Graduation Day (1981)

Graduation Day

I had seen this movie MANY years ago and wanted a DVD version; very good quality DVD for $5 - please keep bargains like this coming. July 22, 2008

Good Thing It's Cheap...

The only thing worse than the script, acting, plot and production values of this horror cash-in is the DVD transfer. I could've done better recording LP mode on a VCR...25 years ago. I'm a sucker for grade-Z films made on the cheap over a long weekend, but even this one tests my limits. Still, it's fun to have it as part of the "anniversary" horror-themed movie collection if for nothing else than Vanna White's screen debut. Even at $5, though, it's overpriced by half. June 12, 2008

it could have been better

if you are a scary movie fan like me, exspecially the 80's, you might think this film would be great. well i am here to say it was only okay. i bought it thinking it would be a really good flick. maybe something like prom night, but it wasn't. the killer started off strong at the beginning and then kind of faded at the end. so if you are expecting a really great horror flick this movie is not the one for you. April 17, 2008

0.5 STARS: Cheaply done and forgettable.

Every now and then, I run into a pretty good 80s slasher that somehow got lost in a sea of rubbish. For every one of those good ones, I run into at least ten (10) bad ones, I mean really bad. "Graduation Day" is one of those bad ones. The more I watch these movies and the older I get, the more I appreciate movies like the original "Halloween"; the more I also appreciate good acting within such a slasher flick. Needless to say, the poorly executed plot in "Graduation Day" suffers from horrible acting which leads to an artificial and lifeless movie.

"Graduation Day" is about a girl named Laura who died while running for her school track team. Apparently, the coach pushed her too hard, and her heart gave out. At any rate, members of the track team begin meeting their death one by one at the hands of a dorky-looking villain dressed up in a fencer's outfit. The kills are not that great...the football sword that killed the football player is absolutely ridiculous. There is ZERO character development and the plot suffers accordingly. The mood and theme of the movie are poorly established at best and the action does not flow well whatsoever.

Frankly, there isn't much at all to this film's credit. "Graduation Day" definitely attempted to cash in on other holiday/eventful slasher flicks like: Halloween, Friday the 13th, My Bloody Valentine, April Fool's Day and Silent Night/Deadly Night. Some of these movies are good, most of them are not..."Graduation Day" is most certainly not a good slasher flick.

If you are looking for a good slasher flick, don't look here because it is so poorly done, you will be sorely disappointed. Crucial to any horror movie's success as such is how the movie builds atmosphere, suspense and anticipation along with the development of the characters and the plot of the flick itself...all of this is missing in "Graduation Day", and the result is a lifeless movie which comes across as a bunch of random events barely tied together by a weak and underdeveloped plot. February 9, 2008

Linnea Quigley AND Vanna White!...

Our tale opens w/ the unexpected death of a highschool track-star. Next, we find the dead gal's sister returning to town, just in time for graduation. That's when the teenagers start dying off in hideous and grisly ways! Yep, GRADUATION DAY is another teen / revenge movie ala PROM NIGHT, etc. This time we get Christopher George (GRIZZLY, DAY OF THE ANIMALS, PIECES) as the mean track coach, obsessed w/ perfection. We also get Linnea Quigley (RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS) as Dolores, a girl who just can't seem to keep her clothes on! Then, there's a young Vanna White (!) in a small role (alas, her clothes stay put)! GD isn't a bad movie, and it has enough humor and gratuitous nudity to move things along. Did I mention Ms. Quigley? Oh my!... February 14, 2007

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