The Initiation of Sarah
Encyclopedia
The Initiation of Sarah is a "re-imagined" remake of a 1978 horror film, The Initiation of Sarah. It premiered on ABC Family
on October 22, 2006 as part of their "13 Nights of Halloween" special.
ceremony, in which the sorority president tries to stab a pledge in the heart, but the knife mysteriously stops in mid-air. Eighteen years later, Trina Goodwin (Morgan Fairchild
), and her twin
daughters, Sarah (Mika Boorem
) and Lindsay (Summer Glau
), are driving up to Temple Hill University, where Sarah and Lindsay are starting their first semester. Along the tour, they notice a "weird" house, Pi Epsilon Delta, (P.E.D.), and after that, they see the house they want to pledge the most, Alpha Nu Gamma. The girls move into their dormitory with the hope of escaping the reputations they had in high school for being "freaky".
Sarah meets a girl named Vita in a bathroom, and they become good friends, while Sarah (mentioning that she is an Alpha Nu legacy
) forces other girls to apologize to Vita -and give her their shampoo-, for mocking her earlier. Then Sarah goes into a stall, and removes her many bracelets, revealing cuts on her wrists. Later on, Sarah and Lindsay meet their Student-Advisor, Finn (Ben Ziff
), who delivers them two invitations to Pi Epsilon Delta for a Rushing Ceremony.
At the party, Lindsay ends up having a nice time, while Sarah can't wait to leave. But before they do, Sarah meets the Alpha Nu President, Corrine (Joanna Garcia
). When they shake hands, Corrine's glass of red cocktail
juice spills all over her own dress. Sarah leaves in tears, apologizing to Corrine, and Lindsay follows. After a long talk, and a few apologies, Lindsay trips and breaks her ankle on a tree root in front of the Pi Epsilon Delta house. The girls in the house look after Lindsay, while Sarah meets Dr. Eugenia Hunter (Jennifer Tilly
), the president of P.E.D. After a short while, Lindsay's ankle heals extremely fast. As the girls are leaving, Sarah asks Hunter why she invited them. Dr. Hunter claims she was a friend of her mother.
The next day, Lindsay is ecstatic to find out that both she and Sarah were asked back to Alpha Nu, and Sarah also received another invitation to P.E.D., but they decide to go to Alpha Nu Gamma, where they meet with Corrine, who promises to put in a good word for Lindsay about a guy she saw (and apparently likes) while she brushes an eyelash
off Lindsay. A while later, in Sarah and Finn's Europe
an Mysticism
class, (which Dr. Hunter teaches) Dr. Hunter mentions to Sarah that she knows Sarah has magical powers, and so does she. Sarah, shocked, leaves and walks into Corrine, who cheers her up.
In the evening, Sarah goes to Finn's room to borrow notes, but before she can get there, Corrine meets him first and says she was double-dared to introduce herself to "the hottest guy I've never met" and have sex
with him. Sarah catches them and leaves, followed by Corrine. Moments later, it is revealed that Corrine never saw Finn: It was Dr. Hunter under a shape-shifting spell.
The next day, Sarah unintentionally uses her powers on Corrine and pushes her into a muddy ditch, thengoes to see Dr. Hunter, who tells her that Alpha Nu and P.E.D. are not only lifelong rivals, but mortal enemies, fighting Good versus Evil. Sarah's powers, which mark her as "the One", could disrupt the balance, and Alpha Nu wants to sacrifice her to the Eternal Flame so they will live and stay out of Hell
. Later, Sarah tells Lindsay what she learned, and Lindsay angrily claims that ever since the day they were born it was always about Sarah, and never about her. She leaves in tears, refusing to believe anything.
Back at Alpha Nu, for a minute, we see Corrine's true form, as an old woman, who shape-shifts into a beautiful 21 year old college student. Esme (Tessa Thompson
), the Alpha Nu vice president, warns Corrine of the fight between Sarah, and Lindsay. Corrine devices a plan, and while doing so, she reveals The Knife of Truth, (which they have to use to sacrifice The One, for it can only cut the flesh of the One). She uses the eyelash she took from Lindsay to brew a potion, and used it to make the man she likes, After Lindsay realizes it was all a gag, she confronts Esme, and Corrine, who show her what she wants the most in her life, (to be full-figured) and they promise to make her look as full-figured as she wants, if she joins.
Back at their dormitory, Sarah is packing all of her belonging, saying she wants to leave, but Lindsay refuses, and wants to join Alpha Nu. Suddenly, a fire starts in their dormitory, (courtesy of Esme) and Sarah at first uses heavy pillows, and coffee to put it out, but it only makes the fire grow. Sarah eventually, uses her magic to put out the fire, and it works. But the entire dormitory is declared uninhabitable by smoke
-damage. Lindsay moves out leaving Sarah, and joins Alpha Nu. While Sarah sleeps in P.E.D. with her friend, Vita, who was initiated into P.E.D.
The next day, Sarah and Vita become more acquainted. Sarah meets up with Finn, and they patch up their relationship, and Sarah sees Lindsay, taller, and more full-figured. Corrine offers to do the same for Sarah, if she joins. But Sarah refuses. After, Lindsay is confronted by Esme, and told that she's had it very nicely compared to the other pledges. She is told, "sacrifices has to be made." And Lindsay swears to do whatever she's told.
In P.E.D.. Sarah is practicing her magic with Dr. Hunter. After a while, Dr. Hunter tells Sarah all about what Alpha Nu is trying to do, and what they will do, if Sarah doesn't pledge Alpha Nu. "Most likely, they'll just try to kill you, so we can't have you." And mentions how it all began, eighteen years earlier. When, both Alpha Nu, and herself thought that Sarah's mother was the One, but in the middle of the sacrifice, the knife refused to cut her. It was because she wasn't the One. She was pregnant, with twins
, (Sarah and Lindsay) and that the woman in the beginning was Sarah's real mother,(who was killed
right after Sarah and Lindsay's birth) not Trina Goodwin.
Later, at Alpha Nu, Trina Goodwin is called to the Sorority House. In a fit of rage, she reveals that she killed Sarah and Lindsay's mother with her bare hands, and refuses to let Sarah not be initiated, and let all her 18 years of raising the girls go to waste.
The next day, at the Library, Sarah tries, once more to convince Lindsay to leave together, but Lindsay refuses. Soon after, Esme attacks Sarah, and mentions that until Sarah pledges, she will throw every possible virgin into the fire to keep it alive, and that countless lives will be gone because of her. Sarah escapes, but sees that Finn is gone. She runs to the Alpha Nu house, and sees Finn tied up, and gagged. She sneaks into he house to look for him, but is caught by Lindsay, who apologizes to her and tells her she was wrong about everything, and there is a trap waiting for her. Sarah begs for Lindsay's help. Lindsay says that Finn is in the basement, and shows her the way. When Sarah frees Finn, Lindsay says that this was the trap, following the entrance of Corrine, and Esme.
Corrine takes out the Knife of Truth, and puts it at Lindsay's throat. She offers Sarah the chance to offer herself willingly, and if she refuses, she will cut Lindsay's throat. Sarah uses her magic to snatch the knife, and put it at Esme's throat. Sarah says she will do it. Suddenly a drop of blood
falls from the Knife, and the fire blazes. Everyone immediately sees Lindsay's throat is bleeding, revealing that Sarah is not the One, Lindsay is.
Corrine forces Sarah and Finn out of the house, and locks Lindsay in a room, and prepares her for the Initiation Ceremony. She calls Trina Goodwin, and tells her about Lindsay. Corrine mentions that it's ironic that Trina spent the last eighteen years bleeding
the wrong daughter. Sarah never tried suicide, Trina was draining her blood through her wrist
s. Corrine decides that Trina Goodwin's services are no longer needed, and Corrine demands every drop of blood from Trina back, she kills Trina Goodwin with the Knife of Truth. (It is revealed that, if the Knife of Truth has the fresh blood of the One on it, it can cut through anything.)
Sarah sends Finn to his dormitory, and she runs to P.E.D. and tells her the news. Everyone prepares for Initiation. While Sarah, in order to keep Finn safe from Alpha Nu, has sex
with him to take away both of their virginity
, ensuring the fact that the Eternal Flame will not take either of them.
At Initiation, Sarah is initiated into P.E.D., and Lindsay is initiated into Alpha Nu Gamma. After the vows, Lindsay is taken to the basement, and (just like her mother) begs for freedom, and ends up being chained down upon the altar. At the same time, all of P.E.D. uses their magic to destroy the Alpha Nu house. Corrine sends all of the girls after them, and she will sacrifice Lindsay alone. Sarah runs in to free her sister, but Corrine almost ends up choking
Sarah to death with the chains used to hold Lindsay. Lindsay, finally free, picks up the Knife of Truth, cuts her hand, and stabs Corrine in the back, only to be stabbed in turn. With a handful of Lindsay's blood, Sarah pushes Corrine into the Eternal Flame, and the entire house falls.
Back at P.E.D., Lindsay is healed by Dr. Hunter again, proving Lindsay does have the real power after all.
The movie ends with Dr. Hunter placing the Knife of Truth safely away forever; Sarah and all of P.E.D. walking out to find the rest of the Alpha Nus; and Esme walking off with a little bit of the Eternal Fire in a small cauldron
.
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
on October 22, 2006 as part of their "13 Nights of Halloween" special.
Plot
The film begins with a college sorority initiationInitiation
Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components...
ceremony, in which the sorority president tries to stab a pledge in the heart, but the knife mysteriously stops in mid-air. Eighteen years later, Trina Goodwin (Morgan Fairchild
Morgan Fairchild
Morgan Fairchild is an American actress. She achieved prominence during the late 1970s and early 1980s with continuing roles in several television series, in which she usually conveyed a glamorous image. Fairchild has also performed in live theater and played guest roles in television comedies...
), and her twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
daughters, Sarah (Mika Boorem
Mika Boorem
Mika Sue Boorem is an American actress who has appeared in the films Blue Crush , Carolina , Sleepover , and Smile ....
) and Lindsay (Summer Glau
Summer Glau
Summer Lyn Glau is an American actress, known for playing River Tam in the science fiction series Firefly and follow-up film Serenity, and for playing Cameron in the series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.-Early life:...
), are driving up to Temple Hill University, where Sarah and Lindsay are starting their first semester. Along the tour, they notice a "weird" house, Pi Epsilon Delta, (P.E.D.), and after that, they see the house they want to pledge the most, Alpha Nu Gamma. The girls move into their dormitory with the hope of escaping the reputations they had in high school for being "freaky".
Sarah meets a girl named Vita in a bathroom, and they become good friends, while Sarah (mentioning that she is an Alpha Nu legacy
Legacy preferences
Legacy preferences or legacy admission is a type of preference given by educational institutions to certain applicants on the basis of their familial relationship to alumni of that institution...
) forces other girls to apologize to Vita -and give her their shampoo-, for mocking her earlier. Then Sarah goes into a stall, and removes her many bracelets, revealing cuts on her wrists. Later on, Sarah and Lindsay meet their Student-Advisor, Finn (Ben Ziff
Ben Ziff
Benjamin Martin Ziff is an American actor who has guest-starred in a number of notable television series including American Dreams, Boston Public, ER, Freaks & Geeks, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and That's So Raven and a few others...
), who delivers them two invitations to Pi Epsilon Delta for a Rushing Ceremony.
At the party, Lindsay ends up having a nice time, while Sarah can't wait to leave. But before they do, Sarah meets the Alpha Nu President, Corrine (Joanna Garcia
Joanna García
Joanna Leanna García is an American television and film actress. She is known for her portrayal of Cheyenne Hart Montgomery on The CW sitcom Reba...
). When they shake hands, Corrine's glass of red cocktail
Cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...
juice spills all over her own dress. Sarah leaves in tears, apologizing to Corrine, and Lindsay follows. After a long talk, and a few apologies, Lindsay trips and breaks her ankle on a tree root in front of the Pi Epsilon Delta house. The girls in the house look after Lindsay, while Sarah meets Dr. Eugenia Hunter (Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...
), the president of P.E.D. After a short while, Lindsay's ankle heals extremely fast. As the girls are leaving, Sarah asks Hunter why she invited them. Dr. Hunter claims she was a friend of her mother.
The next day, Lindsay is ecstatic to find out that both she and Sarah were asked back to Alpha Nu, and Sarah also received another invitation to P.E.D., but they decide to go to Alpha Nu Gamma, where they meet with Corrine, who promises to put in a good word for Lindsay about a guy she saw (and apparently likes) while she brushes an eyelash
Eyelash
An eyelash or simply lash is one of the hairs that grow at the edge of the eyelid. Eyelashes protect the eye from debris and perform some of the same function as whiskers do on a cat or a mouse in the sense that they are sensitive to being touched, thus providing a warning that an object is near...
off Lindsay. A while later, in Sarah and Finn's Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an Mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
class, (which Dr. Hunter teaches) Dr. Hunter mentions to Sarah that she knows Sarah has magical powers, and so does she. Sarah, shocked, leaves and walks into Corrine, who cheers her up.
In the evening, Sarah goes to Finn's room to borrow notes, but before she can get there, Corrine meets him first and says she was double-dared to introduce herself to "the hottest guy I've never met" and have sex
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
with him. Sarah catches them and leaves, followed by Corrine. Moments later, it is revealed that Corrine never saw Finn: It was Dr. Hunter under a shape-shifting spell.
The next day, Sarah unintentionally uses her powers on Corrine and pushes her into a muddy ditch, thengoes to see Dr. Hunter, who tells her that Alpha Nu and P.E.D. are not only lifelong rivals, but mortal enemies, fighting Good versus Evil. Sarah's powers, which mark her as "the One", could disrupt the balance, and Alpha Nu wants to sacrifice her to the Eternal Flame so they will live and stay out of Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
. Later, Sarah tells Lindsay what she learned, and Lindsay angrily claims that ever since the day they were born it was always about Sarah, and never about her. She leaves in tears, refusing to believe anything.
Back at Alpha Nu, for a minute, we see Corrine's true form, as an old woman, who shape-shifts into a beautiful 21 year old college student. Esme (Tessa Thompson
Tessa Thompson
Tessa Lynne Thompson is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for the role of Jackie Cook on the TV series Veronica Mars.-Personal life:...
), the Alpha Nu vice president, warns Corrine of the fight between Sarah, and Lindsay. Corrine devices a plan, and while doing so, she reveals The Knife of Truth, (which they have to use to sacrifice The One, for it can only cut the flesh of the One). She uses the eyelash she took from Lindsay to brew a potion, and used it to make the man she likes, After Lindsay realizes it was all a gag, she confronts Esme, and Corrine, who show her what she wants the most in her life, (to be full-figured) and they promise to make her look as full-figured as she wants, if she joins.
Back at their dormitory, Sarah is packing all of her belonging, saying she wants to leave, but Lindsay refuses, and wants to join Alpha Nu. Suddenly, a fire starts in their dormitory, (courtesy of Esme) and Sarah at first uses heavy pillows, and coffee to put it out, but it only makes the fire grow. Sarah eventually, uses her magic to put out the fire, and it works. But the entire dormitory is declared uninhabitable by smoke
Smoke
Smoke is a collection of airborne solid and liquid particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-product of fires , but may also be used for pest...
-damage. Lindsay moves out leaving Sarah, and joins Alpha Nu. While Sarah sleeps in P.E.D. with her friend, Vita, who was initiated into P.E.D.
The next day, Sarah and Vita become more acquainted. Sarah meets up with Finn, and they patch up their relationship, and Sarah sees Lindsay, taller, and more full-figured. Corrine offers to do the same for Sarah, if she joins. But Sarah refuses. After, Lindsay is confronted by Esme, and told that she's had it very nicely compared to the other pledges. She is told, "sacrifices has to be made." And Lindsay swears to do whatever she's told.
In P.E.D.. Sarah is practicing her magic with Dr. Hunter. After a while, Dr. Hunter tells Sarah all about what Alpha Nu is trying to do, and what they will do, if Sarah doesn't pledge Alpha Nu. "Most likely, they'll just try to kill you, so we can't have you." And mentions how it all began, eighteen years earlier. When, both Alpha Nu, and herself thought that Sarah's mother was the One, but in the middle of the sacrifice, the knife refused to cut her. It was because she wasn't the One. She was pregnant, with twins
TWINS
Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers are a pair of NASA instruments aboard two United States National Reconnaissance Office satellites in Molniya orbits. TWINS was designed to provide stereo images of the Earth's ring current. The first instrument, TWINS-1, was launched aboard USA-184...
, (Sarah and Lindsay) and that the woman in the beginning was Sarah's real mother,(who was killed
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
right after Sarah and Lindsay's birth) not Trina Goodwin.
Later, at Alpha Nu, Trina Goodwin is called to the Sorority House. In a fit of rage, she reveals that she killed Sarah and Lindsay's mother with her bare hands, and refuses to let Sarah not be initiated, and let all her 18 years of raising the girls go to waste.
The next day, at the Library, Sarah tries, once more to convince Lindsay to leave together, but Lindsay refuses. Soon after, Esme attacks Sarah, and mentions that until Sarah pledges, she will throw every possible virgin into the fire to keep it alive, and that countless lives will be gone because of her. Sarah escapes, but sees that Finn is gone. She runs to the Alpha Nu house, and sees Finn tied up, and gagged. She sneaks into he house to look for him, but is caught by Lindsay, who apologizes to her and tells her she was wrong about everything, and there is a trap waiting for her. Sarah begs for Lindsay's help. Lindsay says that Finn is in the basement, and shows her the way. When Sarah frees Finn, Lindsay says that this was the trap, following the entrance of Corrine, and Esme.
Corrine takes out the Knife of Truth, and puts it at Lindsay's throat. She offers Sarah the chance to offer herself willingly, and if she refuses, she will cut Lindsay's throat. Sarah uses her magic to snatch the knife, and put it at Esme's throat. Sarah says she will do it. Suddenly a drop of blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
falls from the Knife, and the fire blazes. Everyone immediately sees Lindsay's throat is bleeding, revealing that Sarah is not the One, Lindsay is.
Corrine forces Sarah and Finn out of the house, and locks Lindsay in a room, and prepares her for the Initiation Ceremony. She calls Trina Goodwin, and tells her about Lindsay. Corrine mentions that it's ironic that Trina spent the last eighteen years bleeding
Bleeding
Bleeding, technically known as hemorrhaging or haemorrhaging is the loss of blood or blood escape from the circulatory system...
the wrong daughter. Sarah never tried suicide, Trina was draining her blood through her wrist
Wrist
In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as 1) the carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand;...
s. Corrine decides that Trina Goodwin's services are no longer needed, and Corrine demands every drop of blood from Trina back, she kills Trina Goodwin with the Knife of Truth. (It is revealed that, if the Knife of Truth has the fresh blood of the One on it, it can cut through anything.)
Sarah sends Finn to his dormitory, and she runs to P.E.D. and tells her the news. Everyone prepares for Initiation. While Sarah, in order to keep Finn safe from Alpha Nu, has sex
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
with him to take away both of their virginity
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
, ensuring the fact that the Eternal Flame will not take either of them.
At Initiation, Sarah is initiated into P.E.D., and Lindsay is initiated into Alpha Nu Gamma. After the vows, Lindsay is taken to the basement, and (just like her mother) begs for freedom, and ends up being chained down upon the altar. At the same time, all of P.E.D. uses their magic to destroy the Alpha Nu house. Corrine sends all of the girls after them, and she will sacrifice Lindsay alone. Sarah runs in to free her sister, but Corrine almost ends up choking
Choking
Choking is the mechanical obstruction of the flow of air from the environment into the lungs. Choking prevents breathing, and can be partial or complete, with partial choking allowing some, although inadequate, flow of air into the lungs. Prolonged or complete choking results in asphyxia which...
Sarah to death with the chains used to hold Lindsay. Lindsay, finally free, picks up the Knife of Truth, cuts her hand, and stabs Corrine in the back, only to be stabbed in turn. With a handful of Lindsay's blood, Sarah pushes Corrine into the Eternal Flame, and the entire house falls.
Back at P.E.D., Lindsay is healed by Dr. Hunter again, proving Lindsay does have the real power after all.
The movie ends with Dr. Hunter placing the Knife of Truth safely away forever; Sarah and all of P.E.D. walking out to find the rest of the Alpha Nus; and Esme walking off with a little bit of the Eternal Fire in a small cauldron
Cauldron
A cauldron or caldron is a large metal pot for cooking and/or boiling over an open fire, with a large mouth and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger.- Etymology :...
.
Rating
The US TV Rating was TV-14DLV. The DVD release has no rating, but contains no extra or unrated material.DVD release
The Initiation of Sarah was released on DVD on October 30, 2007. It is identical to the version released on TV, except the DVD version is widescreen. It has no bonus material.External links
- Official site
- The MGM page for The Initiation of Sarah
- Summer-Glau.net — A Summer Glau fansite that also has information and news about The Initiation of Sarah.
- Press release regarding The Initiation of Sarah from the Futon Critic
- The original Initiation of Sarah streaming at ABC Family's website
- The Initiation of Sarah at ABC Family's website