Graduation Day (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Herb FreedRelease Date(s)
1981 (September 8, 2026)Studio(s)
Baughn/Freed Productions (Troma Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: C-
- Video Grade: B+
- Audio Grade: B
- Extras Grade: A
Review
Back in the 80s, when teens were deathly afraid of holidays, just about every special day got a serial killer. It got to the point that they were running out of names or thematic reasons to kill kids. In 1981, Graduation Day got its due. Something of a sleeper classic, Graduation Day isn’t the coolest slasher film. It doesn’t even feature the best gore. What it does have is some fun music by 70s band Felony.
After a young woman named Laura dies during a track and field event, her big sister Ann, an officer in the Navy shows up in town to figure out just why she died; at the same time everyone else in Laura’s gym class starts to die off, being stalked by a mysterious character in a fencing uniform. Who is the killer? Is it Ann? Or the coach (Christopher George) who is tired of pushing his student to greatness? Maybe it’s slutty student Linnea Quigley or mean girl Vanna White? Could it be Laura’s goofy boyfriend Kevin? Half the fun is waiting to find out who the killer is while late twenty-year-old teens die off in slightly creative ways. Just do yourself a favor and don’t watch the trailer—Graduation Day features one of the more notorious spoilery trailers of all time.
Graduation Day: Tromatic Special Edition is a cost-effective merger of the 2002 Troma DVD and the VinSyn release from 2014. Thankfully, using the updated video and sound from the Vinegar Syndrome release, the transfer at 1.85:1 encoded in AVC 1080p looks pretty good. It’s a restoration in 4K from the original 35mm negatives. Colors are nice, holding that era-specific glossy look. Details are clear, with a few moments of damage to the negative, but there’s no digital clean up or artifacting to be found. Sound is in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono with optional English subs. Everything is well balanced and dialogue is clear.
The extras are taken from both sets. On board is an auto-play intro from Lloyd Kaufman taken from the Troma DVD. I worry about my Uncle Lloyd sometimes. You will too after seeing this intro. From the VinSyn set are two commentaries, the first with producer/story man David Baughn moderated by special features filmmaker Elijah Drenner. It’s a good standard track with Braughn walking through the film’s production discussing cast, crew and locations. The second features Justin, Eric, Joseph and Nathan from The Hysteria Continues podcast where they discuss the film’s place in film history and its merits as a slasher film—mostly all tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Video content is broken into two pages. The first page is mostly interviews from the VinSyn set. There’s Surviving the Class of ’81, an interview with director Herb Freed; Acting of our School with Patch Mackenzie, who played Ann; Graduation Day Blues, more with Mr. Baughn; and Cutting Class where editor Martin Jay Sadoff discusses his craft. Page two is home to the Troma extras. There’s that trailer you’re to avoid at all costs prior to watching the film, an interview with Linnea Quigley from the LA headquarters of Troma, a musical excerpt from Troma Edge TV: Cannibal Lesbian Hoedown, the Tromatized/Innards music video from Abbie Harper, the classic Radiation March, a Troma Now commercial under the Troma in Times Square heading, an ad for The Toxic Avenger on 4K and Coming Distractions: trailers for #Shakespeare’s Shitstorm, Eating Miss Campbell, Curse of the Weredeer, Sweet Meats, Kill Dolly Kill, The Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke ’Em High, Tromeo & Juliet and Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD.
If you don’t have the more expensive release from Vinegar Syndrome (the cooler limited edition slipcase edition is long sold out, but the standard edition is still available) or the out-of-print lesser quality Troma DVD, this is a can’t miss version that’s the best of both worlds. Fans of 80s slashers should seek this out if you’re unfamiliar—it’s not a great film by any metric, but it’s a fun slasher film nonetheless.
- Todd Doogan