Graduation Day (1981)

Director: Herb Freed

Starring: Christopher George, Patch Mackenzie, E. Danny Murphy

A masked killer begins murdering students on the school track team after a track runner dies upon completion of a 30 second 200-meter race.

Slasher movies really came to prominence after the success of ‘Friday the 13th’ in 1980. None of the films that followed achieved the same critical success, but at least they tried and there were a few good ones.

‘Graduation Day’ is one of the better slasher movies of the era. It has nicely fleshed out characters, and a plot with more substance than most of the other slasher movies out there. The acting was better than average, too. Oh, and off course – being a teen slasher movie – you can expect to see boobies, titties, breasts…

This is a typical who dunnit murder mystery horror and will keep you guessing until the end. There’s some really funny dialogue thrown in there too. Also, look out for the coach called George Michaels (interestingly enough, 1981 was the year George Michael – along with Andrew Ridgeley – formed the band Wham!).

The film is more suspenseful since victims are not randomly selected. Instead, they are students from a track team, so we have a clear idea who might be at risk. My only criticism with the movie is Patch Mackenzie as the film’s heroin, Anne Ramstead. Anne didn’t really have a purpose in the film and every time she was on screen, I felt the scene was added simply to remind us of this character. Even during the finale, she wasn’t a strong enough character, and Mackenzie also didn’t portray her with credibility. Her acting at times seemed too choreographed. Apart from that, ‘Graduation Day’ was a surprisingly good movie.

‘Graduation Day’ was a major box office hit, earning nearly $24 million on a $250,000 budget.

Would I watch it again? I don’t think so.