The 80s was the decade of the slasher film and Graduation Day stands among them as one of the underappreciated ones of that decade. Well, Troma Entertainment had decided to give this cult classic a Blu-ray release.
Synopsis: 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? You won't want to see Graduation Day alone!
The film is surprisingly pretty good for a low budget 80s slasher film. Christopher George (TV's Rat Patrol) stars in this film and does a spectacular job. In addition there is a great supporting cast. But one thing to look out for when watching this film is an appearance by Vanna White Yes Wheel of Fortun's Vanna White.
Graduation Day has been transferred to Blu-ray in 1080p and is presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The audio track is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. There is also English Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The Blu-ray transfer is okay, nothing amazing or mind blowing. There is some cause of picture imperfections and compression issues. But I would venture to say this is still a good upgrade from the DVD release. Plus Troma added all kinds of archival bonus features to this Blu-ray. Take a look at what is included.
Vinegar Syndrome Archival Extras
* Commentary with David Baughn
* Commentary with The Hysteria Continues with podcasters Justin Kerswell, Joseph Henson, Nathan Johnson, and Erik Threlfall
* Surviving the Class of '81: Herb Freed looks back on breaking into the indie film scene.
* Acting Out in School: Actress Patch MacKenzie talks moving to Hollywood, auditioning for the film, shooting on a low budget and more.
* Graduation Day Blues: Baughn returns and covers a lot of the same ground as the commentary.
* Cutting Class: Editor Martin Jay Sadoff talks the films editing techniques.
Troma archival extras:
* Introduction by Lloyd Kaufman
*Theatrical Trailer
* Sgt. Kabukiman Interview with Scream Queen Linnea Quigley
Tromatic archival extras:
* "Cannibal Lesbian Hoedown" music video
* “Tromatized” music video
* Radiation March
* Troma in Times Square
* Toxic Avenger 4K promo
* Coming Distractions trailer reel
So as you can see this is not just some barebones Blu-ray cash grab. Troma got as much bonus features as they could find making this release the best possible one for physical media fans.
If you love 80s slasher films Graduation Day needs to be on your watch list. If you would like to see this film in HD head over to MVD Shop or Amazon and order your copy today.
Out of 4 film reels (4 being the best) the Blu-ray of Graduation Day receives.....
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