MONSTER FEST PART VIII: MONSTER TAKES MELBOURNE Artwork & First Wave Programming Announced!
Australia’s premier genre film festival, MONSTER FEST, returns to Cinema Nova from Thursday October 10th to Sunday October 13th for MONSTER FEST PART VIII: MONSTER TAKES MELBOURNE.
Following on from our most successful festival to date in 2018 with a record attendance of over 2,800 patrons, we are pleased to reveal that our eighth chapter is guaranteed to be our best yet! Our diverse range of international programming consists exclusively of World & Australian Premieres, accompanied by filmmaker Q&As, panels, lectures, pop-up events and more!
Our first wave line-up announcement comprises of seven imaginative and bold new Australian features, five of which will be celebrating their World Premieres.
Special effects maverick Justin Dix steps back into the director’s chair for his sophomore feature, BLOOD VESSEL, a harrowing high seas horror that pits a motley crew of shipwreck survivors against an ancient evil aboard an abandoned Nazi warship.
CULT GIRLS, the nightmarish and hypnotic horror from writer/director Mark Bakaitis, concerns a young woman whose search for her two missing sisters leads to her spiralling descent into hell.
Award-winning shorts filmmaker Mike Green makes his feature debut with OUTBACK, an immersive and gruelling survival thriller that witnesses two Americans at odds with the harsh and unforgiving Australian outback.
Jesse O’Brien’s hilariously macabre and delightfully irreverent TWO HEADS CREEK also plays upon the fish out of water scenario, only this time with a pair of British siblings stranded in a rural town where the ghoulish locals have a sinister means of dealing with immigration.
More crazed locals abound in James Di Martino’s debut feature THE FACELESS MAN, an insane tale of a group of friends whose party weekend getaway in the country turns to bloodshed when they are met with both the town’s strict no drug policy and the menace of the titular character.
Filmmaker Sandra Sciberras’s THE DUSTWALKER offers up both thrilling sci-fi action and intense viral horror as a small outback town bands together to face off against a parasitical alien threat.
Monster Fest alumni Matthew Victor Pastor returns this year with A BIGGER JAIL, a psychosexual thriller that sees a young married couple’s encounter with a recently paroled criminal lead to devastating consequences.
We are also excited to reveal our MONSTER FEST PART VIII: MONSTER TAKES MELBOURNE artwork.
BLOOD VESSEL | FRIDAY OCTOBER 11TH 7PM
Justin Dix | Australia 2019 | 90 Minutes | Australian Premiere
w/ Filmmakers Q&A
Near the end of World War II, the survivors of a torpedoed hospital ship cling to life aboard a crowded lifeboat. With no food, water, or shelter, all seems lost – until an eerily silent German minesweeper drifts ominously towards them, giving them one last chance at survival. As our motley crew explores the ship, it becomes all too clear that some diabolical fate has befallen its German crew. The mystery only deepens when they encounter a young Romanian girl, apparently the sole survivor, who leads them to a locked room in the bowels of the vessel.
CULT GIRLS | FRIDAY OCTOBER 11TH 9:30PM
Mark Bakaitis | Australia 2019 | 82 Minutes | World Premiere
w/ Filmmakers Q&A
Dalia and her two young sisters grow up in a pagan apocalyptic cult led by an ancient Baltic goddess of death and reincarnation. On the night of an important cult ritual, a police raid rescues Dalia as cult members flee with her two sisters. Years later, as the guilt eats away at her, Dalia finds a potential link to the cult through a prominent and despised black metal artist sequestered in the woods. Dalia journeys to find her sisters but her quest for the truth becomes a descent into hell.
THE DUSTWALKER | SATURDAY OCTOBER 12TH 2:15PM
Sandra Sciberras | Australia 2019 | 95 Minutes | World Premiere
w/ Filmmakers Q&A
One by one the residents of a small, isolated town become infected by an insidious bug that turns them into violent, indiscriminate killing machines. As the numbers of uninfected dwindle, the survivors must band together and find help if they hope to expell the parasite from their loved ones and survive the night.
OUTBACK | SATURDAY OCTOBER 12TH 4:30PM
Mike Green | Australia 2019 | 86 Minutes | World Premiere
w/ Filmmakers Q&A
An American couple, Wade and Lisa, travel Down Under to experience nature at its finest. But their vacation gets off to a rocky start when Lisa rejects Wade’s marriage proposal. As their relationship strains, they head inland to Uluru (Ayres Rock). On remote dirt roads, their GPS plays-up and they find themselves stranded and ill- prepared. With only each other to rely on, the two are driven to extremes in order to stay alive in the harsh and unforgiving Australian Outback.
A BIGGER JAIL | SATURDAY OCTOBER 12TH 6:45PM
Matthew Victor Pastor | Australia 2019 | 82 Minutes | World Premiere
w/ Filmmakers Q&A
A psychosexual thriller about a murderer released from prison and a young married couple with a secret fetish. Set over the course of 3 days their paths will cross through the intimacy of sex and violence, with consequences that will leave them changed forever.
TWO HEADS CREEK | SATURDAY OCTOBER 12TH 7PM
Jesse O’Brien | Australia 2019 | 90 Minutes | Australian Premiere
w/ Filmmakers Q&A
After the death of their adoptive mother, a shy butcher and his drama queen sister leave the UK and adventure to Australia in search of their biological mother, but the local townsfolk of Two Heads Creek are hiding a dark secret: the pair must reconcile their differences to fight for their lives in this dementedly dark comedy-horror.
THE FACELESS MAN | SATURDAY OCTOBER 12TH 9:30PM
James Di Martino | Australia 2019 | 100 Minutes | World Premiere
w/ Filmmakers Q&A
Emily lives in fear of her cancer returning, so much so that her anxieties have manifested themselves in the form of a faceless creature, her fear incarnate…or is it? In an attempt to distract her from her troubles, Nina organises a party weekend getaway for Emily and friends to a secluded cottage in a quiet country town. Orange Lodge is known far and wide as a good town with good people…however they have a strong no drug policy and will go to extreme lengths to prevent any drugs from entering the town.
MONSTER FEST PART VIII: MONSTER TAKES MELBOURNE runs from Thursday October 10th to Sunday October 13th at Cinema Nova!
TICKETS
Single Session Tickets
Adult – $20.50
Concession – $16.00
Get the most out of the Monster Fest experience and save with these festival passes:
VIP Passes (15 films) $199
[Early Bird Offer, first 50 VIP Passes at $169 each]
The VIP Pass gets you all-access to all Monster Fest screenings, events and panels from Thursday October 10th to Sunday the 13th.
Mini-Pass (5 Films) $70
The Mini-Pass may be used for any 5 Monster Fest film sessions from Friday October 11th to Sunday the 13th (EXCLUDES Opening Night).
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 (03) 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.
For more info, visit the official MONSTER FEST PART VIII: MONSTER TAKES MELBOURNE site here!
