Graduation Day
This 1981 horror film opens up with a track race at Midvale High, admist the funky, cheesy background music. Coach Michaels (Christopher George also from Pieces and Mortuary the same year) and the other teammates of the track team are yelling their lungs off at Laura Ramstead (Ruth Ann Llorens), their last runner. Laura runs with all her might, but at the finish line, she falls dead. The whole school is shocked by Laura's untimely death caused by a blood clot.
Returning to town from the military, Laura's sister Anne (Patch Mackenzie) stays with her family on the high school's graduation week to accept an award in her sister's memory. Anne's father is very bitter towards her and doesn't welcome her visit very much, while her mother is very greatful of her presence.
As graduation nears, several members of the track team are killed off one by one by someone in a jogging suit and fencing mask who times their deaths with a stopwatch. Could it be Anne, who just happens to have the same jogging suit as the killer? Maybe it's the school principal, Mr. Gudlione (Michael Pataki). Or could it be Coach Michaels, who has been fired because of Laura's death? It could be anyone, even Laura's boyfriend Kevin (E. Danny Murphy), who is deeply saddened by her death. Almost everyone is a suspect, and the track team is running out of time.
Always a favorite '80s cheesy horror movie of mine, I mainly wanted to see this for scream queen Linnea Quigley's small role as the promiscuous Dolores. Along with my favorite actress's appearance, I enjoyed this film very much. There's a lot of cheese to be seen and many plot twists to be had. Most people might think I'm crazy for liking this movie and others similar to it, but I thought that Graduation Day was a lot fun! It's from 1981, when very many slasher movies were being released, many of them favorites of mine. The death scenes are fairly creative, but needed to look a little bit more believable. The acting made me laugh a lot in some parts, especially when the final girl tries to do karate on the killer! To add to the cheese, there's a rollerskating party featuring a group by the name of Felony singing the Gangster Rock. Towards the end of that scene, while Linnea Quigley's character is running from the character, her blouse flies open! They don't get very much better than this! Definitely recommended to any fan of cheese galore! Look closely for Vanna White's (TV's Wheel of Fortune) bit part as a silly, screaming teenage girl.
