Graduation Day

Director - Herb Freed (Beyond Evil)
Starring - Christopher George (City of the Living Dead), Patch Mackenzie (Dark Tower), E. Danny Murphy (Alucard)
Release Date - 1981
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "There are 200 seniors at Midvale High.  And seven days 'til graduation"
Format - BluRay (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The slasher sub-genre ruled horror in the late 70s and early 80s.  The popular films of the sub-genre pit teens against masked murderers in the wilderness.  These films are what catapulted the slasher sub-genre into the mainstream.  However, by 1981 the masked slashers had made their way out of the woods and into college and high schools.  1981 saw the release of so many slashers that took place in college and high school.  Films like Student Bodies (a parody), Prom Night, Night School, Final Exam, Slumber Party, and the Troma distributed Graduation Day are just a few to be released that year.  Graduation Day is a film that I had never seen but my love for anything Troma drove me to giving this film a go.  This came at a great time because the film was remastered and released on BluRay by the fine folks over at Vinegar Syndrome.  When I heard this I reached out to those fine folks and they were nice enough to send me a review copy.
     The film begins with a track and field meet where we see different athletes competing in different events.  We then meet a young girl who is running about to cross the finish line.  She does and immediately collapses.  We then jump to a young lady hitchhiking back home to be with her family when we learn that was her sister that passed away.  While she is wondering around town and the high school she notices that a few other members of the track team wind up missing or found murdered.  She then begins to snoop around and quickly discovers that one of the faculty members has been secretly dating her sister and the two had plans of eloping.  Since her death he has snapped and begin killing all those on the track team that had pushed her too far resulting in her death,
     I prefer my slashers to take place in the woods but I have a soft spot for those that take place in high school and at college.  They have a look all their own and gives the viewer a little change of scenery.  They tend to follow a formula similar to their wooded counterparts but we get way more girls.  They usually involve a sorority or a cheerleader squad.  Anyway, Graduation Day is a great high school slasher that I actually prefer over Prom Night.  The film has the style, the suspense, and an actual twist reveal that is fun as hell.  The acting in this one is great. I loved every character and they all were cast perfectly.  What I have noticed over the years with my love of slashers is that they tend to have poor acting which ruins most characters.  This film does the opposite.  The story for this one is more of the same but with a clever twist.  So many slashers follow the same formula where someone kills because they felt they were wronged.  However, what this film does differently is that it actually gives you a very clever killer reveal and follows that up with a bang.  Finally, we do get several on screen kills but they are lackluster with piss poor special effects.  However, this does not take away from the overall enjoyment of the film.  Overall, Graduation Day is a great slasher that gives you everything you love about the sub-genre.  Slasher fans must see this one!