Graduation Day

During a high school track meet, Laura Ramstead suddenly collapses. She dies from a cardiac embolism, leaving the town stunned and the team reeling. The tragedy triggers the chain of events that will shadow the rest of the story.

Two months after Laura's death, Anne, a U.S. Navy officer, arrives in town to participate in the graduation ceremony honoring her sister. She attends a rehearsal and immediately senses the tension surrounding the team. The visit foreshadows the investigations to come.

Anne passes through downtown and sees Paula heading toward the jogging trails in the woods. Paula is soon stabbed to death by an unseen killer, a brutal first victim signaling rising danger. The tragedy unsettles the town and the track team.

In the school locker room, Sally is startled by Doris and Joanna and is unable to perform. A killer in fencing attire stabs her through the throat, leaving the team shocked and terrified. The attack marks the killer's methodical spread of fear.

The next day, Ralph encounters Doris and Joanna on the woods trails. They momentarily distract him with his football before the killer strikes with a spike attached to the ball, impaling and killing him. The body count escalates as investigators begin to take notice.

That night, during the graduation dance, Dolores leaves with her boyfriend Tony and they go into the wooded trails. The killer decapitates them both with a sword, raising the fear of a serial killer among the students. The school tries to manage the shock and cover-ups follow.

On the track field, Pete runs to attempt a pole vault, but the pads in the pit have been replaced with steel spikes. He crashes, dying instantly from the altered setup. The event shows how the killer sabotages the sports facilities.

Principal Guglione and Inspector Halliday begin investigating the missing students as inquiries into Laura's death intensify. Halliday questions Coach Michaels, who reacts with anger and reveals he has just been fired due to the ongoing negative publicity.

Doris and Joanne discover Sally's corpse stuffed in a locker, triggering screams that draw Coach Michaels to the scene. Kevin also arrives, and accusations fly about the coach as fear and confusion spread.

Michaels flees to the wooded trails with Kevin in pursuit; Anne and Halliday trail close behind. Kevin reveals himself as the killer, admitting he has been systematically dispatching the track team and blaming Laura's death for his actions. A tense pursuit ends with a violent confrontation.

During the pursuit, Inspector Halliday arrives at the scene and shoots Coach Michaels, assuming him to be the killer. Michaels dies, clearing the path for the true culprit to be revealed. Anne and Halliday brace for the next revelations.

Anne visits Kevin's house and discovers Laura's corpse in Kevin's bedroom, wearing a graduation cap and gown. Kevin bursts in, trying to kill her to prevent the truth from coming out, and a struggle forces them apart.

Anne escapes with Laura's body and later confronts Kevin at the track field, where she discovers Dolores's severed head and Pete's spike-riddled body in a storage shed. In the struggle she pushes Kevin onto Pete's spike, killing him.

After giving her statement to the police, Anne returns home and hallucinates an undead image of Kevin, which is revealed to be her stepfather Ronald in a drunken disguise. The next morning, she leaves town by taxi as the Graduation Day banner hangs over the main street.