Look, if you are going to watch this movie expecting a horror masterpiece or at least a decent horror movie, bashing it in every possible way for cheap budget, bad acting, plot holes etc., you will be disappointed and I don't recommend you watch it. If you are gonna take it for what it is, and that's cheesy 80-s slasher with a few likable characters, some scenes that can make you laugh unintentionally and intentionally, some cool music (and other not so good, coming from a band that looks like "Twilight" characters spoof with Robert Pattinson as the lead singer) and a really nice performance from Michael Pataki, you are in for a treat. I recommend it to all slasher fans! Just don't expect to be scared or thrilled. 6.5/10 from me :D

Graduation Day is far from perfect, but it does stand proudly alongside many other 80s slasher flicks that swamped the theatres and video stores of that era as an entertaining genre flick - although not always for the right reasons...

Starring seasoned actor Christopher George - one of my favourite things about Enter The Ninja - as Coach Michaels, a tough sports teacher who likes to push his track team to the limits.

Unfortunately, within the opening few minutes of the film, he pushes one of them just too far and watches as she falls down Dead due to a blood clot at the finish line.

As graduation day is just a week away, the dead girls sister arrives to stand on behalf of her, and at the same time the rest of the track team start getting killed off in some inventive (and some silly) ways!

I kinda like Graduation Day. Its sometimes slow, a little rough around the edges, but I think it has enough of that classic, gritty 80s slasher charm to pass the mark.

It's not quite so simply as predictable as you would think, and all becomes clear towards the end which leads to a mad climax which is hilarious for being so ridiculous - but in a fun way!

Highlights for me were the end attack, a few inventive kills, some ridiculous writing, the detective's running, and the legs on that pole vaulter which weren't shown enough in my opinion...

Give it a go! It does entertain and certainly makes me miss the kind of films from that era that I was too young to catch on the big screen!

After a high school girl falls dead from a blood clot during a 200-meter race, members of the track team are slain one-by-one. Patch Mackenzie plays the dead student's sister, returning from the military, while Christopher George plays the harsh coach. E. Danny Murphy is on hand as the girl's grieving boyfriend.

"Graduation Day" (1981) is a cheap slasher that only cost $250,000. The high school setting is great for the genre, but "Prom Night" (1980) beat it to the theaters by 9.5 months whereas the parody "Student Bodies" (1981) debuted a few months after "Graduation Day." Although not technically slashers, high school horror flicks "Carrie" (1976) and "Christine" (1983) are cut from the same cloth in spirit. The difference is that those films had considerable budgets while "Graduation Day" is decidedly low-rent; and it shows.

Another issue is that the creators couldn't make up their minds if this was going to be a serious slasher or a campy parody. So they walked the balance beam between the two and it's an off-kilter vibe. But I got used to it and enjoyed the movie for what it is, a schlocky early 80's high school slasher.

There are a several highlights on the female front, including Linnea Quigley (Dolores), Karen Abbott (Joanne) and Denise Cheshire (gymnast Sally). Even Vanna White shows up (Doris).

The movie is overlong at 1 hour, 37 minutes, which is a tad too long to sustain a cut-rate fun slasher.

Likewise, seven and a half minutes was probably a little too lengthy for the live performance of the song "Gangster Rock" by Felony, but it is a driving hard rock ditty and the sequence perks up the film. Besides, the movie kept switching between the live song/roller skating to the slayings in the nearby woods. Thus it's assumed that the song either ran more around 5 minutes or the band simply did a longer rendition for the live setting, possibly because it was their local hit.

Unfortunately, the lead singer, Jeffrey Scott Spry, committed suicide in March, 1992. Remember this: Once you're dead, you're dead for a looong time.

The film was shot at La Cañada High School, La Cañada Flintridge, California, and nearby Pasadena (houses).

GRADE: C+