GRADUATION DAY (1981)

Director: Herb Freed

Writers: Herb Freed, Anne Marisse, David Baughn

Producers: David Baughn, Herb Freed

Cast: Patch Mackenzie, Christopher George, E. Danny Murphy, Michael Pataki, E.J. Peaker, Richard Balin, Linnea Quigley, Denise Chesire, Bill Hufsey, Karen Abbott, Beverly Dixon, Hal Bokar, Carmen Argenziano, Vanna White, Virgil Frye, Ruth Ann Liorens, Tom Hintnaus, Carl Rey, Patrick Wright, Linda Shayne, Aaron Butler, Viola Kates Stimpson, Erica Hope, Grant Loud, Fred Beshid, Deborah Dutch, Felony (the band as themselves) 

Midvale High School track star Laura Ramstead (Ruth Ann Llorens) collapses and dies at the end of her winning race. As graduation day approaches, a series of murders are committed against the rest of the members of the Midvale track team. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review

1981 was the year of the slasher film. Hardly a week would pass without another production of the genre being released. This youth-centric horror film craze was at its peak and Graduation Day was designed to meet the demand. Being released in May of that year, when its target audience was about to graduate or seeing their older classmates about to do so, there was a sanguinary simpatico between audience and film that made Graduation Day quite a financial success on its modest budget.

Co-writer and director Herb Freed provides the slasher movie essentials to deliver what the audience expects: A tragedy that opens the film which provides the motivation for the horrors to follow; a mystery killer picking off victims one-by-one; plenty of red herrings provided to keep the audience guessing; a bit of comedy relief; and some teenage sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.

The slasher film buff won’t find much in Graduation Day that hasn’t been done better elsewhere. Although this genre is often filled with simple characters, which I think usually compliment rather than distract from the horror of the situations, there are really no characters that engage much of our interest in this film. The dead track star’s older sister Anne Ramstead (Patch Mackenzie), who returns home from her Navy assignment, is also a potential suspect. She seems to be the heroine and should have our sympathies, but she may also be the killer. She is out of the story for long stretches in the film. This keeps her a bit distant from the audience and also allows her ample opportunity to commit the murders. That lends this story a bit of distinction. 

Graduation Day manages most of its interest for me with its non-essential to the genre bits of business: The beefy lout of a truck driver (Patrick Wright) that nearly gets his eggs scrambled copping a feel on our hitchhiking Navy Ensign heroine; the heroine’s absolute asshole of a stepfather (Hal Bokar) that resents her for reasons unknown; the grouchy high school principal (Michael Pataki) and the beyond professional relationship he has with his sexy secretary (E. J. Peaker); the inexplicably-popular-with-the-high-school-bimbos music teacher (Richard Balin) that has the cute blonde Dolores (Linnea Quigley) seduce him to avoid a flunking grade.

Another point of interest is that it seems that some of the characters are set up to be unlikable jerks and buffoons, which usually means they will add to the body count, yet they are completely passed over. They are not victims or movers of the plot in any way. They were probably only meant to add to the list of possible suspects and provide a bit of eccentric and humorous diversion. 

Speaking of suspects, Graduation Day goes the extra mile to make sure that we never stop playing the whodunit guessing game. Since the killer has a switchblade knife, wears gray sweats and black leather gloves, and uses a stopwatch to time the kills, that means we see plenty of characters unpack their luggage or open desk drawers to reveal they own some of those very items. We also have someone behave in an odd manner for no apparent reason except to make that person seem suspicious. If I have any criticism of this movie, it is that this kind of suspicion finger-pointing is so heavy-handed. 

Veteran actor Christopher George, as the hot-tempered Coach Michaels, tops the list of suspects here. George is a welcome addition to the cast for horror fans of this film era. During the last years of his life, George had been appearing in a string of fright flicks that have given so many horror junkies so much fun. 

As the promiscuous Dolores, Linnea Quigley begins to establish herself as an '80s scream queen. She would become a favorite sexy attraction in many more horror and exploitation flicks throughout the decade and beyond. 

Another notable cast member is pre-Wheel of Fortune letter turner Vanna White as one of a pair of motor-mouthed Midvale High School girls. 

For the slasher movie connoisseur, the variety of kills is the special sauce that makes this cinema junk food so tasty. The killer in Graduation Day comes up with a couple of very inspired and outrageous ways to kill. Even one of Batman’s super villains would be hard pressed to work out such diabolical tricks. We later find out that the killer has a room with edged weapons decorating the walls. I suppose that fixating on such things for years may have given the fiend the aptitude to quickly improvise some of these gory gimmicks. 

There is a bit of extra energy provided by some hyper-kinetic editing during key moments in the film. This was a rather unusual technique back in 1981. Nowadays edits nearly this frantic are done almost constantly throughout any shitty fantasy or action flick to fool the audience into thinking their brains are experiencing the most intense bowel movement ever.