With the Troma classics Sugar Cookies and Lust For Freedom
currently available from Vinegar Syndrome the company has recently taken on one
of the more well-known slashers of the early 1980's in Graduation Day. Troma
did release Graduation Day several years back but it left much to be desired to
say the least. In the hands of Vinegar Syndrome though, improvement is inevitable,
especially with the fact that it's making it's a Blu-ray debut in a combo pack
from the genre DVD and Blu-ray producers.
Graduation Day was actually a spawn off
the success of John Carpenter's Halloween as were many slashers from the era
(The Burning, Friday the 13th, The Prowler, just to name a
few.) The story surrounds a sudden death
of an athlete and a series of murders that follow immediately after the young
track star's death. When the deceased girl's sister, Anne (Patch Mackenzie,
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive) arrives in town for her funeral the bodies
begin to pile up of her peers in a variety of ways. Could Anne be taking some
revenge kind of revenge on the students? Could it be the gym teacher played by
the great Christopher George (City of the Living Dead, Enter the Ninja) or
could it just be some random psycho with a blood-lust the killing of college
kids?
The areas where Graduation Day shines don’t
quite lie in an intelligent script (although it has a some clever bits) or in
the strong acting -- it's in the creativeness of the kills and the all-around
playfulness of the film. While not particularly gory it was still a lot of fun
to see the demises of the characters as opposed to the routine stabbings that
can even dumb down the bloodiest slashers. Another point of interest for horror
fans is scream queen Linnea Quigley a pre-Wheel of Fortune Vanna White among
the cast.
This new Blu-ray and DVD representation
absolutely blows the old Troma DVD and any other incarnation out of the water when
it comes to picture and sound. The picture isn't murky like the Troma DVD,
which appeared to be rendered from an old tape master – instead, it's colorful
and looks much better during the night scenes. This is definitely the way you
need to see this movie.
I was very impressed with the extra
features as you not only get some solid interviews with star Patch Mackenzie,
Graduation Day director Herb Freed, Producer David Baughn and Editor Martin
Sadoff. All seem appreciative of their time and shed some light on production
with some facts you may not be aware of. If that isn't enough you get an audio
commentary with Baughn and an additional track with the crew at The Hysteria
Continues. Baughn talks about his involvement in Halloween and how its success
brought upon Graduation Day and in one the funnier moments on the track he
brings up a story about how his balls get a cameo in the movie.
If you have any love for the slasher genre
you'd be hard-pressed not add Graduation Day to your collection. Vinegar
Syndrome has done a hell of job putting this package together with the much
improved transfer and solid extra features. Don’t pass this one up! Highly Recommended
Screencaps for Graduation Day courtesy of Rock! Shock! Pop!
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