Monster Fest Melbourne First Look Programming
Friday, 22nd August
From October 3 to 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.
Whether you crave horror, sci-fi, fantasy, action, or films that defy definition, our 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, our 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, we 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.
Catch as much as you can with our VIP Pass or curate your own selection with a 5 Film Pass and 10 Film Pass, all now on sale, along with individual session ticketing for all of our First Look Programming.
Mark your calendars, grab your tickets, and prepare to set sail as MONSTER FEST boards this October in Melbourne, bound for beyond the very edge of genre cinema.
DEATHGASM II: GOREMAGEDDON
Dir. Jason Lei Howden | NZ/CAN 2025
Australian Premiere | Tickets
Since the blood-soaked events of DEATHGASM, Brody (Milo Cawthorne, UPROAR) has hit rock bottom. His friends are dead, his band broke up, and his girlfriend dumped him. Desperate to set things right, Brody makes the ultimate bad decision: he dusts off the cursed sheet music, determined to raise his friends from the grave and get the band back together again. It works… sort of. His friends return, but so does something far worse. The necro-metal ritual cracks open the gates of Hell once more, unleashing a demonic blood tsunami on suburbia.
DEATHSTALKER
Dir. Steven Kostanski | CAN 2025
Australian Premiere | Tickets
The Kingdom of Abraxeon is under siege by the Dreadites, heralds of the long-dead sorcerer Nekromemnon. When lone warrior-thief Deathstalker (Daniel Bernhardt, JOHN WICK) recovers a cursed amulet from a corpse-strewn battlefield, he’s marked by dark magic and hunted by monstrous assassins. To survive, he must break the curse and face the rising evil.
JIMMY AND STIGGS
Dir. Joe Begos | USA 2024
Victorian Premiere | Tickets
Down-on-his-luck filmmaker Jimmy’s date night quickly devolves into a whirlwind of mayhem, murder, and misadventure when alien invaders decide his brain would make a tasty treat. Fighting back with the only weapons he has on hand – booze, cocaine and one hellova shotgun – Jimmy calls the one friend he knows will back him to the bitter end – Stiggs! Unfortunately Stiggs thinks Jimmy is in the middle of a drug and alcohol infused meltdown and doesn’t believe a word of his crazy ramblings – until he too, is attacked. As the night wears on Jimmy and Stiggs’ destructive antics escalate, one exploded alien noggin at a time, testing loyalties, sanity, and survival skills.
BONE LAKE
Dir. Mercedes Bryce Morgan | USA 2024
Australian Premiere | Tickets
Sage (Maddie Hasson, MALIGNANT) and Diego (Marco Pigossi, GEN V) think they’ve scored the perfect villa to end their European holiday—until another couple, Will (Alex Roe, HOT SUMMER NIGHTS) and Cin (Andra Nechita, BAD TEACHER) show up with similar ideas. With no response from the booking agent the couples decide to compromise and share the mansion. What begins as playful tension soon erupts into a sadistic game of manipulation and murder, where loyalty becomes a weapon and love is the only thing standing between survival and slaughter.
PSYCHO THERAPY:
THE SHALLOW TALE OF A WRITER WHO DECIDED TO WRITE ABOUT A SERIAL KILLER
Dir. Tolga Karaçelik | TR/USA 2024
Australian Premiere | Tickets
When struggling writer, Keane (John Magaro, SEPTEMBER 5) seeks material for his next book, he finds it in the most unlikely of muses— eccentric serial killer, Kollmick (Steve Buscemi, FARGO). What begins as research spirals into a deranged mentorship, complicated further when, as cover for his nocturnal adventures, introduces Kollmick to his wife (Britt Lower, SEVERANCE) as a marriage counsellor.
TEST SCREENING
Dir. Clark Baker | USA 2024
Australian Premiere | Tickets
Set in 1982 in a small, declining Oregon town, excitement has been building for days. A Hollywood studio is holding a test screening of a new blockbuster movie in the local cinema. Could it be the new John Carpenter, the latest Steven Spielberg, or another Star Trek? Four lifelong friends can’t wait to take their seats for the preview. But rather than a sneak peek at a new cinematic sensation, the film they watch causes a horrifying change in all who see it.
ROTTEN
Dir. Phoenix Raei | AUS 2025
World Premiere | Tickets
Cannibalism, black magic, and a father’s desperate fight to save his infant from a grotesque, rotting disease collide in filmmaker Phoenix Raei’s savage debut feature. Shocking and at times hilarious, ROTTEN blends relentless thrills, dark humour, and emotional intensity into a gruesome, unforgettable Australian horror film.
RESIDENCE
Dir. Matt Mirams | AUS 2025
World Premiere | Tickets
Security guard Charlie (Jeanette Coppolino, QUANTA) leads a motley crew of survivors on an epic trek through a bleak suburban wilderness in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Hunted, harried, and desperate, Charlie and her crew head for salvation in the form of Olden Days Castle, a medieval tourist attraction perfectly set up to protect them from the infected.
FREAKED [4K RESTORATION]
Dir. Alex Winter & Tom Stern | USA 1993
Australian Premiere | Tickets
Ricky (Alex Winter, BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE) and his misfit companions take a wrong turn and find themselves at a derelict roadside freak show run by mad scientist/showman Elijah C. Skuggs (Randy Quaid, KINGPIN). Skuggs doesn’t just run the show — he makes it. Using a volatile chemical blend and a flair for the grotesque, he transforms poor Ricky and friends into full-blown human oddities, adding them to his gallery of bizarre attractions. Banding together, they plot to overthrow Skuggs before they’re trapped in the tent forever.
VIP PASS – $295
The VIP Pass is valid for all sessions at Monster Fest in Melbourne at Cinema Nova from Friday 3rd to Saturday 11th of October 2025, unless sold out. It can only be used for one ticket to a concurrently-run session and not on multiple tickets to the same session.
10 FILM PASS – $180
The 10 Film Pass is valid for any 10 sessions at Monster Fest in Melbourne at Cinema Nova from Friday 3rd to Saturday 11th of October 2025, unless sold out. It can only be used for one ticket to a concurrently-run session and not on multiple tickets to the same session.
5 FILM PASS – $99
The 5 Film Pass is valid for any 5 sessions at Monster Fest in Melbourne at Cinema Nova from Friday 3rd to Saturday 11th of October 2025, unless sold out. It can only be used for one ticket to a concurrently-run session and not on multiple tickets to the same session.
SESSION TICKETS
Adult – $23.50
Concession – $18
