THE INITIATION OF SARAH (1978) – famous among fans of campy made-for-TV movies, The Initiation of Sarah is one of those ABC Friday Night Movies that delivers everything you could possibly want in a television cheese-fest, turned up to eleven. Lots of diehard TV movie fans go on and on about the over-the-top camp, ridiculous plot twists, ludicrous acting choices, and bizarre dialogue of their favorite movies, but this is the one time I’ve seen all the promise of the TV movie fulfilled in one place. Patty and Sarah are two sisters going off to college where the only important choice facing them is which sorority to pledge. ANS, the popular house led by Morgan Fairchild, want Patty because she’s so great, but they give mousy Sarah the back of the hand. Sarah is so drab and plain that everyone ignores her, from her mom, to her teachers, and even other losers (a fat girl stuck in the corner with her makes an excuse to run off at one point). She winds up in PED house (nicknamed, “Pigs, Elephants, and Dogs!” by the mean girls at ANS) and soon she and her sister are pitted against each other during Hell Week. Add to this the fact that Sarah has telekinetic powers, just like Carrie, pour in a Satanic cult subplot (featuring human sacrifice), add Mia Farrow’s sister, Tisa, playing an intensely shy violin student, and top it with Shelley Winters who spends the movie sprinkling A-1 steak sauce over the scenery and then chewing it up, and you’ve got the TV movie equivalent of a big, fat, pizza covered in extra cheese. It’s as perfect as a haiku, as rich as red meat, and as close as most of us will ever come to TV movie nirvana. (Watch it!)
