Michael_Elliott Graduation Day (1981) * (out of 4)A high school track coach (Christopher George) pushes all of his students but in particular one who he wants to finish a race in thirty second. While pushing the student to run faster she ends up hitting the goal but falls death from a heart attack. Flash forward a bit and soon all of her team mates find themselves being stalked and murdered.GRADUATION DAY was released during the Golden Era of slasher movies and was reportedly made on a budget of just $300,000. When you look at the film the only thing you can really see are money signs because it's clear that there wasn't too much thought put into the picture because they were just trying to rush anything out there in order to have a slasher in theaters so that they could count the money coming in. GRADUATION DAY has a couple memorable moments but for the most part it's one of the worst that the genre ever put out there.There are countless problems with this thing so we could start at countless places. I think the biggest problem is the fact that the film doesn't contain an ounce of suspense. The murder scenes are all rather silly and they either contain no suspense or get dragged out to the point where you're ready to move onto something else. Just take a look at the one chase sequence that is edited with a band playing. Completely boring. Another problem is that the murders themselves are pretty lame and unconvincing. To make matters worse is the fact that at 96-minutes the film seems to run three times as long because there's just nothing interesting going on.It also doesn't help that there are so many characters brought into play and for no reason at all. The mystery of who the killer is really isn't a mystery as most people will figure it out early on. As I said, there are a few things that keep this from being a complete disaster and one is George. Say what you want about the man but he always managed to be entertaining no matter what he was doing. Linnea Quigley has a small role here and does a nude scene, which is another positive. You can even look closely and see Vanna White in an early role.GRADUATION DAY is a film that flunks out on most every level and is at the bottom of the genre. After watching a film like this it just goes to show how much better something like Friday THE 13TH was.

Woodyanders After a female high school track star meets an abrupt untimely death while running in a race, a mysterious psycho in a fencing mask starts bumping off the girl's fellow teammates left and right. Possible suspects include hard-nosed Coach George Michaels (Christopher George in top scenery-gnashing gruff'n'growly form), smarmy principal Mr. Guglione (a supremely sleazy and spirited turn by Michael Pataki), and the deceased gal's tough Navy officer sister Anne (nicely played by Patch Mackenzie).Director/co-writer Herb Freed employs occasional use of strenuous slow motion (you just gotta love the balletic gymnastics routine set to classical music), a blaring rock soundtrack, several wacky creative murder set pieces (one guy gets impaled by a javelin affixed to a football!), a frenzied rapid-fire editing style (a doubled homicide that occurs while the gnarly group Felony cuts loose with a pounding protracted number kicks things over the deliriously kitschy goalpost with loads of crazy cross-cutting), and one of those groan-inducing "Carrie"-inspired nightmare endings to give this teen slice'n'dice opus its own distinctly goofy charm. Better still, super cutie Linnea Quigley as giggly pothead Dolores bares her sweet itty bitty pre-silicone natural breasts to dippy music teacher Mr. Roberts (an outrageously camp portrayal by Richard Balin), famous letter spinner Vanna White finds a bloodied body in a locker, and ubiquitous character actor Patrick Wright has an amusing bit as a lecherous truck driver. Arthur Kempel's slick cinematography provides a pleasing polished look. Daniel Tarussi's rattling score hits the shuddery oooga-booga spot. An absolute schlocky hoot.

Lucien Lessard When the team's star runner, Laura Ramstead (Ruth Ann Llorens) died of a blood clout. When she was running in the track, most people felt she was pushed too hard by her coach Michaels (Christopher George). In a couple of days, school is over for the summer and high school students are going to graduated. Especially the members of the track team. But there's an murderer is killing those, who are in the track team before Graduation Day. But there's plenty of suspects... including Laura's older sister Anne (Patch MacKenzie), Coach Michaels, Principal Guglione (Michael Pataki) and Laura's Boyfriend (E.Danny Murphy).Directed by Herb Freed made an passable slasher movie in the wake of "Friday the 13th", although the violence in the movie is lame and unimaginable. Although it is watchable, thanks to a decent cast. Perphas one of the most profitable movies coming from the Troma Team, who disturbed the movie and turned into an box office hit.The DVD from Legacy Entertainment, DVD has an surprisingly clean Pan & Scan (1.33:1) transfer and an decent if unremarkable Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Sound. "Graduation Day" is for the die-hard fans of slasher movies of the 1980's, although this movie is actually more of a suspense thriller. But to be warned...the movie is very slow moving at times. (***/*****).

stiv-4 This movie was sheer, slow, plodding torture. Not being a fan of slasher films, and preferring classic horror, I may not be the best judge. Slasher fans may enjoy this as an early entry into the slasher genre. I really would like the 90 minutes I spent watching this back. The only reasons to watch this are 1) a young Vanna White (pre Wheel of Fortune) who has about 3 minutes of total screen time. 2) an early role by scream queen Linnea Quigley (with nudity), and legendary beauty EJ Peaker as the school secretary, who added a bit of humor and sex appeal. Otherwise, an 80's band called Felony makes an appearance, which while interesting, drags on WAY too long. Just like the movie.....I had to keep checking how much time was left and couldn't wait to "Graduate" to a better film.