Graduation Day Blu-ray Review (Troma Release)

Troma Films

Blu-ray Release: September 8, 2026

Video: 1.78:1/1080p/Color

Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono

Subtitles: English

Run Time: 96:42

Director: Herb Freed

It's just weeks before high school graduation and members of the track team are being mysteriously and gruesomely murdered one at a time. When the team's star runner drops dead at the end of a championship meet, her sister Anne (Patch MacKenzie) comes to town and a series of grisly murders begin. Is Anne responsible? Or is it coach Michaels (Christopher George) who has been fired because of Laura's death? Perhaps it's the campus policeman who is disliked because of his over-zealous drug investigations? Or is it Laura's boyfriend, Kevin (E. Danny Murphy), who can't reconcile himself to Laura's death? (From Troma’s official synopsis)

Here at Genre Grinder, Patrick Ripoll and I have had an annual tradition of taking a deep-dive into a single year in which a genre fad peaked. The first of these was our three part look at the slasher movies of 1981. If you’re very liberal with the term, about 42 slasher or at least slasher-esque films were released between January and December of that year, including classics, like George Mihalka’s My Bloody Valentine and Jeff Lieberman’s Just Before Dawn, overlooked foreign variations, like Kuei Chih-Hung’s Corpse Mania and Patrick Tam Kar-Ming’s Love Massacre, and dopey garbage, like James Bryan’s Don’t Go in the Woods and Jess Franco’s Bloody Moon.

Sitting somewhere in the middle of the quality scale is Herb Freed’s Graduation Day – a college campus body-counter that breaks up its formulaic doldrums with gob-smackingly strange stylistic choices. Everything remarkable about this film seems to have arisen out of the perpetual battle between bored filmmakers, trend-chasing producers, and an overall lack of budget. It excels only when it breaks expectations. Sometimes, this is marked by differences in theming, like the fact that Graduation Day is built around the ultra-competative world of high school sports, mostly ignoring academics and extracurricular shenanigans.

More often, however,  it’s cinematographer Daniel Yarussi’s use of odd camera angles and unmotivated slo-mo, and editor Martin Jay Sadoff’s unhinged kaleidoscopic cutting techniques that set the film apart from its strictly by-the-numbers counterparts. The flickered editing and excessive slo-mo, in particular, appear to be creative attempts to extend the runtime to feature length. The filmmakers can be respected for their experimental spirit, as well celebrated the ways their efforts resemble real promotional shorts and informational ads for schools and public services from the era.

The opening sequence, for instance, with its inspirational disco music and B-roll sports footage, could easily be confused with an actual collegiate sports promo, complete with a B-level celebrity cameo. But then a girl dies and we’re reminded that we’re actually watching the origin story of a vengeful slasher killer. The mystery of Graduation Day’s uncanny qualities might be attributed to Freed’s experience making commercials for major corporations. Indeed, when taken in pieces, it could be confused with a Wrigley's gum or Crystal Lite ad.

Freed also dabbled in acting, choreography, and even served as a rabbi, before turning to entertainment. Graduation Day was his fourth film as director and third horror movie, following psychothriller Haunts (1977) and possession shocker Beyond Evil (1980). He ended his career making low budget action movies and comedies.

At best, these unusual editing practices do bleed into the murder set-pieces. Freed doesn’t revel in gore, possibly spurred by tightening restrictions by the MPAA, but more likely just because it didn’t interest him. Instead, he and co-writer (then wife) Anne Marisse focus on the sports theme, straining credulity with somewhat creative, often ridiculous ways of killing people using footballs, fencing foils, and pole vault landing mats.

Freed has claimed in past interviews that he wasn’t aware of the slasher trend at the time, which I don’t believe, because of the clear nods to Sean Cunningham’s Friday the 13th and Paul Lynch’s Prom Night (both 1980) – not to mention that he was working with Halloween (1978) producer David Baughn, who wrote the story treatment. The connections to the giallo films of the previous decade are also hard to overlook, such as the killer’s fashion choices (black gloves) and the extremely Argento-esque POV shots.

The cast is fronted by Patch Mackenzie as not a final girl, but, really, a final woman. Her status as a military officer and general maturity sets her apart from the juvenile rabble, as does her physical dominance over the abusing, sexist men she encounters throughout the film. She also doubles as a convincing red herring. Veteran character actor Christopher George is top billed as the callous and demanding gym coach and makes good use of his limited screentime. The supporting cast includes accomplished gymnast Denise Cheshire, accomplished pole vaulter Tom Hintnaus, future scream queen Linnea Quigley, future Wheel of Fortune letter-turner Vanna White, and, in a solid comic relief double-act, Michael Pataki and E.J. Parker.

Bibliography:

• Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, 1978-1986 by Adam Rockoff (McFarland & Company, 2011)

Video

Graduation Day is pretty far from an obscure title and has been released on DVD and Blu-ray several times over the years, including a Troma-branded DVD, UK BD from 88 Films, and a stateside disc from Vinegar Syndrome in 2021. Five years later, Vinegar Syndrome’s transfer, which was mastered in 4K from the editor Martin Jay Sadoff’s answer print, is being recycled by Troma for their own Blu-ray. As per usual, Troma tends to cut corners where they can, so, despite not having a copy on hand, I assume that VS’s disc looks a bit better than this one.

As mentioned, Graduation Day is a very stylized film and cinematographer Daniel Yarussi’s unique combination of lens types and oh-so-early-’80s soft focus/diffusion leads to significant challenges in terms of grain and sharpness. The answer print is also a bit dirty, a bit wobbly, and the ends of most reels are damaged. I don’t believe the washed-out color quality is a transfer problem, because this is how the film has always looked on home video. These are all expected issues, given the source and age of the movie. The real issue here (one I assume isn’t a problem with the VS disc) is compression, leading to noisy clumping, combed edge effects, and bleeding colors. Overall, though, this is still a big improvement over DVD and streaming versions.

Audio

Graduation Day is presented in its original mono and lossy Dolby Digital sound, unlike the VS disc, which was presented in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio. The film is as sonically interesting as it is visually unique, especially the stuttering aural effect coupled with jittering edits to imply intrusive thoughts. Music also plays a big role, from Arthur Kempel’s Herrmann-esque score to original pop, disco, hard rock, and blues pieces. Cheap Trick-esque rock act Felony performs during a roller rink sequence and reportedly lent their song “Gangster Rock” to the production free of charge in exchange for screen time. Dialogue inconsistencies can be blamed on the production itself, which mixes and matches echoey on-set performance and ADR.

Extras

• Commentary with David Baughn – The first of the two tracks recorded for Vinegar Syndrome’s 2014 release features the producer/storywriter and is moderated by Elijah Drenner. Baughn talks about the early production, developing the story, making and distributing Graduation Day independently, casting, locations, working with Freed, and his post-Graduation Day work.

• Commentary with The Hysteria Continues – In the second Vinegar Syndrome track, podcasters Justin Kerswell, Joseph Henson, Nathan Johnson, and Erik Threlfall celebrate the film and explore the careers of the cast & crew, the other slasher releases of 1981, and Graduation Day’s place in the pantheon.

• Other 2014 Vinegar Syndrome archival extras:

  • Surviving the Class of '81 (12:16, HD) – Herb Freed looks back on breaking into the indie film scene, his professional relationship with Baughn and Anne Marisse, the structure and craft of horror films, and working with his actors.

  • Acting Out in School (8:42, HD) – Actress Patch MacKenzie chats about moving to Hollywood, auditioning for the film, shooting on a low budget, creative disagreements with Freed, enjoying the film with an audience, and technical challenges.

  • Graduation Day Blues (11:28, HD) – Baughn returns and covers a lot of the same ground as the commentary.

  • Cutting Class (7:14, HD) – Editor Martin Jay Sadoff breaks down the film’s flashy editing techniques.

• 2002 Troma archival extras:

  • Introduction by Lloyd Kaufman (2:59, SD)

  • Theatrical Trailer

  • Sgt. Kabukiman Interview with Scream Queen Linnea Quigley (4:33, SD) 

• Tromatic archival extras:

  • "Cannibal Lesbian Hoedown" music video (2:15, SD)

  • “Tromatized” music video (1:50, HD)

  • Radiation March (0:54, SD)

  • Troma in Times Square (1:01, HD)

  • Toxic Avenger 4K promo (1:10, HD)

  • Coming Distractions trailer reel

The images on this page are taken from the Blu-ray and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.