Graduation Day

Graduation Day (1981) is being released under the Troma label. They are evidently acquiring some 70's and 80's exploitation to augment their offerings. It is strictly a by-the-numbers teen slasher story. A young track star falls down dead after she wins a big race. Her sister returns on leave from the Navy to attend what would have been her graduation, and accept her honors on her behalf. Many blame the coach for the death, as he pushes all of his athletes very hard. One by one, all the members of the track team are slaughtered. We are supposed to suspect the sister, and then the coach.

NUDITY REPORT

Linnea Quigley shows breasts in a scene where she tries to seduce a music teacher to get a passing grade. Sometime stunt woman Denise Cheshire plays a gymnast/track star, end shows breasts in a locker room, and then is shaving her legs wearing panties and a sweater. Erica Hope briefly shows her breasts in a dark scene running from the killer.

DVD info from Amazon

The 4/3 transfer is decent quality, and there is an interview with Linnea on the DVD.

The critics were harsh. One says that having Linnea Quigley and Vanna White in the same cast should have been enough to keep people away.

The Critics Vote

Rotten Tomatoes summary. Four articles. None positive.

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. IMDb voters score it 2.9/10

with their dollars: amazingly, this was a modest hit, grossing $24 million in 1980.

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a D, but might be of interest to fans of the stars.