 13th: The Series "The Inheritance"

Last Halloween, I blogged a few episodes from the Laurel horror anthology Tales from the Darkside (1983 – 1988), and this year I’ve decided to reach back to the mid-eighties once more to blog some memorable episodes of the syndicated venture, Friday the 13^th: The Series.

Friday the 13^th: The Series ran for three seasons and seventy-one hour-long episodes.  In broad terms, the series involves two unlucky souls, Micki (Robey) and Ryan (John D. Le May), who inherit their dead uncle’s antique shop. 

They are unlucky because Uncle Lewis Vendredi (R.G. Armstrong) made a pact with the Devil to become immortal, but then attempted to back out on his end of the bargain.  Dragged down to Hell, Vendredi leaves behind on Earth hundreds of cursed antiques in his shop.  Each one is imbued with a murderous, monstrous spirit.   

Alas, many of these cursed items are soon sold during a going-out-of-business sale held by Vendredi’s niece and nephew, meaning it is their responsibility -- with the help of occult expert Jack Marshak (Chris Wiggins) -- to retrieve them. 

For the buyers, it is literally a matter of life and death.

The Curious Goods Team

Thus, in most of the seventy or so episodes of the series, the action involves the team from “Curious Goods” attempting to recover an evil relic, collectible, or antique.  During the run of the series, these objects came in all shapes and sizes, from an evil tea cup (“A Cup of Time”) and cursed make-up compact (“Vanity’s Mirror”) to sinister comic-books (“Tales of the Undead”) and even a diabolical weed-mulcher (“The Root of All Evil.”)

If this format sounds a little bit familiar, it may be because it echoes the details of an Amicus horror anthology film from the 1970s directed by Kevin Connor, From Beyond the Grave (1973).  There, Peter Cushing was the antique shop owner selling dangerous goods.

Friday the 13^th: The Series received mixed reviews during its original run, but has nonetheless become a cult treasure to horror aficionados today.  Writing in 1987, Variety opined that the series was “a successful terror tease blissfully devoid of blood and full of the supernatural and imagination.” 

Meanwhile, Time Magazine’s Richard Zoglin concluded that “Friday the 13^th’s worst sin “is an obsession with clunky, over-explanatory dialogue…but the show delivers a stronger dose of pure horror than anything else on TV.” (November 6, 1989).

“The Inheritance” is Friday the 13^th’s premiere episode, and it first aired the week of October 3, 1987.  Written by William Taub and directed by William Fruet, “The Inheritance” quickly sets up the premise of the series by first introducing viewers to mean old Uncle Lewis, and then to his niece and nephew/odd couple, Micki Foster and Ryan Dallian. 

Micki is engaged to a wealthy (and snooty…) attorney, and sees Curious Goods as a detour from her appointed destiny.  Ryan, meanwhile, is one of cult-television’s early “geeks,” a comic-book collector and science fiction fan.

The first order of business for Ryan and Micki is the recovery of an evil doll, named Vita, who has fallen into the possession of a little girl, Mary, played by a very young Sarah Polley (Dawn of the Dead [2004]).  Before, Ryan and Micki can recover the doll, it murders her cruel stepmother.

Sarah Polley plays Mary in "The Inheritance."

While Ryan and Micki attempt to recover the doll (and place it safely in a locked vault in Curious Goods’ basement…), they must also countenance Jack Marshak’s belief that we are all surrounded by a “world of spirits, of a netherworld,” and that Vendredi tapped into that world to dabble in deviltry.  For Micki and Ryan, this means a rude awakening about the nature of reality itself…

Looking back today, Friday the 13^th and its series premise seem to comment deliberately on avaricious and materialistic nature of the late 1980s.  For instance, Lewis Vendredi is described as a man who is passionate about two things: wealth, and eternal life.   

If you consider the “wealth” part of that equation as the era’s obsession with upward mobility and the “not growing old” part a comment on the pervasive 1980s aerobics/fitness craze, you see how the problems faced here stem from two central pillars of the yuppie movement.  Micki herself seems a bit like a callow yuppie, though over the course of the series she grows and matures, and eventually leaves her judgmental and elitist beliefs behind.  In some sense, the events of the series teach her how to care about other people, and not just herself.

There have been a plenty of evil dolls in cult-television history, and Vita makes a fine heir to The Twilight Zone’s Talking Tina.  There is a truly horrifying quality to her porcelain white face – especially as it looms in the blackness -- and “The Inheritance” also imbues the monster with a horrible, raspy voice.  During the course of the episode, the malevolent doll rips out a man’s throat, suffocates Mary’s stepmother, and pushes a heavy piece of furniture over on an elderly neighbor, proving herself a real menace.  

Evil Doll.

Many folks who remember Friday the 13^th: The Series remember this scary doll well, and thus this particular episode.  That seems about right given Vita’s monstrous nature.  In terms of writing, acting and direction, however, “The Inheritance” seems somewhat primitive today, in some ways even more dated than older horror series such as Ghost Story/Circle of Fear (1972 – 1973) or Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974).

In part this may be so because the DVD prints are muddy and cheap-looking.  A re-mastering would certainly seem to be in order. 

But contrarily (and we’ll see more of this quality in “Hellowe’en…”), Friday the 13^th: The Series in some moments feels like a gonzo low-budget horror movie.  That means that it sometimes takes detours into weird horror that feel far afield from homogenized television standards.  I remember watching the series late at night when I was senior in high school, for example, and feeling that anything was possible, and that -- at any moment -- something truly horrible might happen.

Taken on a whole, “The Inheritance” is a solid start for Friday the 13^th: The Series, and the presence of Vita as the cursed object of the week helps it rank a cut-above some of the other first season installments.  Also, the late R.G. Armstrong remains a delight in this series.

R.G. Armstrong as Uncle Lewis Vendredi.

Logan's Run 40th Anniversary Blogging: "The Collectors" (September 23, 1977)

The second Logan's Run episode, "The Collectors" aired on September 23, 1977, and was written by James Schmerer and directed by Alexander Singer. 

Bluntly stated, it's an episode that doesn't live up to the potential of the series. The episode is well-directed by Singer, a veteran director of many programs, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the story is hopelessly cliched, and just doesn't fit well in the Logan's Run universe.

Here's what happens: 

After their solar-powered hovercraft breaks down in the desert, Jessica (Heather Menzies) and Logan (Gregory Harrison) leave REM behind to repair it while they explore. 

Two aliens, Joanna (Leslie Parrish) and John (Linden Chiles) are secretly monitoring the humans, and decide to test them by granting their every wish. 

They create the illusion of "Sanctuary" for Logan and Jessica in order to determine if these two humans are worth taking back to their home world, Kasorla. Their ship is wandering the galaxy collecting two specimens from each planet's dominant species and probing them for fatal defects as a prelude to conquering them. 

Jessica doesn't seethrough the illusion, but Logan does, and with REM's assistance, plans to pull a fast one on the aliens, releasing all of their specimens and staging an insurrection.

After a careful watching, I have to say that "The Collectors" would have been much more successful if, as viewers, we believed that the alien spaceship really were that grand destination, Sanctuary, along with Jessica and Logan. 

Instead, the episode undercuts the tension it should generate by revealing instantly that "evil" aliens are behind the illusion. This is bad TV plotting.  Had the aliens not been revealed so early, we still would have had doubts about whether this place was really Sanctuary, but we would have been sharing that doubt with the characters, and therefore grown closer to them. 

But this way -- with the aliens revealed from nearly the beginning of the show -- that just doesn't happen.

Secondly, the episode really treats Jessica really poorly. I thought she was slightly insipid in the pilot episode, but here this character - a revolutionary from an oppressive society, we should remember - throws caution to the wind and immediately believes that they have located Sanctuary.  She shows no cynicism, no skepticism.

Instead, she falls for the deception hook, line and sinker. She doesn't think it odd that she imagines Sanctuary, and the next moment it appears. She doesn't think it strange that she imagines a runner friend named Martin, and the next minute, he materializes. Jessica is simply not served well by a willing and blind acceptance of what seems far-fetched at best; impossible at worst.

Because Logan is our hero, he's the suspicious one, which fits in with his character, I suppose. After all, he is the only Sandman to have an introspective, questioning side. But I do think there is some "premise" drift here.

Logan is basically an innocent: under 30; never been outside the City of Domes; raised to believe the propaganda of the State. And now, suddenly, in "The Collectors" he comes on all Captain Kirk-like, fitting the pieces of the puzzle together flawlessly. 

Yes, he should be suspicious, like Jessica, but would he be able to say flat out, lines like: "If I'm right, our minds our being manipulated. Our thoughts are being made real?" I'm not certain that his education and training would provide him that much information. 

Again, it's good that he would be suspicious (unlike Jessica, alas...) but I think he would be baffled and confused and questioning, not aggressively solving the problem. He just doesn't have that kind of experience. 

That task should have been left entirely to REM, a machine that can't be cowed by illusions. Logan should have just "felt" that things were off, but not have been able to verbalize it and plot against the enemy so rapidly, confidently, and aggressively. He didn't attend Starfleet Academy. He's not the Commander of a Moonbase. He's the lone questioner from a "we don't question" totalitarian society. 

That gives him a leg up, but he's not a genius.

Even beyond these issues of character and plotting, the story line of "The Collectors" is trite. How many times over the years have we met aliens who want to collect Earth specimens in a kind of zoo and bring them back to their planet, only to be dissuaded by the wiles of humankind? Too many, I'd say. It feels a little too Star Trekkish, which -- of course -- was the yardstick for sci-fi programs in the 1970s. The final act is also a plug for Star Wars fans, with the myriad aliens fleeing from their cells, looking in all their glory like the denizens of the Tatooine cantina.

But sadly, "The Collectors" doesn't address the themes and ideas that should be at the heart of a series like Logan's Run. 

What do I mean by that?  Well, this is a series about the mess man has made of his own planet. It's a post-apocalyptic world, set in a dystopian future. It's about the growing pains of starting over. About trying to build a world right, this time. Invading aliens shouldn't even enter the picture. And certainly not so early in the program's run. Not in the second tale.

There is a wealth of post-apocalyptic stories and villains worth telling here without ever resorting to an otherworldly invasion or similar menace, and frankly I was disappointed to see this installment drift away from the core concept so quickly.

But then again, early episodes of a series often have difficulty finding their footing. The pilot is usually strong (it must be, to sell the series), and then the first few episodes dip in quality while everybody gets their legs, and then the show -- if it is lucky -- comes back strong.  

We'll see in the weeks ahead of Logan's Run recovers from this sophomore stumble.

Next week: "Capture."

Cult-TV Movie Review: The Initiation of Sarah (1978)

In The Initiation of Sarah (1978), two very different sisters -- popular Patty (Morgan Brittany) and shy Sarah (Kay Lenz) -- attend freshman year at Waltham College. Although she keeps them bottled up, Sarah appears to possess powerful telekinetic abilities.  As her sister notes, “there’s something very strange” about Sarah.

At Waltham, the school’s sororities soon assiduously pursue Patty. In particular, ANS (Alpha Nu Sigma) -- the sorority of popular young women -- wants her to join.  At the same time, however, these “sisters,” led by the vindictive and snobby Jennifer (Morgan Fairchild), reject Sarah.

Sarah is accepted only at PED (Phi Epsilon Delta), a sorority of misfits overseen by a house mother and instructor, Mrs. Hunter (Sarah Winters), who is reputed to be a witch.

When Sarah has a psychic outburst that causes Jennifer to fall into the water, Jennifer plots a terrible revenge against Sarah.  Mrs. Hunter, meanwhile, sees Sarah as the supernatural avatar who can restore PED’s place on campus.  Both Jennifer and Mrs. Hunter see Sarah as their means of consolidating power in their respective hierarchies.

After Jennifer’s twisted joke, Sarah is initiated at a PED ceremony in a hedge maze.  The last time this ritual was undertaken, a student died under mysterious circumstances.

But Sarah is not about to let that happen again.

The Initiation of Sarah (1978) aired originally in prime time on ABC, February 6, 1978. Since then, it has become a beloved and much-remembered cult-TV movie, and one that was even remade in 2006.  In terms of its particular energy, the film from director Robert Day is strengthened by the performances of Kay Lenz and Morgan Fairchild, but clearly derives the majority of its energy from a then-current horror blockbuster: Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976).

One subplot, in particular, seems familiar. In Carrie, a former enemy’s boyfriend is enticed to take Carrie (Sissy Spacek) to the high school prom. Once there, Carrie is viciously humiliated by Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen) and Billy Nolan (John Travolta). The delinquents rig a bucket of pig’s blood to spill on Carrie when she is anointed prom queen in a rigged vote. This is the act that sends Carrie over the edge, and makes her a (psychic-powered) killer.

In The Initiation of Sarah, Jennifer makes her boyfriend (Robert Hays) invite Sarah to a party for a teaching assistant that Sarah has a crush on. He does as she wishes, and Sarah leaves her house -- all dressed up -- for the party. Unfortunately, Jennifer and the other sisters are waiting outside PED to pelt her with mud and tomatoes.  This is the act that turns Sarah to the dark side, embracing her ability to do harm with psychic powers.

On a broader level, both productions involve meek, shy girls, who can’t successfully negotiate a “rite of passage” in life (either high school or college), and strike back at a social event (a prom; a sorority initiation). Both young women also have overbearing mothers, who don’t understand them.  Carrie’s mother is a religious fanatic (played by Piper Laurie). Sarah’s mother is a shallow social climber.

And of course, both Carrie and Sarah possess frightening supernatural or occult capabilities.

The Carrie model was used very often by horror productions circa 1977-1978, including in efforts such as Jennifer (1978) and even Laserblast (1978). When viewed in this company, The Initiation of Sarah doesn’t look quite so bad. There are a few reasons for this assessment, and most of them have to do with the idea of what it means to be a “sister.”

Throughout the telefilm, Sarah and Patty negotiate the meaning of that word.

They are not biologically related; Sarah is adopted. Similarly, they are different in terms of temperament and looks. Patty is more concerned with her physical appearance and “belonging” to a group of well-liked people than is shy, intellectual Sarah.  And yet despite these differences, Sarah and Patty each attempt to care for the other throughout the events of the film.  They are able to love and respect one another, even when they experience differences.

And then, of course, we have the setting of the sororities, where all those who belong to a house are defined as “sisters.” These individuals are joined through their sense of belonging at a specific house.  But again, we have two distinct examples to consider here.

Jennifer bullies Patty, forcing her to eschew her ties to Sarah.  She threatens Patty too.  It is clear at ANS that “belonging” is defined by hating those who don’t belong. In other words, camaraderie is encouraged by putting down others. We see this in ANS’s nickname for PED (“Pigs, Elephants and Dogs.”)  These sisters can only feel satisfaction with one another with they have someone else, someone outside, to hate.

Meanwhile, and in quite opposite fashion, Sarah befriends a sister named Mouse (Tisa Farrow) at PED and helps her to feel better about herself; to not be so “down on” herself, to use the film’s disco-decade lingo.  Sarah -- being adopted, perhaps -- recognizes that being a sister is not only about blood, but about how you treat people; about how you care for people; how you support those you love.

When Sarah strikes back in the film’s not entirely scintillating climax, she strikes back both against Jennifer, who is an abuser, and Mrs. Hunter, an exploiter, who has hurt Mouse. Sarah doesn’t limit her assault to those in another sorority house.  She sees through someone closer to home, too, and that’s important to remember. She is not bound by the tribalism we see at ANS and in Jennifer.

Sarah does not kill innocent people in her psychic attack either, another key factor that differentiates her from Carrie in the DePalma film. Sara causes Jennifer to age incredibly fast, but I don’t think Jennifer dies, unless I missed it. Sarah’s redemptive act, saving the innocent and hurting only the guilty, supports the film’s dramatic through-line that the only real evil power is “hate.”  We see that evil power practiced by Jennifer and Mrs. Hunter, but not importantly, by Sarah herself.

Even when Sarah is gone, at the end of the telefilm, her example makes sisters of others. Mouse and Patty find one another, and strike up a friendship. They begin to care for one another at PED.

It’s intriguing to me how this TV-movie compares sister relationships across many characters, and is able to get its point across. Yet watching the movie today, I wish The Initiation of Sarah were a bit less cartoonish in depicting the “bad” sorority characters, and a bit less dependent on the details of Carrie from a narrative standpoint.

The Initiation of Sarah is derivative, but not without merit. The movie might be described as Carrie's little sister, actually. It's easy to see the similarities, but if you look a little more closely, you can see that The Initiation of Sarah works hard to have an identity of its own too.