[FILM NEWS] MONSTER FEST Returns To Melbourne

From OCTOBER 3 – 11, MELBOURNE will once again become the beating heart of genre cinema, when Australia’s premier genre film festival, MONSTER FEST, returns to CINEMA NOVA.

With a painstakingly curated program of horror, sci-fi, fantasy, action, and films that defy any type of classification, Monster Fest’s First Look Programming has something for everyone with premieres of the freshest and most fearless genre cinema from local shores and abroad.

From international waters, Monster Fest’s First Look Programming includes filmmaker Jason Lei Howden’s highly anticipated heavy metal horror DEATHGASM II: GOREMAGEDDON; the latest work of Monster Fest alumni Steven Kostanski and Joe Begos with Kostanski’s reimagining of sword and sorcery classic DEATHSTALKER and Begos’ bloody passion project JIMMY AND STIGGS; filmmaker Clark Baker’s trippy body-horror TEST SCREENING; director Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s ‘psycho’-sexual BONE LAKE; writer/director Tolga Karaçelik’s morbidly comical PSYCHO THERAPY: THE SHALLOW TALE OF A WRITER WHO DECIDED TO WRITE ABOUT A SERIAL KILLER and an all-new 4K Restoration of Alex Winter and Tom Stern’s 1993 cult opus FREAKED.

From homeland, Monster Fest are proud to announce world premieres of two Australian features: Phoenix Raei’s gruesome and unforgettable ROTTEN and Matt Mirams’ unapologetically ridiculous post-zombie-apocalypse comedy RESIDENCE.

Monster Fest is also excited to reveal their 2025 festival artwork, designed by artist extraordinaire Garreth Gibson, which carries a nautical theme that ties in with future repertory programming announcements.