MONSTER FEST WEEKENDER 2025 Announced

Sequels. Bigger, bolder and bloodier than ever. This year, Monster Fest isn’t just paying tribute to genre sequels, we’re mutating into one ourselves with MONSTER FEST WEEKENDER III PART 2: THE SPAWNING, where the body count is higher, the stakes are deadlier, and the titles are somehow even longer.

FRIDAY – DAWN OF THE SEQUEL

We’re kicking things off with an undead double-header straight out of ’88, a year that proved horror franchises had zero chill. First up, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART II brings back the punk rock attitude, gooey zombies, and brain-munching mayhem—because if it ain’t broke (or properly buried), don’t fix it. Then, prepare for the nightmare logic and nightmarish everything of PHANTASM II (aka THE NEVER DEAD PART TWO), where the Tall Man returns, the spheres fly faster, and the horror gets a major studio upgrade with more action, more gore, and way more barrels per shotgun.

SATURDAY – RETURN OF THE SEQUEL

Slashers, spectres, and super-charged law enforcement —it’s a sequel smorgasbord of relentless killers, cyborgs and urban legends. First, ROBOCOP 2, a brutal, motor-oil-fuelled sequel that pulls no punches and leaves no criminal left unpunished. Then, say his name (if you dare) as CANDYMAN 2: FAREWELL TO THE FLESH delves deeper into the tragic terror of the hook-handed legend, proving that some ghosts never rest. And to close out the night? The slicker-clad, hook-wielding fisherman is back for another round of teen torment in I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, because nothing says “bad vacation” like a tropical getaway with a vengeful murderer and a Rastafarian Jack Black.

SUNDAY – CURSE OF THE SEQUEL

Our final day, the sequels get weirder, wackier and 100% wilder. First up, RETURN TO OZ, a nightmare-fuelled follow-up to THE WIZARD OF OZ, that swaps whimsy for Wheelers, talking decapitated heads, and a stone-faced Gnome King. Then, deep in the heart of Texas, after a decade of silence, Leatherface oils up his chainsaw for THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE PART 2, a sequel that ditches raw terror for pitch black comedy, Dennis Hopper in a chainsaw duel, and a family dinner somehow more disturbing than the first. Finally, we close out the festival with RE-ANIMATOR 2: BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, where the esteemed Dr. Herbert West proves that love—and mad science—never dies, especially when you’ve got enough spare parts for a sequel.

CITIES, CINEMAS & DATES:

MELBOURNE
Cinema Nova
Friday 28 March – Sunday 30 March
Tickets: $21 & VIP Pass: $120

SYDNEY
Event Cinemas Burwood
Friday 4 April – Sunday 6 April
Tickets: $21 & VIP Pass: $120

BRISBANE
Event Cinemas Brisbane City
Friday 4 April – Sunday 6 April
Tickets: $21 & VIP Pass: $120

ADELAIDE
Event Cinemas Marion
Friday 4 April – Sunday 6 April
Tickets: $21 & VIP Pass: $120

PERTH
Event Cinemas Innaloo
Friday 4 April – Sunday 6 April
Tickets: $21 & VIP Pass: $120

CANBERRA
Dendy Cinemas Canberra
Friday 11 April – Sunday 13 April
Tickets: $21 & VIP Pass: $120

See more sequels and save more money with a Weekender VIP Pass*

*VIP Pass is valid for all 8 Sessions at the festival and cannot be used for multiple tickets to the same session. A Cinema Nova VIP Pass can only be redeemed for Monster Fest Weekender festival sessions from March 28-30 (2025) at Cinema Nova, an Event Cinemas VIP Pass is exclusively redeemable for Monster Fest Weekender festival sessions from April 4-6 (2025) at the Event Cinemas locations and a Dendy Cinemas VIP Pass can only be redeemed at Dendy Cinemas Canberra for Monster Fest Weekender festival sessions from April 11-13 (2025).

PROGRAMMING:

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART II
Dir. Ken Wiederhorn | 1988 | 2K Restoration

The zombies have returned! The horror begins again as mysterious barrels bounce off an Army transport as it passes through a new housing development and land near an abandoned cemetery. Mischievous neighborhood boys discover the barrels and open them, unaware of the evil contained within. A deadly green vapor escapes and turns the living into flesh-eating zombies and causes the dead to rise from their graves. As these hideous living dead hunt down the fresh human brains they need, man is pitted against man, and the living against the dead. It is a macabre struggle for survival!

PHANTASM II (aka THE NEVER DEAD PART TWO)
Dir. Don Coscarelli | 1988 | 4K Restoration

The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) is back with a vengeance. Armed with his lethal band of flying silver spheres, the deadly mortician who was thought to have killed his last victim nine years ago, returns more dangerous than ever. Once again, young Michael (James Le Gros) and his pal Reggie (Reggie Bannister) take on the master of the killer orbs as they race against time and risk their lives to thwart his murderous rampage forever. Filled with a dazzling array of special effects, PHANTASM II eclipses the original cult classic with unparalleled thrills, horror and suspense. If this one doesn’t scare you, you’re already dead.

ROBOCOP 2
Dir. Irvin Kershner | 1990 | 4K Restoration

When Detroit’s descent into chaos is accelerated by a police strike and a new designer drug called “Nuke”, only Robocop (Peter Weller) can stop the mayhem. But in his way are an evil corporation and a bigger and tougher cyborg, Cain (Tom Noonan), containing the latest in gadgetry and weaponry as well as the brain of a madman who designed “Nuke”. Cain also happens to be psychotic and out of control! And it’s going to take everything Robocop has to save Detroit from utter anarchy.

CANDYMAN 2: FAREWELL TO THE FLESH
Dir. Bill Condon | 1995

As her brother stands trial for the killing of an outspoken New Orleans professor, inner-city schoolteacher Annie Tarrant (Kelly Rowan) begins hearing rumors of the Candyman (Tony Todd), a murderous, knife-handed figure of urban legend. Skeptical of the Candyman’s existence, Annie follows the procedure for summoning him and suddenly finds herself celebrating the most horrifying Mardi Gras of her life. Meanwhile, Annie’s mother (Veronica Cartwright) harbours a dark family secret.

I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
Dir. Danny Cannon | 1998 | 4K Restoration

Remember Ben Willis? He’s the fisherman who killed the boy who was driving the car when it went off the road in the fatal accident that killed his daughter Sara… he’s the man in the slicker with a hook in his hand ready to exact bloody justice… well, he’s back. It’s hard to forget a man who refuses to die.

RETURN TO OZ
Dir. Walter Murch | 1985

Dorothy (Fairuza Balk) finds that her old friends have been turned to stone and that urban blight has struck the Emerald City. Assisted by new friends, Dorothy battles the wicked Princess Mombi and the evil Nome King to save her friends and restore the beloved Emerald City.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE PART 2
Dir. Tobe Hooper | 1986 | 4K Restoration

From filmmaker Tobe Hooper, the director responsible for 1974’s original THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and starring Oscar-nominee Dennis Hopper, this highly underrated sequel is a pitch black comedy-horror where a whacked-out lawman (Hopper) goes saw-to-saw with the legendary Leatherface and his entire cannibalistic family, the Sawyers.

RE-ANIMATOR 2: BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR
Dir. Brian Yuzna | 1990 | 2K Restoration

The mad Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs), the tormented Dr. Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) and the beheaded Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale) return in this terrifying sequel to RE-ANIMATOR. The legs of a hooker and the womb of a virgin are joined to the heart of Dr. Cain’s dead girlfriend – and the bride will be unleashed upon her mate in a climax of sensual horror.

So, grab your popcorn, buckle up, and brace yourself for MONSTER FEST WEEKENDER III PART 2: THE SPAWNING, where the films are number two by name but not by nature.

For more information, visit:
monsterfest.com.au/weekender