I had high hopes for Graduation Day, available now from MVD. Over the years, I’ve built up my slasher film bona fides, but I still have a ton of blind spots. This offering from Troma looked to be a fun hidden gem. Why else would it be getting this new “Tromatic Special Edition” blu-ray when Vinegar Syndrome had already given it that treatment years ago? It must be crazy.
It’s just okay.
I assume, due to the multiple releases, that this has a soft spot for those who saw it originally in the ‘80s, but I was expecting a breezier, gorier, and much more fun time for this revenge slasher film. The premise alone is ripe for a good time. A promising track star dies during a race, casting a dark shadow over the program and the entire class. Months later, as graduation day looms, the victim’s sister comes to town to accept an award on her behalf, and people start dying in increasingly inventive and sometimes track-related ways.
It is certainly silly, and it has the hallmarks of a high school film written by someone who is either too far-removed from the experience or never went at all. First off, no one gives a fuck that much about track. Way too much stuff is going on around graduation day, which is usually the sole focus of the school. At one point, a victim is just walking around in full football gear, even though it’s out of season. Stupid shit like that.
But it’s not very fun, even in a “so bad it’s good” kind of way. Worse, it’s just okay. And the kills aren’t very shocking or funny, either. Even the best kill involving a pole vaulter is neutered by just showing the aftermath rather than the kill itself.
There is a whodunnit aspect that kept me mildly engaged, and the ridiculously shitty step-dad character had a couple insane lines of dialogue. But overall, I can’t imagine I’ll remember anything about this weeks from now. But for old-school fans of the film, this release should please them.
Transfer and Special Features
This looks fine, and is undoubtedly an upgrade from the VHS quality most people probably saw it in originally.
As I mentioned above, this got the Vinegar Syndrome treatment years ago, and all of those special features are ported over. There’s plenty of interviews, and I can’t imagine a fan of the film would want more from this.
But I’m not exactly sure what warranted this new version. I imagine it must be a rights thing in which they reverted back to Troma or something. And in true Troma fashion, they just released the exact same thing, but with an emphasis on the Troma of it all.
In fact, the only new special features are just Troma oddities that have nothing to do with this film. So if you want to see some extra Troma shit, this is the release for you. But if you already have the Vinegar Syndrome copy, I think you’re good.