Graduation Day (film)
| Graduation Day | |
|---|---|
DVD Cover
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| Directed by | Herb Freed |
| Produced by | David Baughn Herb Freed Hal Schwartz |
| Written by | David Baughn Herb Freed Anne Marisse |
| Starring | Patch Mackenzie E. Danny Murphy Christopher George E. J. Peaker Michael Pataki Linnea Quigley Richard Balin Carmen Argenziano Virgil Frye Beverly Dixon Hal Bokar Denise Cheshire Billy Hufsey Tom Hintnaus Carl Rey Karen Abbott Vanna White |
| Music by | Arthur Kempel |
| Cinematography | Daniel Yarussi |
| Edited by | Martin Jay Sadoff |
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Production
company |
Troma Entertainment
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| Distributed by |
Columbia Pictures Troma Entertainment |
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $250,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $23,894,000 |
Graduation Day is a 1981 slasher film directed by Herb Freed and produced by Troma Entertainment. The plot concerns a high school track team being suspiciously missing and murdered by a masked assailant after an accidental death of a member on the team had occurred during a track meet.
While not prosecuted for obscenity, the film was seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 during the video nasty panic.
During a high school track meet at Midvale High School, track runner Laura Ramstead (Ruth Ann Llorens) is pushed by the crowd and her demanding coach. Apparently, Laura collapses after crossing the finish line after completing a 100 meter race in 30 seconds, and is announced to be dead upon examination.
Days later, Laura's older sister Anne Ramstead (Patch Mackenzie) returns from the US Navy to visit her mother (Beverly Dixon) and her grumpy stepfather Ronald (Hal Boker) in town. After being dropped off from a truck driver, she notices a girl named Paula running into a wooded area, who is then killed by an assailant wearing black gloves and having a stopwatch. At the school, the assailant steals a photo of the track team and crosses out Paula's face after circling Laura's face. Meanwhile, Anne arrives home, planning to leave after graduation day, and discusses with her mother about Laura's demise. After, Anne unpacks her belongings upstairs including a gray sweatshirt and a pair of black gloves.
Track member Sally (Denise Cheshire) is walking through the woods and encounters Anne, who is heading for the auditorium as a special guest for a graduation rehearsal. Later, Anne goes to visit Kevin (E. Danny Murphy), who was Laura's boyfriend. Kevin shows Anne a photo album of Laura, and Anne gives Kevin one of Laura's track medals in which he thanks her for. Track team mean girl Dolores (Linnea Quigley) seduces a teacher in the music room. The next day, an unfocused Sally goes to the locker room after trying to concentrate with her gym bar routine, where she is killed by the assailant wearing a fencing mask and ends the stopwatch after 30 seconds. Later, Principal Gugilone (Michael Pataki) slices an apple with a knife, where he puts it in his desk drawer containing a stopwatch and various knives. Inside the school, Anne speaks to Coach Michaels, who is frustrated on being blamed for Laura's death, when in reality a blood clot in her heart killed her.
Soon, the masked killer begins to murder many of the track members and students, causing a concern for parents to contact Principal Gugilone about the missing children and resulting an investigation from Inspector Halliday (Carmine Argenziano). While Dolores is chased through the woods during a local festival at night. No one is able to hear her screams for help over the festival's loud music and she is eventually beheaded by the murderer.
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