The Initiation (film)

Lore & Background

The Initiation was filmed in Dallas, Texas in 1983, with an initial budget of approximately $3 million. Television director Larry Stewart completed the film after the schedule fell behind. The Dallas Market Center and Southern Methodist University served as primary shooting locations. The multilevel World Trade Center building of the Dallas Market Center stood in for the Fairchild department store, and crew shot during evenings when the building was closed. The dream-lab sequences were filmed in an abandoned Holiday Inn, where a maid's closet was refitted as a laboratory.

Reader's Guide

The Initiation received largely unfavorable reviews from film critics upon its release. It was given a regional staggered release by New World Pictures beginning in spring 1984 and continued screening theatrically through December of that year. In the years since, the film has gained a contemporary cult following as a midnight movie. It is historically significant as Daphne Zuniga's first leading role after her minor part in The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982). The film's plot incorporates soap opera elements, deliberately included by screenwriter Charles Pratt Jr., and features a twist ending involving twin sisters. The production is also notable for the directorial change from Peter Crane to Larry Stewart, which created slight aesthetic differences in the film's sequences.

Did You Know?

• Daphne Zuniga played dual roles as twin sisters, with both characters appearing together in the finale using locked-down camera techniques and no CGI.
• The film was shot over approximately 30 days in the summer of 1983 in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.
• Vera Miles, known for her role in Psycho (1960), was cast as the mother despite not being impressed by the screenplay.
• The script was written by Charles Pratt Jr., who deliberately incorporated soap opera elements into the subplots.