It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! No, not Christmas. This year's iteration of Monster Fest is just around the corner and the programme is ridiculously stacked! For those overwhelmed by the huge selection, we've curated a list of our most anticipated films screening at Monster Fest 2025.
So, grab your reading specs, a nice drink, and get comfortable while we deliver the lowdown on which movies you should definitely check out.
Bone Lake (94 minutes)
Director: Mercedes Bryce Morgan
Starring: Maddie Hasson, Marco Pigossi, Alex Roe, Andra Nechita and Clayton Spencer.
Rev your chainsaws! Spoonful of Sugar director Mercedes Bryce Morgan returns with sun-soaked carnage as a couple's romantic getaway spirals into a tale filled to the brim with lust and deceitfulness. What begins as playful tension between two couples 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. This weekend no one is safe—everyone is prey. Maddie Hasson crushed it in 2021’s Malignant so I’m confident that Hasson will steal the limelight yet again in Bone Lake. But my excitement lies beyond the cast. I'm really eager to see Saw X's Director of Photography Nick Matthews as cinematographer for Bone Lake. Saw X was amazingly shot so consider my interest piqued, especially when I learnt that principal photography lasted only 18 days. Matthews cited A Clockwork Orange, Evil Dead II and Funny Games as visual inspirations for the film. Need I say more?
Rotten (110 minutes)
Director: Phoenix Raei
Starring: Kate Lister, Nick Farnell, Anthony J. Sharpe, Don Bridges and Kevin Harrington.
Cinema Nova sees the world premiere of Phoenix Raei’s feature film debut Rotten, in which cannibalism and black magic collide. The trailer had me hook, line, and sinker. A perfect blend of dark humour and utterly gruesome effects had me grinning from ear to ear. However, despite the comedic elements, Rotten ramps up the emotional intensity in this tale of a father’s desperate fight to save his infant from a grotesque, rotting disease. The brief glimpses within the trailer were genuinely shocking, only increasing my intrigue in this Australian horror film. And to be frank, the world deserves plenty more films with Don Bridges in them. Rotten is said to blend relentless, gory thrills and macabre humour. Personally, that’s all I need.
Residence (130 minutes)
Director: Matt Mirams
Starring: Jeanette Coppolino, Kym Valentine, Ian Smith and Don Bridges.
Ya gotta be kidding! Another world premiere?! Well, aren't we just spoilt for choice! Lo and behold, another appearance from Don Bridges. Told you we're spoiled at this year's Monster Fest. Ahem, moving on… Matt Mirams’ debut feature follows a group of survivors hiding from a horde of zombies in a medieval funpark in a dystopian Australian future. I. Am. Seated. Did I mention that Libby Kennedy and Harold Bishop from Neighbours star in Residence? Seated, I say! What more can you want than a motley crew of survivors trekking through a bleak suburban wilderness (Ramsay Street?) in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse? Mirams had me at “emotionally resonant horror-comedy.”
Don’t Leave The Kids Alone (97 minutes)
Director: Emilio Portes
Starring: Ana Serradilla, Juan Pablo Velasco, Ricardo Galina, Jesús Zavala and Paloma Woolrich.
I don’t know if anything could be more sinister than the rivalry with my younger sibling, which is why I am anxious to watch Don’t Leave The Kids Alone. Maybe it’ll make me appreciative of my sibling. Maybe it’ll make me say “hold my beer.” Either way, Mexican filmmaker Emilio Portes’ latest is said to be Home Alone, if it was directed by M. Night Shyamalan, suffering from sibling-induced childhood trauma. Count me in. In this psychological horror, recently widowed Cata leaves her two sons alone for the night in their new home while she heads out to a party. Uh oh. Casual one-upmanship soon descends into dangerous mind games and viewers are subjected to a terrifying cinematic experience that blurs innocence with the special brand of malevolence only siblings can summon. Maybe I need to call my sibling and apologise. Then again, maybe I’ll hold off until I’ve watched Don’t Leave The Kids Alone.
Haunted & Devoted (73 minutes)
Director: Jasmine Jakupi and Addison Heath
Starring: Saya Minami, Whitney Duff, Glenn Maynard, Lily-Rain Kilbourne and Trudi Ranik.
It only makes sense that the world premiere of a film set in Melbourne, is held in Melbourne. To be fair, as soon as I learned that Haunted & Devoted explores the hidden corners of Melbourne, I knew that this film was a must-see. Vampires? In Melbourne? I fucking knew it! When vampire Chisuki is forced to turn Izzy to save her life, their passion ignites into a deadly hunger. This leads to amped up bloodlust and the blurring of morality as the desires of Izzy and Chisuki’s are pushed to the extreme, threatening to consume them both. And what more do you want in a vampire film that melds violent passion and supernatural horror while exploring themes of desire, obsession, and the dangerous allure of immortality? Hell, to all you vamps in the 613, you can find ya boy patiently waiting after the screening at Cinema Nova!
Deathstalker (102 minutes)
Director: Steven Kostanski
Starring: Daniel Bernhardt, Christina Orjalo, Paul Lazenby, Nicholas Rice and Patton Oswalt.
Move over, Psycho Goreman. Out of the way, Frankie Freako. Down in front, Father’s Day. I love you all dearly but Steven Kostanski returns with DEATHSTALKER! Monster Fest audiences are no stranger to Kostanski’s filmography. This time, viewers are treated to an over-the-top reimagining of James Sbardellati’s 1983 cult classic. Kostanski is highly regarded for their creature effects and Deathstalker is said to be filled to the brim with creatures and death! The creature and set designs are absolutely phenomenal and I don’t really have the words to express how great the production of this film looks. Featuring music from Slash and Bear McCreary, even the trailer threatens to melt your face off. This ain’t your father’s Deathstalker!
Even if for some truly bizarre reason you're not into feature films, there's a slew of shorts being presented throughout Monster Fest. Fresh Cuts is billed as a fearless selection of student-made horror shorts. With filmmakers pushing the boundaries of cinema while blending dark humour and unsettling storytelling in compact jolts of terror. Nightmare Fuel serves up a bone-chilling collection of short-form horror guaranteed to haunt your dreams. From monstrous beasts to vengeful ghosts, relentless zombies, and deranged killers. Terror in every imaginable form. There are plenty more shorts to scope out, too. However, I’m most excited about Trasharama! Murder City’s own ambassador of twisted cinema, Dick Dale, is returning to Monster Fest with the latest Trasharama program featuring the grossest and goriest short films to ever grace the program.
Now that we have whet your appetite in preparation for Monster Fest, it's as good a time as any to reveal that Wall of Sound is a media partner for the event and we'll be attending the festival in Melbourne to cover the antics on ground in our extensive wrap up report.
Metal x Horror lovers should also keep an eye out for Deathgasm II: Goremageddon which comes with the tantalising warning of: "This film contains more blood, more guts, and more severed penises than the human brain is technically capable of processing. A symphony of splatter, Jason Lei Howden returns with the loudest, rudest, and most unapologetically insane metal horror sequel ever”. Following its screening, Monster Fest's iconic awards ceremony and afterparty will keep metalheads moshing with an evening of celebrations and heavy metal themed madness - guaranteed to please even the harshest of critics.
I can't wait to practically live at Cinema Nova!
Words by Mike @ Beyond Horror @beyondhorror
MONSTER FEST runs from October 3rd to the 11th at Cinema Nova in Melbourne/Naarm.
You can check out the full programme here
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