Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
Day 4/31: Graduation Day (1981)
Who made it?
Director: Herb Freed (Haunts, Paradise Lost, Beyond Evil)
What was it about?
It’s an 80’s slasher inspired by the greats so all you need is a masked killer, some horny teens and a “special day” as the title card. The student athletes starts falling like flies after the track team star has a heart attack after winning a 200-metre race.
Director Herb Freed saw there was money to be made in horror as new cinemas were popping up left and right, all looking for new content for their screens. Horror movies, especially slashers, could turn an easy profit in this era especially as Freed and his partner David Baughn handled all the marketing and distribution themselves so they could rake in all the profits themselves.
Remember what I said about the quality of these movies not being the focus of this list? Yeah, Graduation Day isn’t what anyone would call top-tier (definitely a bronze medal winner when it comes to horror) but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have some redeeming qualities. In this case it’s the imaginative kills like a pole vaulter landing in spikes, a fencing sword through the neck and a solid decapitation coupled with a generous topping of cheesy fun that makes this worth checking out, if only to make sure you’ve punched every hole in your 80’s slasher card.
Favourite Scene
These kinds of movies are best watched with a group of like-minded friends as its messy production led to a host of technical issues that made for fun so-bad-it’s-good moments. So, it’s not one particular scene for me but my favourite moments are tied to the actress who was hired to play Dolores (the blonde in jersey number 46) who was problematic behind the scenes and was replaced by Scream Queen Linnea Quigley (The Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Demons). But because they didn’t have the budget to reshoot there are tons of scenes that feature both actresses making for some very confusing viewing if you’re not paying attention. The best aspect of this would have to be Dolores’ decapitation scene. They had already moulded the head using the first actress’ likeness so when the shot pans to the head, it’s not Quigley’s face you see. I would pay anything to be able to time travel and see the look on the cinemagoers faces when that happened!
Fun Trivia
Vanna White of Wheel of Fortune fame starred in this movie (it was only her second role).
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Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More