MONSTER FEST 2018 Artwork & First Wave Programming Revealed!
Return to where it all began when MONSTER FEST comes home to Cinema Nova from Thursday November 22nd to Sunday November 25th for MONSTER FEST VII: THE HOMECOMING. From its humble beginnings in 2012 with single screen sessions at Cinema Nova to present day with satellite events nationwide, Monster Fest has grown to become Australia’s premier genre film festival and now in our seventh year, we are excited to bring you our 2018 artwork and first wave of festival programming!
Following its world premiere at Cannes earlier this year, where its shockingly graphic violence and joyously nihilistic underpinnings caused over 100 walk-outs, Lars von Triers latest cinematic experience, THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT slices, slits and stabs its way into the Monster Fest 2018 line-up with its Victorian Premiere. This provocative and controversial thriller follows the decade long career of titular serial killer, Jack (Matt Dillon) as he strives to concoct his most elaborate work of psychotic genius, resulting in a darkly sinister melange of callous sophistry and disturbingly humorous sociopathy.
Fresh from its world premiere at London’s Fright Fest, PIMPED is writer/director David Barker’s feature film debut, a taut and intense psychosexual thriller that concerns a conflicted woman who is wronged by two men in a sick and twisted game. With exceptional performances from leads Ella Scott Lynch (LOVE CHILD) and Benedict Samuel (GOTHAM), this stylish though grim exploration of duality, toxic masculinity and retribution is one not to be missed in its Australian Premiere at Monster Fest with Q&A by filmmaker David Barker and actress Ella Scott Lynch.
After taking out the coveted Best Screenplay & Best First Feature awards at this year’s Fantasia Festival, Daniel Goldhaber’s exquisitely frenetic existential thriller, CAM will have its Australian Premiere at Monster Fest. Set in the voyeuristic world of online sex-for-sale, CAM is written by former webcam performer Misa Mazzei and features a stellar cast including THE HANDMAID’S TALE ingénue Madeline Brewer and THE LOVE WITCH herself, Samantha Robinson.
From producer Dallas Sonnier and writer S. Craig Zahler, the acclaimed team behind BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99 and BONE TOMAHAWK comes a terrifying new vision of Charles Band’s horror classic, PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH in its Victorian Premiere. Helmed by Swedish genre raconteurs Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wiklund (WE ARE THE MONSTERS, WITHER), this blood-soaked instalment acts as both a sequel and refresh of the long-running PUPPET MASTER franchise.
Monster Fest alumni Matthew Victor Pastor returns this year with the World Premiere of MAGANDA! PINOY BOY VS MILK MAN. An uncompromising, insecure and throughly engaging loosely meta-biographical tale of a failing filmmaker who is struggling to finish his exploitation feature as the lines between his reality and his film blur.
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Rolf de Heer’s BAD BOY BUBBY, Monster Fest is proud to present a rare opportunity to see the Australian masterpiece on the big screen followed by a Q&A with special guests Nicholas Hope & Natalie Carr.
Monster Fest invites audiences to double down and give praise to our lord and saviour, John Carpenter, with the Australian Premieres of all-new 4K Restorations of his post-apocalyptic classic ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and the folklore frightener THE FOG.
It’s time to strap on that chainsaw, load the boomstick and sever that pesky left hand as we present the Victorian Premiere of the painstakingly restored 4K print of Sam Raimi’s seminal evil-in-the-woods classic, EVIL DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN.
Rounding out our first wave announcement are two films that work as perfect companions to one another. First up is the Victorian Premiere of WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS, a lovingly crafted feature-length documentary on the enduring legacy of the 1987 classic THE MONSTER SQUAD, directed by André Gower, who played Sean in the film. Finally we are pleased to host a retrospective screening of Fred Dekker’s THE MONSTER SQUAD, a kick-ass celebration of Universal Monsters and everything eighties that pits a motley crew of kids head-to-head with a legion of ghouls.
CAM | FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23RD 9:30PM
Daniel Goldhaber | United States 2018 | 94 Minutes | Divide/Conquer | Australian Premiere
A technology-driven psychological thriller set in the world of webcam porn. CAM follows Alice (Madeline Brewer), an ambitious camgirl, who wakes up one day to discover she’s been replaced on her show with an exact replica of herself. As this copy begins to push the boundaries of Alice’s internet identity, the control that Alice has over her life, and the men in it, vanishes. While she struggles to regain what she’s lost, she slowly finds herself drawn back to her show and to the mysterious person who has taken her place.
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (4K RESTORATION) | FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23RD 9:45PM
John Carpenter | United States 1981 | 99 Minutes | StudioCanal | Australian Premiere
It’s 1997 and Manhattan has been turned into a maximum security prison. When the United States president crash lands into the city centre after fleeing a hijacked plane, a ruthless prison warden bribes ex-soldier and criminal Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) to rescue the president, who is being held hostage.
THE FOG (4K RESTORATION) | SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH 2:15PM
John Carpenter | United States 1980 | 89 Minutes | StudioCanal | Australian Premiere
Antonio Bay, California has turned a hundred years old and is getting ready to celebrate its centennial year. But as the residents of the small, quaint harbour town begin to prepare for the festivities a mysterious cloud of fog appears upon the shore and begins to make its way across Antonio Bay, leaving a trail of horrifying slaughter which hints to the blood soaked history of the town.
BAD BOY BUBBY | SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH 4:15PM
Rolf de Heer | Australia 1993 | 112 Minutes | Roadshow Films | 25th Anniversary Screening
w/Q&A by actor Nicholas Hope & actress Natalie Carr
Confined to a two-room slum for his whole life, Bubby (Nicholas Hope) knows only of the existence of himself and his mother, a religious freak who shares the bath, and her bed, with her son. But when Bubby’s long-lost father (an alcoholic priest) returns home, and to his wife’s bed, the jealous Bubby is driven to head out into the world. Abused and exploited by everyone from feminists to prison inmates, a policeman, animal lovers and the Salvation Army, Bubby, armed only with the few phrases he’s learnt from his mother, has a tough entry into an inhospitable world. But others soon warm to this innocent idiot savant, and Bubby starts to find a place in the poisoned world from which he was confined.
THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT | SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH 7:15PM
Lars von Trier | Denmark/Sweden/Germany/France 2018 | 155 Minutes | Trustnordisk | Victorian Premiere
Lars von Trier’s disturbing drama follows the highly intelligent Jack (Matt Dillon) over a span of 12 years and introduces the murders that define Jack’s development as a serial killer. Taking place from Jack’s point of view as he postulates each murder as an artwork in itself. Inevitably as police intervention draws near, he takes greater and greater risks in his attempt to create the ultimate masterwork.
PIMPED | SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH 8PM
David Barker | Australia 2018 | 90 Minutes | Bonsai Films | Australian Premiere
w/ Q&A by writer/director David Barker & actress Ella Scott Lynch
Sarah Montrose (Ella Scott Lynch) is a conflicted, mysterious woman who meets the philosophical, smooth-talking Lewis Blake. Handsome and captivating, Lewis is the bait in a sick and twisted game conjured up with his low-life-rich-kid housemate, Kenneth. When the men’s sexual game backfires with wild abandon, Sarah is forced into an unlikely and bloodied alliance. And when her fragile psyche is threatened by a monster, she calls on all her strength and cunning to do battle with a psychopath, and her own inner demon.
PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH | SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH 10:15PM
Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wiklund | United States 2018 | 84 Minutes | Monster Pictures | Victorian Premiere
Recently divorced and reeling, Edgar returns to his childhood home to regroup his life. When Edgar finds a nefarious looking puppet in his deceased brother’s room, he decides to sell the doll for some quick cash. Girl-next-door Ashley and and comic book pal Markowitz join Edgar for a doomed road trip to an auction at a convention celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the infamous Toulon Murders. All hell breaks loose when a strange force animates the puppets at the convention, setting them on a bloody killing spree that’s motivated by an evil as old as time.
MAGANDA! PINOY BOY VS MILKMAN | SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH 10:30PM
Matthew Victor Pastor | Australia 2018 | 100 Minutes | MVP | World Premiere
w/ Q&A by writer/director Matthew Victor Pastor
A tale of a psychopathic murderer, the Milk Man, who kills innocent Asian women by creaming their faces. Sent to clean up the mess is Pinoy Boy, who is the worlds deadliest Filipino. Meanwhile, Angelo is a down on his luck filmmaker who suffers from small penis anxiety. How do these stories connect? Find out in MAGANDA! PINOY BOY VS MILK MAN.
EVIL DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN (4K RESTORATION) | SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25TH 12:30PM
Sam Raimi | United States 1987 | 79 Minutes | StudioCanal | Victorian Premiere
Ever thought of taking your girlfriend away for the weekend? Maybe to some secluded spot in the country so you can spend some quality time together, but then ended up hacking her to pieces with a chainsaw after she’s become possessed by a grotesque, flesh-eating demon resurrected by spells from The Book Of The Dead? Ash Williams has. Trapped in a dark world of flying eyeballs and deadly severed limbs, axe wielding Ash Williams will be pushed to the edgeof his sanity as he fights to survive against the unspeakable, supernatural forces intent on having him dead by dawn.
THE MONSTER SQUAD | SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25TH 2:15PM
Fred Dekker | United States 1987 | 80 Minutes | Paramount Pictures | Retrospective Screening
You know whom to call when you have ghosts. But who do you call when you have monsters? The Monster Squad – A group of young kids devoted to protecting their suburban neighbourhood from monsters and ghouls. Count Dracula escapes Van Helsing and adjourns modern day Earth, accompanied by Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy and the Black Lagoon’s Gillman. The ghouls are in search of a powerful amulet that will grant them power to rule the world. Standing in their way – THE MONSTER SQUAD!
WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS: A DOCUMENTARY | SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25TH 4:45PM
André Gower | United States 2018 | 91 Minutes | The Squad Doc | Victorian Premiere
A feature film exploring THE MONSTER SQUAD’s 30-year impact on film and its fan base from script to cult classic. This heartfelt documentary explores the power of cult film told through the lens of the 1987 classic THE MONSTER SQUAD and the impact it has on fans, cast, crew and the industry.
MONSTER FEST PASSES
Get the most out of the Monster Fest 2018 experience and save with these festival passes!
VIP Passes (12 films) $150 or Mini-Pass (5 Film Passes) $70
HOW TO USE YOUR PASS
When you purchase a pass you will receive a barcode number which shows up on your booking receipt. This number can be used online or in person to book sessions in advance or during the festival. If for any reason you do not receive a number/barcode, please contact 9347 5331.
Online Redemption: To use this code online, select the sessions you wish to attend as though buying tickets, and it will give you the option of entering the redemption code.
Box Office Redemption: Present barcode at the box office and let staff know which sessions you want to attend.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Passes do not allow you to book multiple tickets for a single session or for sessions that run concurrently as they are issued for use by single customers only. Valid at Cinema Nova only. Only valid for Monster Fest sessions. This voucher must be taken as offered and is not exchangeable, for sale, transferable or redeemable for cash