Blu-Ray Review: GRADUATION DAY (1981)

GRADUATION DAY

Directed by:  Herb Freed

Distributed by:  Troma Entertainment / MVD Entertainment 

  As many horror films as I have seen, I find it amazing the amount of older horror films I have never watched.  I have had GRADUATION DAY on DVD in my movie collection for years, but have never got around to watching it for some reason.   Turns out, I have been missing out on a really fun slasher all these years!

 Here is the basic plot synopsis from the MVD website:

  It's just weeks before high school graduation and members of the track team are being mysteriously and gruesomely murdered, one at a time. When the team's star runner drops dead at the end of a championship meet, her sister Anne (Patch MacKenzie) comes to town and a series of grisly murders begin. Is Anne responsible? Or is it coach Michaels (Christopher George) who has been fired because of Laura's death? Perhaps it's the campus policeman who is disliked because of his over-zealous drug investigations? Or is it Laura's boyfriend, Kevin (E. Danny Murphy), who can't reconcile himself to Laura's death? You won't want to see Graduation Day alone!

  Slashers are one of my all time favorite sub-genres of horror films, right behind zombie films.   I should really try to watch more of them, as I'm sure I am missing out on seeing some great ones!   GRADUATION DAY isn't great, by any means, but it is a lot of fun!  It's a little dated for sure, but you  have to love the practical effects with all the kills, no matter how cheesy they may seem by today's standards. 

  The kills in GRADUATION DAY are a lot of fun, and some are very creative.  There is quite a bit of blood and gore, including a wonderful decapitation.   Also of note, is a pole vaulter that instead of landing on the soft landing pad, ends up on a pad  filled with sharp metal spikes!  Let's just say that pole vault attempt will be his last.  I hope it was a good one!

  Another fun thing about this film was seeing one of my all time favorite horror actresses, Linnea Quigley.   This was one of hear earliest roles and it is always a treat to see her in something I hadn't seen before!   Also of note, the character of Doris is played a very young Vanna White!  Who new she was ever in a horror film?    This was one of her only roles in a movie, as she would of course go on to host the game show WHEEL OF FORTUNE starting the very next year in 1982.  Vanna continues to co-host that show to this very day!   Will we ever see her return to the horror genre? 

                                         A young Linnea Quigley as Dolores

  Ok, so I while I mentioned that I liked the film, I do have to be honest and say I was a little disappointed with this new Blu-ray release.  The very first thing I noticed was the introduction from Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman that we all expect when starting a Troma release.  The problem is they just recycled the intro used on the DVD version that they released back in 2002.  For this new Blu-ray release, I would have thought Mr. Kaufman could have bothered to make a new intro.   Another issue with this new Blu-ray release is with the sound.  There is a constant buzz/hum throughout the film in the background.  It's louder at some points than others, but it was pretty distracting the entire time. I would have thought that could have been cleaned up for this new release.   As for the picture quality, I never watched it on DVD to have a comparison, but it didn't seem to look much different from most DVDs I watch, so not sure this was really upgraded for the new Blu-ray release. 

  The bottom line is, if you haven't seen this one you need to.  This new Blu-ray release is a great way to do that!   If you have already seen this and own it on DVD, I'm not sure this new Blu-ray release is worth the upgrade to be honest.   So, the film itself is a lot of fun, but the actual release could have been better for sure.   

  GRADUATION DAY is available now on a Tromatic Special Edition Blu-ray and contains the following Special Features:

• *  Classic introduction featuring Lloyd Kaufman
• *  Interviews with Patch Mackenzie, Herb Freed, David Baughn, Martin Jay Sadoff, and Linnea Quigley
• *  Commentaries featuring producer David Baughn and the hosts of 'The Hysteria Continues' podcast
• *  Coming distractions

 

CLICK HERE to purchase the Blu-ray from Troma Entertainment

CLICK HERE to purchase the Blu-ray from MVD Entertainment