I am an 80’s baby, but unfortunately it was the late 80’s in which I was born. I missed out on the glory days of slasher films and by the time I was old enough to stop being frightened by them, it was hard to catch up on all that I missed. I started running through them as fast as possible by renting VHS tapes of all of the Friday the 13th films with my older sister. After that, I rented The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and all of the Halloweens with my friends. I haven’t stopped since then and thanks to studios like Vinegar Syndrome, fans like myself continue to get re-mastered versions of the lesser known gems of the sub-genre. The latest that I can scratch off of my must-see slasher list is Herb Freed’s Graduation Day.
A couple of months after a young track runner dies from a heart attack on the field, her teammates begin getting picked off one by one. The list of suspects is long and includes Laura’s sister, boyfriend, coach, and school principal.
It still amazes me how many slasher films came out in the 1980’s. We all know about the most popular franchises, but it wasn’t until I started watching films like The Burning, The Prowler, Intruder, and now Graduation Day that I could really fully appreciate the sub-genre and all of its gory offerings.
There have been remakes and other attempts at revisiting the golden age of gore, but nothing ever comes close to the originals. Graduation Day has everything you could ask for and fits the slasher formula perfectly — it has a perfect storyline, cheesy 80s soundtrack, nudity, and a Friday the 13th-esque score.
The acting is right on par with the rest of the killer flicks from its era, which is a great thing in my book. Just like my recent review of Silent Night, Deadly Night, this film also stars Linnea Quigley, who is as stunning as ever. Patch Mackenzie, Christopher George, E. Danny Murphy, and Michael Pataki all did a wonderful job of rounding out the cast as Laura’s sister Anne, Coach Michaels, Laura’s boyfriend Kevin, and Principal Guglione, respectively.
Because fans of the sub-genre have seen murderers of all shapes and sizes, wielding every weapon imaginable, and wearing the silliest masks, it’s hard to be impressed, but Graduation Day was still able to pull off an entertaining and unpredictable showing. I thought the choice of disguise for the killer was awesome and I loved the various deaths we get to witness, all by some sort of fencing sword or other type of blade. There are be-headings, slit throats, and a complete impaling! What more could you ask for?
Not only did Vinegar Syndrome do an outstanding restoration job for their new DVD/Blu-ray combo release, but they even included some great bonus interviews conducted with original cast members, producers, editors, and Herb Freed himself. If you love the slasher genre as much as I do, you will definitely want to add Graduation Day to your collection. Be sure to head over to their official website to order yourself a copy!
I give this film 4 stopwatches out of 5.
