The Third Saturday in October Part V

Charmed by the sincere tribute to Grindhouse cinema with the Horror comedy The Third Saturday in October (2022-also reviewed), I was happy to find that the other film in the series was being shown at the Soho Horror Film Festival, this led to me counting down to the third Saturday.

View on the film:

Recorded as the fifth in a series where parts 2-4 don't actually exist, returning editor/writer/director Jay Burleson & cinematographer Chris Hilleke slam the franchise into the pre- Scream (1996) early mid-90's, which they wonderfully capture in flat, plainly lit for video, wide-shots, limited sides of Slasher set-pieces, and extended takes for attempts at Comedy sequences, which stumble on the dead-end that the Slasher had hit by this point.

Along with emulating the visual state of Slasher flicks from this period, the screenplay by Burleson sadly strays a little too close to the writing style of this era, with the playful riffs on Grindhouse from the earlier movie, being replaced here with plodding, witless dialogue tangled up in a Slasher series which had overstayed its welcome by the third Saturday in October.

It's definitely better than the original and that's saying much. Wait, is "saying much" a thing? Well, if it is, that is what I am saying.

For a sequel it plays up the humor and less of the homage of the first one. And speaking of that, those films are listed in reverse order here with The Third Saturday in October Part V (2022) being the original and The Third Saturday in October (2022) being the sequel.

But I think for continuity and thematic purposes, The Third Saturday in October (2022) is the first movie. And The Third Saturday in the October Part V (2022) is the only extant sequel. The Third Saturday in October Part II, The Third Saturday in October Part III and The Third Saturday in October Part IV are all explained as being lost. So perhaps, when those recreations are found and released they can be ranked in comparison to the two films in the series that are viewable in regard to their intentionally questionable qualities.

I did find the bed foot guy the best part of this movie. That was fun.

As suggested, we watched Part V first and then watched the prequel. This was exactly what I expected and enjoyed every bit of it. The acting and storyline is true-to-form with the horror films of that era. The props and attention to detail to create that realistic feel of a movie made in the late 70's - 80s is fantastic. I enjoyed the familiar additions to recreate the boogie-man, babysitter, and unsuspecting group of friends. The diverse group of spectators for the "big game" make for amusing interactions and some instances of humor. There are several points in the film that we couldn't resist laughing at because it's just too ridiculous and that was by design; which makes it even more enjoyable.

Preparing for a big party, a group of friends gathers at a friend's house to celebrate the town's massive football rivalry game where they use the opportunity to score with their girlfriends, but when they find the festivities crashed by a supernatural killer must try to survive the night against the being.

This was a solid enough sequel if just a slight step down from the original. One of the bright spots here is the rather fun setup that introduces some workable storylines for this kind of film. With the introduction of the killer returning and appearing on the outskirts of town in a rampage that goes unnoticed until it's too late serving this well enough to start the film, the continuation of the town's obsession with the particular football game being played on that date and the build-up of the relationships at stake between the main group of friends present, these pieces all combine together to make the first half here quite fun. The few bits of the friends hanging out with each other and preparing for the game before the party show a genuine sense of friendship that's quite effective at building sympathy for them which plays into the finish quite nicely. That provides the basic grounding for the film to go through a solid series of stalking scenes with the killer's brutality coming to the forefront quite nicely. With the encounters following suit of the first film with a slew of brutal, hard-hitting sequences that are made all the better for being practical effects. This one manages to strike just as impactful an impression here with the encounters and confrontations here. Featuring the first ambush at the farmer's house, the later scenes stalking their parents, or later coming up to the house while everyone is unaware of him being there, this one starts off well enough while also setting up the rampage that takes place at the party where he starts taking out the group as they split off from the others at the party. These are usually fun enough and filled with enough action to make for a likable and wholly enjoyable time. There are some issues to be had with this one. The main drawback to the film is much the same as an issue ins the first one in that the killer is somewhat more comical than he should be which makes him less imposing than he should be. Once again missing the sense of motivation for the rampage that was found in part one, here the whole thing is taken up a notch by the constantly utilized inability of everyone to notice he's there with people looking at the scene he's left behind and failing to notice or react to the obvious unnatural look of the scenario causing them to fall victim. These features combine together to make this killer feel quite underwhelming which is somewhat disappointing, much like the low-budget nature of this one standing out which is pretty frequent throughout here despite not being overtly detrimental but still stands out enough to hold this back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Brief Nudity.

Contrast the reviews for this film against the "first" film, and you'll raise your eyebrows. Just saying.

The poster for the film is great. That is the only positive contribution I have to make. There's no homage here. There's no tribute to slasher flicks...its one nonsensical kill after another.

The mask is not interesting in the least. All of the mystery about the killer is nullified in the first 20 minutes. None of the characters are likeable.

I have no idea how the filmmakers got any funding for this enormous waste of time. If you're on the fence about watching The Third Saturday in October, hopefully this review helped you make a decision.