MONSTER FEST 2018 Second Wave Programming Announced!
With a little less than two months to go before MONSTER FEST VII: THE HOMECOMING returns to its unholy birthplace of Cinema Nova, we’re pleased to reveal our second wave programming that’s guaranteed to get genre fans salivating in anticipation!
Making its World Premiere is 30 MILES FROM NOWHERE, a cabin-in-the-woods styled thriller from award-winning Australian filmmaker Caitlin Koller, that stars a host of familiar faces including Carrie Preston (THE GOOD WIFE) & Rob Benedict (SUPERNATURAL). This exercise in visceral horror follows six friends who venture to a remote cabin after their passing of an old college friend however their peace is soon interrupted by a series grisly and disturbing events. Soon, they find themselves trapped, hunted, and faced with the choice to kill or be killed.
Following its Australian Premiere at Monster Fest Travelling Sideshow in Perth, we’re pleased to bring Robbie Studsor’s nightmarish noir BURNING KISS to Monster Fest for its Victorian Premiere. The film follows a detective (Richard Mellik) seeking vengeance from a hit-and-run that killed his wife and left him wheelchair-bound – but when a young stranger (Liam Graham) claims responsibility for the crime, he concocts a complicated and dangerous plan for retribution that puts his daughter (Alyson Walker) in terrible danger. Anchored by HOUNDS OF LOVE actor Liam Graham, sizzling with sun-drenched Lynchian imagery and pulsing with a thick atmosphere of gothic dread, BURNING KISS has all the elements to be the next big Aussie genre hit!
Our next feature defies easy description – neither horror nor sci-fi adequately capture the utterly surprising, practical-effects packed and above all genuinely disturbing experience of watching THE FOAMING NODE. This mockumentary follows a cult obsessed with a comatose man who inexplicably leaks foam from his mouth – while they gradually fall prey to insanity and disturbing bodily transformations. Directed by acclaimed Australian artist Ian Haig, whose multi-media work has been showcased everywhere from the ‘Centre Georges Pompidou’ in Paris to the ‘Museum of Modern Art’ in New York, the film puts on clear display his obsession with twisted distortions of the human form. Described as ‘Lars von Trier meets David Lynch’ – alongside a healthy dose of Cronenbergian body horror – this is a once-in-a-lifetime viewers experience for all viewers of daring cinema.
Rounding our second wave announcement are our three dedicated shorts programs: FINAL GIRLS, DEAD THINGS and AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL (Australian Student Shorts).
30 MILES FROM NOWHERE | SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH 12:30PM
Caitlin Koller | Australia/United States 2018 | 83 Minutes | Film Camp Productions | World Premiere
w/ Q&A by director Caitlin Koller
After the untimely death of their old college pal, five friends (and one new girlfriend) descend upon the Wisconsin summer home they frequented in their 20s. The creep factor at the cabin is high, with a thumping in the crawl space, blood spurting from the pipes, and a cockroach infestation in the guest bedroom. When a storm moves in, trapping them in the woods, they find themselves faced with the ultimate human dilemma, to kill or be killed, in order to make it to morning. 30 MILES FROM NOWHERE is a thriller about what fear does to the human brain, and how an ordinary citizen becomes an unwitting soldier.
Screens with Short Film: THEY CAN’T HEAR YOU
Luke Creely | Australia | 6 MinutesA young woman is held captive, bound, and given an ultimatum by her captor – find a way to escape in only a few minutes, or be killed.
BURNING KISS | SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH 3PM
Robbie Studsor | Australia 2018 | 81 Minutes
| Caltiki Pictures | Victorian Premiere
w/ Q&A by director Robbie Studsor
It’s been 6 long years since the hit and run accident that put disgraced former detective Edmond Bloom in a wheelchair and killed his wife Juliette. With the killer never identified, Edmond spends his days pouring over clues under the care of his submissive 20-year-old daughter Charlotte whom he indirectly blames for the tragedy. On a hot summer’s day, a broken and remorseful stranger appears claiming to be the driver of the car the night of the accident and begs Edmond for either forgiveness or punishment. With the killer now revealed, Edmond can finally get closure on what happened. The problem is, Edmond didn’t catch him and there’s no way he will let 6 years of hard detective work go to waste. Instead of seeking retribution for the past, he concocts a selfish and dangerous plan involving himself, the stranger and his daughter. Guilt, desire and resentment surface as the plan spirals out of control…
Screens with Short Film: COCKY
Aaron McLoughlin | Australia 2018 | 14 Minutes
A pet cockatoo hatches a plan to end the mundane conversations in his life.
THE FOAMING NODE | SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH 5:45PM
Ian Haig | Australia 2018 | 65 Minutes
| Ian Haig | Victorian Premiere
w/ Q&A by director Ian Haig
The Foaming Node essays the discovery and emergence of new bodily organs in meticulous and captivating detail. We follow the last remaining observers, members of a cult of sorts, who have experienced both the transmissions of The Foaming Node, and their own personal and strange bodily transformations. They discuss exactly how the changes associated with The Foaming Node have affected them, telling fascinating, visceral, detailed tales that reach beyond science, alternative medicine, and corporeality.
Screens with Short Film: THALAMOS
Andrew Jaksch | Australia 2018 | 23 Minutes
A team of astronauts make an ill-fated journey to a deserted space station.
FINAL GIRLS – Shorts Program | SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH 7:30PM
Girls to the Front! Join our crew of Final Girls as they battle monsters, pervs and gender misconceptions in MONSTER FEST’S female led program of horror shorts.
SPOTLIGHT
Joe Savage | United Kingdom | 6 mins
WHAT METAL GIRLS ARE INTO
Laurel Vail | United States | 15 mins
ALEXIS
Brodie May Rowlands | Australia | 9 mins
HELSINKI MANSPLAINING MASSACRE
Ilja Rautsi | Finland | 14 mins
PIE
Adria Tennor | United States | 11 mins
MY FIRST TIME
Asaf Livni | Israel | 9 mins
THE GAZE
Ida Joglar | United States | 14 mins
A/S/L
Benjamin Swicker | United States | 8 mins
DEAD THINGS – Shorts Program | SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25TH 2:30PM
Terrifying, hilarious and brazenly weird, MONSTER FEST’S program of horror and hybrid-genre shorts featuring stories of the dead, the undead and those in between.
POST MORTEM MARY
Joshua Long | Australia | 10 mins
THE BLOODY BALLAD OF SQUIRT REYNOLDS
Anthony Cousins | United States | 8 mins
THE STARE
Louisa Weichmann | Australia | 8 mins
GACHA GACHA
Dave Jackson | Australia/Japan | 15 mins
THE COST OF LIVING
Tom Nicoll | United Kingdom | 4 mins
MYSTERY BOX
Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund | Sweden | 11 mins
THE DEAD MAN SPEAKS
Marcos Mereles | Netherlands | 2 mins
WE SUMMONED A DEMON
Chris McInroy | United States | 6 mins
MILK
Santiago Menghini | Canada | 10 mins
FRIENDSGIVING
Samantha Kolesnik | United States | 6 mins
CUT OFF
Ryan Cauchi | Australia | 1 min
WHO’S THAT AT THE BACK OF THE BUS
Philip Hardy | United Kingdom | 5 mins
AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL – Student Shorts Program | SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH 4:30PM
MONSTER FEST’s showcase of student shorts from some of the best film schools around the country, featuring the work of current students and 2017 graduates.
ATONIA
Kate Murray | Australia | 9.10 mins
L’HOTEL BOUCLE
Abby Iverson | Australia | 8.06 mins
THE LOVERS
Ryan Kendall | Australia | 10.24 mins
NEUROPLUG
Caleb Turland | Australia | 13.56 mins
NIGHT SHIFT
Giuliame Crisologo | Australia | 6.45 mins
THE GOOD BOY
Matthew Clarke | Australia | 11 mins
VELVET
Jordan Avery | Australia | 2.27 mins
COLONY
Catherine Bonny | Australia | 15 mins
THEM
Samantha Weston | Australia | 11 mins
DARKNESS CALLS
Ben Munkacsi | Australia | 9.40 mins
MONSTER FEST VII: THE HOMECOMING runs from Thursday November 22nd to Sunday November 25th at Cinema Nova!
Check out everything announced for the festival so far including THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT, PIMPED, CAM, PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH right here!
Get the most out of the Monster Fest 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.
