Graduation Day 1981

Spoilers Below

I'm straddling the fence on this little slasher attempt. I get the idea that Herb Freed, director, (now there's a name) thought he had himself a slasher gem on his hands. This film takes itself way too seriously, but does deliver on a few levels, but mediocre at best.

Good old stand-by Chris George (Pieces, The Gates of Hell,) is an overbearing track and field coach and likes to push his students over the edge. He must have pushed a little too hard because one girl decides to 'give up the ghost' during a public track meet, falling over dead from an apparent heart attack due to over exertion. Uh oh! We just know that someone has got to avenge the girl's death, and much to our expectations, someone does.

Whomever it may be is doing away with people on the track team, donning a sweat suit, giallio-esque black gloves, and a stopwatch. It seems as if the killer times his victims deaths- from the time he spots them, (he/she hitting the button) until the murder is over. The spontaneous killer tries to orchestrate his kills in under thirty seconds, the same amount of time our little female track star had to please the coach's demand for a fast time

Graduation Day is filled with would-be red herrings, but none of them play out too extensively. The formulaic layout of the slasher film in the earliest of the 80's was still in its infancy so-to-speak, so Chris George's character COULD have been conceived as being the killer. (Although we find out later he's not, when he's confronted by the killer)

I'll give Herb Freed SOME credit. I'll not detract from his wanton slasher 'masterpiece'. There are some very decent shots that present themselves in subtle ways throughout the film, but it was quiet hard to enjoy my old RCA vhs and its constant glare throughout. It's like watching a movie through a sunlit riddled window, a light haze hovering above everything.

Hey, I almost forgot big sister (who is in the Navy, doesn't get along with her father, and is 'tough as nails') and the mock Friday the 13th scene - ala Annie being given a ride by a husky old truck driver, as this time, its the big sister of the fallen track star making her way home for her sisters funeral. Is it big sis in a rage?

We also have Kevin. He's probably one of the ugliest individuals I've ever seen. He looks like someone the casting agents picked up off the streets, decided to shave, and ultimately give the part as a mourning boyfriend who planned to marry 'track girl' on 'Graduation Day'. To be totally honest, it's not real hard to guess who the killer is. He does have a unique, albeit cheesy way of offing his victims. We have one chic getting murdered in the girls locker-room. The last time I checked, it's pretty much hard to kill someone in a school without getting caught, nevertheless, slasher films don't make room for much continuity, so there's not much to pick at if one has conceived this idea from the get-go.

I'm not totally gonna diss Graduation Day. It has its flaws, but it also has its moments. There's some really good chase scenes entwined with some off-beat atmosphere, and a few original murders - Like a spike horizontally stuck through a football, thrown in a perfect Dan Marino spiral directly into its human target -or- the lone pole vaulter who lands on a mat full of strategically placed spikes. At least a little bit of thinking went into the death scenes.

By some odd means, I find myself watching this one more than I should, even though I don't watch it very much. (Is that a paradox?) Anyway, for the slasher completest like me, this is a must have simply because its Graduation Day. For fans of old 80's horror in general, if you can find it, it's well worth the 99c rental at your local video store. While you won't get many scares along the way, you'll get a full stomach by getting extra helpings of cheese.