Denise Richards Movie:

		List Price: $19.95		Label: TROMA ENTERTAINMENT INC. Salesrank: 68760 Released: October 1, 2002
		Our Price: $11.59
		Used Price: $10.50
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Graduation Day Reviews:
Effectively campy trash/slash classic
2009-08-30 - I am a die-hard fan of old school slasher movies of the early '80s and one obscure entry to emerge during this era was Herb Freed's (very) low budget gem "Graduation Day."

Filmed in the fall of 1980 near Pasadena, California (as a helpful Amazon user has previously offered) and released in May of 1981, this film is an archetypal teen body count flick, but done with just enough schlock and panache to always make for a fun viewing. After all, slasher movies are not about chilling accurate portrayals of homicide, they're about hot young babes baring some skin, pot smoking, beer drinking and splatter. "Graduation Day" thankfully has all those elements and an overriding campiness to it that shows it's not meant to be taken seriously. This is pure trash in other words, the kind that the movie's distributor Troma Films has come to be known for.

All the girls here are really cute, and there is your standard hot girl undresses in locker room while unknown perpetrator breathes heavily and turns out the lights on her that succeeded in getting me aroused.

Included in the cast is an early appearance by legendary cinema trash queen Linnea Quigley, who plays your standard slutty track team member who shows her breasts to the really dorky music teacher. Linnea looks slightly older here than some of the other students (she would have been around 22 when this was filmed), but looks hot, hotter than she did in '84's "Silent Night, Deadly Night," and one of her contributions in "Graduation Day" is smoking a joint on school grounds with a fellow burnout and mocking the stuffy police officer that busts them.

Also along for the ride is Christopher George, who appeared in many a low budget movie in the early '80s (most notably other slashers like "Pieces" and "Mortuary"). Here he plays the stodgy track team coach who is always a suspect as the killer. Is it him who has the hots for girls 1/3 his age and is cutting the throats of members of his team? You'll just have to track down this rare flick and find out...

The 2005 Legacy edition of this DVD had gone out of print for some time and was selling in the $40+ dollar range here on Amazon until Troma thankfully reissued it again recently in 2009. Sadly, neither edition has any special features worth mentioning, as I really have no interest in the parts about what Troma is producing today. I was really disappointed to find out there was no retrospective interview with Linnea Quigley as I'd previously heard (who made that one up?), so for that reason I couldn't give this release a full five stars.

Still, very fun stuff. "Graduation Day" passes with honors and no demerits if campy slasher trash from the golden age of the form is your thing.

No Diploma for Graduation Day
2009-01-24 - Ah the 80's. A good time for horror movie fans and CGI wasnt a factor in the movies, so everything looked real. This movie sounded like a winner. Of course, you'll never read a good synopsis followed by all in all this movie sucks. Troma owns this film and it fits them good. A track runner dies because well I never figured it out. The first kill takes awhile and the pace of the film is slow. The first kill was horrendous and it looked really cheap. There was only one real good kill and the rest of the film felt like it was too long and way to boring. If you like 80's film then maybe check it out but there is much better themed day horror films out there.

good movie...
2008-04-02 - This is one movie that I'm glad I have in my collection. If you liked PROM NIGHT, and TERROR TRAIN...you'll like this one alot. It's one of those campy, suspense, who dunnit slashers...great find!

A Fatel Suspense
2008-03-08 - Of all horrors Ive seen this movie keeps you thinking and guessing.To all cult fans if you remember the toxic advenger this movie is done by the same people that did graduation day. Like it is presented at the begining the track runner student freaklishly dies when she races the other team.Her sister comes to vist the town area and the school where she goes.By that moment wierd murders begin to happen one by one each student is disapearing. There is a gym teacher involved (Christopher George)actor.and a strange guy student involved who was a good friend to the girl. So this goes on it gets you thinking ,is it the gym teacher or is it the student. Imbetween the film by seeing every one students the principal who is a bit of character as well takes the audience us watching this film start to get a good idea who it is! Graduation Day is a film to see if you love to pin point the plot. I enjoyed it you may too!

Guilty pleasure!
2007-12-31 - It's almost Graduation Day at the local high school but something tragic has happened as a track runner died from a heart attack and a mysterious psychopath stalks members of the High School track team, almost anyone in the school is a suspect as one of them could be the killer.

Starring Christopher George ("City of the Living Dead"), Vanna White and Linnea Quigely, this is a fine paced and fun no-brainer slasher movie that is one of your typical "Halloween" clones. Yes the acting is bad, the killer does look like a Fencer and the film does have some plot holes but this is an enjoyable killer movie with memorable kills like the man being skewered by a football with a sword in it and a good late 70's disco soundtrack.

This DVD contains a fair picture transfer with some miminal grain and decent sound and the extras include introduction by Troma president Lloyd Kaufman, interview with Linnea Quigley, Trailers to other Troma releases and more.

Also recommended: "Halloween Series plus 2007 remake", "Black Christmas (1974)", "The Prowler", "Sleepaway Camp Series", "Scream 1 & 2", "Maniac (1980)", "Friday The 13th series", "Cutting Class", "Prom Night", "Terror Train", "Twitch of the Death Nerve" and "Urban Legend".