Ah, The Initiation of Sarah—the made-for-TV supernatural horror flick that dared to mix psychic teenage angst with sorority drama and somehow made a wet T-shirt moment on ABC prime time. That’s right, Morgan Fairchild’s trademark smoldering stare wasn’t just confined to 70s soap operas; here, she famously rocked the fountain-drenched T-shirt before it was cool (or allowed) on network TV, setting a standard for modest scandal in living rooms across America.
The movie centers on painfully shy Sarah (Kay Lenz), a girl so introverted she probably wished she could just disappear into the background. Unfortunately for her, she’s adopted into a family with a biological superstar sister, Patty (Morgan Brittany), who embodies every trope of the golden child: beautiful, popular, and firmly locked into the Alpha Nu Sigma sorority clique. Cue the classic tale of the overlooked underdog, but with the added twist of telekinetic powers and a creepy housemother (Shelley Winters) who might as well be running a cult disguised as a sorority.
Morgan Fairchild plays Jennifer, the ultimate sorority bitch—sharp-tongued, intimidating, and frankly, probably the reason Sarah’s powers started manifesting in the first place. Jennifer’s main talents are tossing Sarah into fountains and generally making life miserable, all while looking stunning and seemingly unbothered in her perpetually wet clothes. Fairchild later confessed she regretted taking the role, but hey, someone had to play the villainess who could pull off a wet T-shirt scene before it was cool. Kudos to her for owning it.
The story unfolds with enough teenage drama to fill a whole season of Beverly Hills, 90210—minus the witty banter and good hair. Sarah’s psychic powers begin as subtle telekinetic nudges, then escalate dramatically, culminating in Sarah tossing her tormentors around like rag dolls, or better yet, flipping their world upside down during a rival sorority initiation ceremony. There’s also a deliciously eerie subplot involving Mrs. Hunter’s true identity and the classic “Is she or isn’t she my real mother?” mystery. Spoiler: it’s all very soap opera meets supernatural nightmare.
The real star, though, is the atmosphere: lots of gloomy college hallways, candlelit rituals, and ominous close-ups of fluttering sorority pins. Director Robert Day manages to keep things visually interesting, even if the script occasionally feels like it was written by a committee of overenthusiastic teenagers with a penchant for melodrama.
The climactic initiation ceremony combines typical 70s occult paranoia with a supernatural inferno—literally—as Sarah’s powers ignite a fire that consumes her and Mrs. Hunter, leaving viewers wondering if all that sorority hazing finally crossed the line.
Overall, The Initiation of Sarah is a time capsule of 70s television horror: part supernatural thriller, part teen drama, and part cheeky social commentary on sorority life. And if nothing else, it’s worth watching just to witness Morgan Fairchild redefine “making a splash” in network TV history.
So if you’re in the mood for psychic power struggles, sorority betrayals, and a wet T-shirt that caused a stir before MTV even existed, The Initiation of Sarah is your cult classic. Just don’t expect subtlety—this movie slaps you in the face with both a psychic hand and a sorority shiv.
