TV Terrors

If you didn’t live through the pre-VCR era, you might not understand the abnormal amount of excitement something like ABC’s Movie of the Week could generate. After all, short of theatrical reissues, there was no other way to see current or classic flicks. We also had to change channels and turn up the volume by hand, but that’s beside the point. While a fair number of major motion pictures popped up (in heavily edited form), you were just as likely to get a “copycat” production designed to spare network execs from paying for the real thing. Such is the case with this TV Terrors double feature, released by the horror specialists at Scream Factory.

The Initiation of Sarah (1978) is a clone of Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976), minus the nudity, swears, Sissy Spacek and special effects. That obviously doesn’t leave much to work with. But that’s part of the retro charm of viewing these old made-for-TV horror rip-offs, many of which made as big an impression on the younger generation who watched them as the much higher profile originals. In fact, Initiation had a remake of its produced in 2006.

Here, Kay Lenz (a familiar face from just about every ‘70s TV show) stars as Sarah, a mousey new student who pledges the most popular sorority on campus, only to be rejected then harassed by its bitchy big sister played to perfection by Morgan Fairchild. Relegated to the PED sorority (or “pigs, elephants and dogs”), Sarah is intrigued by the sordid past of her new house mother (Shelley Winters) who seems to have some insight into Sarah’s “powers” which only appear when she gets angry.

Those telekinetic “powers” are pretty underwhelming. The production obviously had the budget to do little more than yank people into convenient reflecting pools. But it’s still a gas to watch the film trace over the Stephen King storyline, replacing a shower of pigs’ blood with rotten fruit and a few mud pies. Sarah feels like a bizarre offshore excursion from the Love Boat. That in and of itself should be enough to peak the interest of the Zenith generation.

Are You in the House Alone? (1978) follows the slasher formula popularized that same year by John Carpenter’s Halloween, but introduces a bizarre “public service announcement” third act twist to educate audience’s about the danger of rape. The well-intentioned lectures (“It’s not rape if she’s not a virgin!”) are offensively out of date, and the Ten Little Indians-style screenplay is tough to enjoy with such a serious issue at stake.

But the majority of House is simply about Gail (Kathleen Beller, The Sword and the Sorcerer), an average high schooler who begins receiving mysterious notes and threatening phone calls. Her parents (Tony Bill and Blythe Danner) have their own problems, which leaves Gail alone most of the time. Various potential suspects pop in and out of the story including a creepy art teacher and her best friend’s boyfriend (played by a young Dennis Quaid).

Until the after school special twist intrudes, House is made up of typical first-person camera shots suggesting a vicious end for anyone stupid enough to have pre-marital sex. Director Walter Grauman handles the rape scene delicately but powerfully. And while the production as a whole doesn’t compare to even the most mediocre theatrical slasher, star Kathleen Beller makes for a plucky, a more emotionally well rounded, heroine than you might expect.

Scream Factory’s double feature DVD has no special features, but still delivers a pair of nice transfers that make these rare TV relics widely available for the first time. Add in one of those new “remote controls” everyone is talking about and the ‘70s have never looked so good!