What if a lost horror franchise made during the peak of the slasher genre was unearthed today, but only two of the films could be restored? Filmmaker Jay Burleson imagined just that with The Third Saturday in October: Part I (2023) and The Third Saturday in October: Part V (2023) coming to VOD and Digital Platforms on May 5th from Dark Sky Films.
The saga centers on an implacable psycho-killer who goes on a murderous rampage after surviving a botched execution.
The Third Saturday in October: Part I (2023) is set on October 1979. Ricky Dean is a man on a mission. Years ago, he lost a child at the hands of a psychopathic killer named Jakkariah Harding. When Harding escapes Death Row, Ricky Dean throws himself into the line of fire to stop him from killing again as Harding preys upon a group of friends gathered to watch a college football game.
In The Third Saturday in October: Part V (2023), unstoppable killer Jakkariah “Jack” Harding is back in town after seven years, as he stalks and kills at random before chancing upon a football watch party. The game is, of course, between longstanding rivals the Alabama-Mobile Seahawks and Tennessee A&M Commonwealth. Chaos ensues, in increasingly ridiculous fashion, with inventive murders and multiple love triangles. Hearts are broken and appendages are torn.
The movies have been written and directed by Jay Burleson, also known for Feast of the Vampires (2010) and The Nobodies (2017), and produced by Frank Crafts and Ian J. Cunningham.
Darius Willis, K.J. Baker, Allison Shrum, Lew Temple, Antonio Woodruff, Casey Aud, Kate Edmonds, and Veanna Black star in The Third Saturday in October: Part I (2023), while Kansas Bowling, Poppy Cunningham, Taylor Smith, Bart Hyatt, Autumnn Jaide, Tom Hagale, Parker Love Bowling, Devan Katherine, and Faith Bruner are the protagonists in The Third Saturday in October: Part V (2023).
The films have been part of several genre film festivals including Chattanooga Film Festival, Popcorn Frights Film Festival, Sidewalk Film Festival, Skyline Indie Film Fest, Fantastic Fest, Soho Horror Film Festival, Make Believe Film Festival, and Panic Fest where they received mostly positive reviews.
Watch the trailer for Third Saturday in October: Part I (2023).
Watch the trailer for The Third Saturday in October: Part V (2023).
