Entry Eight: Graduation Day (1981)

Graduation Day (1981)

Dir: Herb Freed

"Graduating from high school has never been so deadly..."

After the mysterious death of high school track star Laura Ramstead, a killer in fencing gear begins bumping off her track teammates graduation day.  Is it her angry older sister Emily, recently returned from a Navy assignment to Guam?  Is it her sleazy stepdad, Ron, whose in-line to collect a bunch of cash from her insurance policy (who the fuck takes a policy out on their kids?  Is that even possible?  I'm not going to bother with the research)?  Is it disgraced, asshole coach Christopher George?  Nope, it's her ultra-intense boyfriend, Kevin, who lives with his invalid mother in a decrepit mansion and keeps Laura's corpse in a chair.

 This is (script-wise), a pretty standard addition to the post-Friday the 13th slasher canon, but Freed's music-video style direction (lots of jump-cuts and montages) gives it a look that's unique among it's peers.  The soundtrack features some kickass rock tunes by Felony and most of the actors actually look like high school kids.  Scream Queen Linnea Quigley makes an early appearance and has a topless scene.  It's also worth pointing out that every adult in the film is angry, obnoxious and spews hateful dialogue.  Even the cop in charge of the investigation shirks his duties because he hates schools and kids!  For the fashion-minded, one of the early scenes features a dude wearing an ascot!  Overall, not a bad waste of time.