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Graduation Day(1981)

Name: Graduation Day
Genre: Horror
Released: 1981
Duration: 96 min

1981 · Herb Freed · 96 min

After the death of a high school track star during a race, a mysterious killer in a fencing mask begins murdering her friends and teachers.

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Horror

5.2126 votes

TMDB score

2/5

Intensity

2/5

Gore

1/5

Stays with you

How scary is Graduation Day?

It opens with a slow set-up around a school tragedy before settling into a steady rhythm of stalking and picking off teens one by one. The pace is more plodding than tense, with long stretches of everyday teen drama between kills rather than constant dread. Fear here comes from a masked figure hunting people down in ordinary places, not from anything eerie or otherworldly. It's a low-key, dated slasher that's more mildly fun and cheesy than genuinely scary or upsetting.

On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Graduation Day rates psychological 2/5, visceral 3/5, gore 2/5, lingering effect 1/5, and overall intensity 2/5.

Psychological: 2 of 5
Visceral: 3 of 5
Gore: 2 of 5
Lingering: 1 of 5
Intensity: 2 of 5

Slow burn vs Jump scares: 35 of 100 — leans Slow burn

Slow burnJump scares

Supernatural vs Real-world: 90 of 100 — leans Real-world

SupernaturalReal-world

Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 30 of 100 — leans Fun-scary

Fun-scaryDisturbing

Intensity over runtime

Shape only — no events

Reveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.

A slow-starting slasher that trickles out sporadic scares before tightening into a tenser, bloodier home stretch.

Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5.

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