Nostalgia Kinky

Troma continues its thankful trend of re-releasing Blu-ray editions of films they previously lent to Vinegar Syndrome, complete with the extras VS prepared for its releases. The latest title Troma welcomes back is the awesome slasher Graduation Day, one of the craziest and coolest horror flicks of 1981.
Order now directly from Troma or from MVD.

Released at the height of the stalk and slash craze in American cinemas, Graduation Day is one hell of an inventive and entertaining little film. Equal parts goofy and scary, Graduation Day was written by husband/wife team Herb Freed and Anne Marisse. Future Tomboy filmmaker Freed directs the film and directs it well, utilizing his low budget perfectly.

I don’t have the nostalgia for Graduation Day that I have other early eighties slashers, simply because I didn’t see it for the first time until I was well into adulthood. The lack of nostalgia doesn’t matter, though, as this is a suprisingly great chiller that gets nearly everything right, while not taking itself too seriously.

Graduation Day sports a fun cast including Christopher George. He appeared in this between City of the Living Dead and Pieces! Talk about a bloody trio. Young Linnea Quigley also appears, as does an unknown Vanna White. If the film has a lead, it is Patch Mackenzie, who delivers the film’s most interesting performance.

Graduation Day ultimately doesn’t have the weight of something like Halloween, The Burning, or any other heavyweight Slasher classic. Still, Graduation Day is an absolute blast of weird, ranking among the best of the 2nd-tier Slashers, imho.

Troma utilizes, I believe, the same 35mm-based restoration VS delivered on its release. Extras include numerous cast and crew interviews, archival Troma extras and commentary tracks. This new Troma edition of Graduation Day is a great affordable way to add this delightful little thriller to your collection if you missed out on the Vinegar Syndrome release.

-Jeremy Richey, September 2026-