From international waters, our final programming includes: director Colin Minihan’s satirical eco-horror come survival thriller COYOTES with Justin Long & Kate Bosworth; visionary filmmaker Luc Besson’s take on Bram Stoker’s legendary source with DRACULA: A LOVE TALE, starring Caleb Landry Jones & Christoph Waltz; filmmaking family and Monster Fest alumni John Adams, Zelda Adams & Toby Poser’s folk horror offering MOTHER OF FLIES; director Max Minghella’s satirical body-horror SHELL, with Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson and Elizabeth Berkley; the unsettling and unflinchingly brutal DISFORIA, directed by Christopher Cartagena; filmmakers Lauris & Raitis Ābele’s perversely animated and disturbingly delightful DOG OF GOD; Emilio Portes’ hallucinatory and haunting children-in-peril fable DON’T LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE and Monster Fest award-winner David Gregory’s latest documentary THEATRE OF HORRORS: THE SORDID STORY OF PARIS’ GRAND GUIGNOL.

From local shores, our final programming features the world premieres of three films by Monster Fest alumni, including Michael Anthony Kratochvil’s masterfully crafted and deeply engaging documentary LAKE MUNGO REVISITED, Jasmine Jakupi & Addison Heath’s sinister and sensual urban vampire outing HAUNTED & DEVOTED and Clint Cure’s biting meta comedy-horror DRACULA REVAMPED.

Batten down the hatches and brace for impact as two classic nautical nasties leap from sea to screen with Barbara Peeters’ HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP (aka MONSTER, 1980) and Stephen Traxler’s SLITHIS (aka SPAWN OF SLITHIS, 1978), tying in with the theme of our 2025 festival artwork.

Rounding out our feature programming is a Monster Presents preview screening of Daniel J. Phillips’ cabin-in-the-woods demonic horror DIABOLIC.

As always, we’re showcasing the art of short-form storytelling with five dedicated Short Film Programmes: Bloody Funny Shorts, Nightmare Fuel Shorts, Sinister Visions Shorts, Fresh Cuts – Student Shorts and Dick Dale’s TRASHARAMA.

Calling all gorehounds and genre junkies — think you know your Argento from your Aster? Your slashers from your splatter? It’s time to put your knowledge to the test at Monster Fest Horror Movie Trivia, presented by the Melbourne Horror Film Society and with a treasure trove of prizes to be won.

Finally, we are excited to reveal that our Monster Fest Closing Night Awards & After Party will be a free event and held in partnership with SOMA and GRINDHEAD PRODUCTIONS at BAD DECISIONS in Fitzroy, with live entertainment throughout the night until morning tide.

The aforementioned programming and events join our already announced features: DEATHGASM II: GOREMAGEDDON, DEATHSTALKER, JIMMY AND STIGGS, BONE LAKE, PSYCHO THERAPY: THE SHALLOW TALE OF A WRITER WHO DECIDED TO WRITE ABOUT A SERIAL KILLER, TEST SCREENING, ROTTEN, RESIDENCE and FREAKED [4K RESTORATION].

For programming, sessions and ticketing, visit: monsterfest.com.au/australia

Monster Fest 2025 would not be possible without the support of our festival sponsors: Via Vision Entertainment / Imprint Films, Beserk, Lexlab, Roar Digital, Bad Decisions, Moon Dog Brewing, Too Far Gone & Jorr.

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.

Behold our 2025 festival artwork, designed by artist extraordinaire Garreth Gibson, which has a nautical theme that ties in with our upcoming repertory programming announcements.

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 – $25
Concession – $19

Stay tuned to monsterfest.com.au/australia for our complete Melbourne 2025 festival programming in the coming weeks.