2020 MONSTER FEST Final Programming & Artwork Revealed!
With three weeks to go before 2020 MONSTER FEST: WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE kicks off in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide & Perth, we’re pleased to bring you our final wave of programming for this year’s festival but first…
AFTER MIDNIGHT (Monster Fest 2019) actress Brea Grant hits the ground running with her stylish sophomore feature 12 HOUR SHIFT, a pitch-black comedy thriller about a nurse whose organ trafficking side hustle takes a disastrous turn when her unhinged cousin botches a kidney delivery.
SNL comedian David Koechner (CHEAP THRILLS) stars in Cody Callahan‘s eighties throwback comedy-slasher VICIOUS FUN, which follows Joel (Evan Marsh), an unlucky-in-love film critic who gets caught in a serial killers anonymous-type self help group with his unrequited love’s new boyfriend.
Jens Dahl‘s BREEDER is a disturbingly dystopian take on survival horror that explores the darker sides of biohacking and asks the question ‘How far would you go to stay young forever?‘
THE ENDLESS (Monster Fest 2017) filmmakers Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead return with their festival darling SYNCHRONIC, that pits two paramedics (Jamie Dornan, THE FALL and Anthony Mackie, AVENGERS: ENDGAME) at odds with a psychedelic designer drug that allows its users to time travel, mystery flight style, to an unknown destination and time.
Film historian and documentarian Alexandre O. Philippe (78/52) turns his latest focus to one of the most controversial horror films ever made with LEAP OF FAITH: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN ON THE EXORCIST, a stunning cinematic essay on the artist and his masterpiece.
Stuntman come director John Stewart offers up every form of action imaginable in ACTION U.S.A., the greatest eighties action film that you’ve never seen! This dark horse from the turn of decade features fist fights, knife fights, gun fights, car fights, helicopter fights…if there’s a fight to be fought, ACTION U.S.A. has it in spades and there’s no better time than now to discover the film than with this glorious 4K Restoration.
Upon its theatrical release, Paul W.S. Anderson‘s EVENT HORIZON opened to poor reviews and even worse box office, however in the years passed, the film has gone on to amass a loyal legion of fans across the globe who largely consider it to have been ‘ahead of its time’. Monster Fest proudly invites you to reappraise this misunderstood masterwork of deep space dread with an all-new 4K Restoration of the film on this its 23rd anniversary.
Due to our expanded program and current government restrictions 2020 MONSTER FEST: WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE will now run from Thursday 29th October to Sunday 8th November with the bulk of programming to occur on the Saturday & Sunday of both weekends. A conscious decision has also been made this year to eliminate counter-programming to allow all festival attendees the opportunity to see every film screening in our 2020 program.
12 HOUR SHIFT
Brea Grant | United States 2020 | Australian Premiere
Set in 1999, Mandy (Angela Bettis – MAY, THE WOMAN), a nurse at a hospital in Arkansas, is a drug addict and an abettor in a black market organ-trafficking scheme. During a double shift, Mandy’s cousin Regina (Chloe Farnsworth – DEPARTURE) mishandles a kidney delivery, and chaos ensues as Mandy and Regina frantically attempt to secure a replacement organ before their buyers take matters into their own hands.
VICIOUS FUN
Cody Calahan | Canada 2020 | Australian Premiere
Joel (Evan Marsh, SHAZAM!), a caustic film critic for a national horror magazine, finds himself unwittingly trapped in a self-help group for serial killers. With no other choice, Joel attempts to blend in or risk becoming the next victim.
BREEDER
Jens Dahl | Denmark 2020 | Australian Premiere
A ruthless businesswoman is abducting young women as part of a gruesome bio-hacking experiment to reverse the aging process. When Mia (ara Hjort Ditlevsen, BORGMAN) goes to investigate, she finds herself trapped, branded and tortured in an underground medical facility.
SYNCHRONIC
Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead | United States 2019 | Australian Premiere
When New Orleans paramedics and longtime best friends Steve (Anthony Mackie, AVENGERS: ENDGAME) and Dennis (Jamie Dornan, THE FALL) are called to a series of bizarre, gruesome accidents, they chalk it up to the mysterious new party drug found at the scene. But after Dennis’s oldest daughter suddenly disappears, Steve stumbles upon a terrifying truth about the supposed psychedelic that will challenge everything he knows about reality—and the flow of time itself.
LEAP OF FAITH: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN ON THE EXORCIST
Alexandre O. Philippe | United States 2019 | Australian Premiere
A lyrical and spiritual cinematic essay on THE EXORCIST, LEAP OF FAITH explores the uncharted depths of William Friedkin’s mind’s eye, the nuances of his filmmaking process, and the mysteries of faith and fate that have shaped his life and filmography.
ACTION U.S.A. – 4K RESTORATION
John Stewart | United States 1989 | Australian Premiere
After her boyfriend is murdered by the gangsters whose diamonds he stole, a girl (Barri Murphy, ARMED FOR ACTION) is protected by two FBI agents (Gregory Scott Cummins & William Hubbard Knight) who plan to keep her from sharing the same fate.
EVENT HORIZON – 4K RESTORATION
Paul W.S. Anderson | United States 1997 | Australian Premiere
Its name: EVENT HORIZON. The high-tech, pioneering research spacecraft mysteriously vanished, without a trace, on its maiden voyage seven years earlier. But a weak, persistent signal form the long-missing craft prompts a rescue team, headed by the intrepid Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne, THE MATRIX), to wing its way through the galaxy on a bold rescue mission. Accompanying Miller is his elite crew and the lost ship’s designer (Sam Neill, JURASSIC PARK); their mission is to find and salvage the state-of-the-art interstellar horror.
SYDNEY EXCLUSIVES
In addition to our national 2020 MONSTER FEST: WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE programming, we are proud to host two Monster Fest Presents screenings curated by Sydney Festival Director Simon Foster.
THE WITCH OF KINGS CROSS
Sonia Bible | Australia 2020 | Australian Premiere
In 1950s Sydney, bohemian artist Rosaleen Norton hits the headlines with allegations of satanic rituals, obscene art and sex orgies. Inspired by the work of Aleister Crowley, she advocates a pantheist vision of witchcraft, and a sexual magic freed from religious and moral rules. Eventually the relentless scandals lead to the downfall of her high society lover. Told ‘in her own words’, the film weaves stylized drama and erotic dancers with rare, never before seen artworks, diaries and scrapbooks. The Witch of Kings Cross is the fascinating portrait of a fearless woman outlaw railing against fearful conservative forces and an insight into the extraordinary work of the art world’s original bad girl.
INTERSECTION
Samuel Bartlett | Australia 2020 | Australian Premiere
When a conman discovers his son has been abducted, he is forced to drive the city streets completing an escalating series of trials to appease his child’s kidnapper, and atone for his career of deception.
Select Feature programming in all States are accompanied by Short Films from Australia and around the globe, for the comprehensive list of Short Film programming please visit our official 2020 MONSTER FEST: WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE website.
All of the aforementioned programming joins our previously announced line-up of films POSSESSOR, THE DARK AND THE WICKED, OCCUPATION: RAINFALL, PSYCHO GOREMAN, HUNTED, #SHAKESPEARESSHITSTORM and TOTAL RECALL – 4K RESTORATION.
TICKETS
ADELAIDE: Event Cinemas Marion – Tickets
BRISBANE:
Event Cinemas Myer Centre – Tickets
PERTH: Event Cinemas Innaloo – Tickets
SYDNEY: Event Cinemas George Street – Tickets
– VIP PASS: $224* – VIP access to all screenings and events from Thursday 29 October to Sunday 8 November.
– MINI 5 FILM PASS: $80 – Valid for any 5 Monster Fest film sessions from Thursday 29 October to Sunday 8 November.
*Please Note: Monster Fest Presents screenings in Sydney & Adelaide are outside of our national programming and as such are not included in the VIP Pass however discounted ticketing is available by contacting Monster Fest directly at info@monsterfest.com.au.