The Third Saturday in October, Part I is a 2023 horror-comedy written and directed by Jay Burleson. It is a prequel to The Third Saturday In October Part V and was released a year after. There are no parts II through IV. Like the original film, it purports to be an installment of a largely forgotten, cheap horror franchise that was made as a knock-off of Halloween. This "original" installment is the origin story of its villain, Jakkariah "Jack" Harding, the masked, unstoppable killer.
The film stars Darius Willis and KJ Baker, as the grieving parents of two of Jack's victims, and Allison Shrum, as one of his next possible victims.
Tropes
- Ambiguously Gay: Hank of Hank's Good Stuff is extremely upset by the murder of his male "friend" by Jack Harding and prints shirts in his memory. Uncle Deeter claims that Hank is gay and only has the Fanservice girls in his commercials to throw people off the scent. Hank's sexuality is never confirmed.
- Artistic License – History: Several minor actors have piercings and tattoos in styles that rather blatantly reveal that the film wasn't actually shot in 1979.
- Burger Fool: Bronco Billy's is a burger diner where Heather works. She has to say a cumbersome spiel to customers when she arrives at their table, though she admits that she skips it for regulars. The place serves a mysterious "Bronco Cola," and John Paul notes that it's unusual for a diner to have its own soda. Heather says it tastes like Dr. Pepper, so it might just be Dr. Pepper sold under an exotic name. Vicki pointedly requests Coca-Cola rather than whatever Bronco Cola is.
- Call-Back: The film establishes how Jack lost his eye, became an undead monster, acquired his hearse, and got his skull mask, all established to be characteristics in the first film.
- Contrived Coincidence: Vicki just happens to overhear the mother of two of Jack's victims talking about him at Bronco Billy's.
- Daddy's Girl: Heather has a very close relationship with her father, and she watches every Third Saturday in October game with him. The fact that she goes out to a party this time is a big deal, but they both handle it with maturity. In the end, Heather urges her father to trust her and just shoot Jack. He says, "I trust you!" and starts blasting away.
- Dies Wide Open: The camera focuses on the blank, wide-eyed stare of Denver's corpse. A freeze-frame of this image is even used under the closing credits.
- Dramatic Irony: Jack is stalking Deeter's house while the occupants nap and dance around in blissful ignorance.
- Elective Mute: The warden notes that Jack Harding has not said a word since he was arrested for murder. Jack maintains his silence when granted the opportunity for his final words. After becoming an undead monster, he remains silent, though he goes giggle after some kills.
- Expy: The fictional Alabama-Mobile Seahawks and Tennessee A&M Commonwealth football teams stand in for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and University of Tennessee Volunteers football teams, who make up the real life "Third Saturday in October
" rivalry. - Eye Scream: Jack is revealed to have lost his eye when it exploded while he was being electrocuted on the electric chair.
- Fanservice:
- Bobbi Jo gets topless for no other reason than to titillate the audience.
- Hank of Hank's Good Stuff is always flanked by two attractive women in his commercials.
- Final Girl: Heather, the good Daddy's Girl who doesn't do cocaine, is the only attendee of John Paul's party who survives.
- Full-Name Basis: Discussed. Ricky Dean always addresses Vicki Newton by her full name. She confronts him about it halfway through the film and tells him that it's annoying. He catches himself doing it again and apologizes, saying that it's just the way he talks.
- Hand Cannon: Ricky Dean has a revolver with a foot-long barrel.
- I Call It "Vera": Apparently the local prison named its electric chair "Yellow Mama" and has a sign up behind it to advertise that fact.
- Implacable Man: Like the first film, Jack is nigh-unstoppable after being killed. He can be temporarily stunned by gunfire and other attacks but will always get back up and disappear.
- Just Friends: John Paul and his friends from college are two guys and two girls who are very physically close yet seem to have no romantic interest in each other. No one accepts Denver's invitation to dance with her. Later, when leaving to go to Bronco Billy's, Pam slaps Ned's butt playfully. Later still, John Paul, Pam and Ned all nap together on the same bed, their arms draped across each other like children, with no hint of sexual undertones.
- Malevolent Masked Men: Jack acquires his skull mask in this film, which is revealed to be a Halloween costume taken from the Hill house.
- Motif: Both carried over from the first film.
- Cats: John Paul and his friends frequently meow at each other as a joke. Jack kills a family trying to give away a litter of kittens. He picks a kitten up and boops its nose. A song plays over the death of Ned that sounds like meowing. The local football coach again references spaying and neutering pets.
- Dancing: Denver dances through most of her screen time.
- Neck Snap: Jack emerges from a corner and snaps Denver's neck, letting her drop to the ground twitching, instantly dead.
- Non-Indicative Name: Denver didn't earn her nickname because she's from Colorado. She's actually from Utah.
- Papa Bear: Heather is struggling for her life with Jack when Barry arrives. She snarls at Jack, "I want to introduce you to my daddy!" as Barry tackles him.
- Pietà Plagiarism: Jack carries Denver's corpse down the basement stairs in this pose before depositing her into a rocking chair.
- Properly Paranoid: Ricky Dean and Vicki warn Heather to stay away if she sees a hearse. When she does encounter a mysterious hearse on John Paul's driveway, she ignores his protests and immediately decides to head home.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While the sheriff doesn't initially buy Ricky Dean's supernatural-sounding story, he eventually agrees to take him seriously and organizes a search of the community to hunt down Jack.
- Rouge Angles of Satin: Some of the signs in the crowd outside the prison have grammar errors in them, such as mixing up "your" and "you're."
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Denver dances down into the basement, but when she sees a empty rocking chair rocking, she gets creeped out and leaves. Once she gets back to the top of the stairs, however, she goes right back to blissfully dancing.
- Shout-Out: Heather and Barry Hill have a sign outside their Halloween-decorated house reading "Welcome to Hill House," a reference to The Haunting of Hill House.
- Signature Laugh: Ned snorts whenever he laughs.
- Stylistic Suck: The film was supposedly shot in 1979, so it has more stylistic suck than the original movie.
- As with the first film, the gore effects are very cheap.
- The film is grainier, and it occasionally warps or flickers.
- During several indoor scenes, characters reference the time being late at night while bright daylight is clearly beaming in through the curtains and drapes.
- During one zoom-in on Heather, the camera loses focuses for a few seconds.
- The sheriff's uniform is obviously a yellow jumpsuit with random law enforcement patches and lettering glued onto it. When he tells Denver that he's not a police officer but the sheriff, a patch on his shoulder is clearly visible reading "Police K-9 Unit."
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Vicki needs to find out where Heather lives and has a "Eureka!" Moment by calling her place of work, but neither the waitress working the counter nor any of the regulars at the diner know Heather's address. That's not really something a lot of people actually know about their coworkers or waitresses.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death:
- Denver spends several minutes wandering around the house until she's suddenly ambushed by Jack and instantly killed with a Neck Snap.
- After Pam watches John Paul and Heather leave for a walk, Jack's arm emerges from Behind the Black and hits her over the head with a hammer.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Did Jack harm those kittens?
