'Graduation Day' (1981) – Herb Freed.

The early 80s were the luridly teen-slaying, money-raking slasher movie heyday, and one co-ed skewering classic that deservedly maintains a sizable fan base is director, Herb ‘Haunts’ Freed’s human trophy-hunting, ‘hack and field’ murder marathon ‘Graduation Day’(1981). The shockingly sudden death of rising young track star, Elaine Ramstead (Beverly Dixon) rather rapidly heralds a gruesome retaliatory swathe of crimson-slinging campus carnage, beginning auspiciously with the bloody, not so motiveless murder of fellow esteemed athlete, Paula (Linda Shayne). As the appropriately gymnastic goring, and malevolently muscular mutilations escalate, Elaine’s breathtakingly beautiful sister, Anne (Patch Mackenzie) unearths a perfectly shifty plethora of sinister sister slayers as the blood-clotted plot coagulates murderously close to her most vital organs until the chaotic cadaver-cleaving climax!

There is just so much sanguineous splendour to be sweetly savoured in, Herb Freed's blackly sardonic, razor-edged 80s splatter-Olympiad. Graduation Day's most striking contribution coming from ace composer, Arthur Kempel’s enjoyably sprightly, Bernard Herrmann-esque score. Another especially edifying ingredient is one of the athlete-depleting killer's more imaginatively contrived weapons delivering an especially excruciatingly demise! And, finally, there really is nothing sublimer than marvelling at the dreamiest of the screamiest, the Blonde-mopped, lusciously lurid B-Movie bombshell, Linnea Quigley, playfully getting her perky jubblies jovially jiggled by some wickedly warped, wig-wearing old willy-wiggler! 

 

 

‘Star Athletes are being brutally cut from the team...and what’s left of ‘em wouldn’t fill their gym locker!’

 ‘One of the more historically histrionic slashers of the early 80s just graduated to HD with full, wide-scream honours! Slashing seniors never looked so good!’