Following the announcement of Monster Fest’s Gory opening film RAW, the Melbourne festival has announced its first wave of feature titles, including, the Australian Premiere of action drama Free Fire, and homicidal horror The Autopsy of Jane Doe. As well as the world premiere of comedy horror Mondo Yakuza, and a digital restoration of the 1988 sci-fi film On the Silver Globe.
The 6th Monster Fest is set to scare with its monstrous list of feature titles from a wide range of genres including horror, sci-fi, documentary, animation, crime and western.
“Monster Fest has come a long way since its inception in 2011,” says Festival Director Kier-La Janisse.
“Originally conceived as a platform for showcasing Monster Pictures’ own titles, it has since evolved into its own beast, and continues to grow each year into the kind of diverse and inclusive genre festival that we see as key to fueling support for genre film production and exhibition in this country”
Check out the Monster Fest 2016 first feature wave below:
ALWAYS SHINE – Australian Premiere
Director: Sophia Takal | USA 2016
When two competitive actresses go on a vacation to a cabin in the woods to try to rekindle their damaged friendship, tensions rise and facades crumble, causing an inevitable violent confrontation.
ANTIBIRTH – Victorian Premiere
Director: Danny Perez | Canada/USA 2016
Natasha Lyonne and Chloe Sevigny star in this psychedelic Sundance midnighter about a hard-partying gal who finds herself pregnant with a rapidly growing and increasingly hostile presence after a drug-fueled blackout.
THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE – Australian Premiere
Director: André Øvredal | USA 2016
Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch star as father-son coroners who find themselves enveloped by dark forces when they are called upon to do an urgent forensic analysis of a mysterious corpse. One of the most terrifying films of the year and winner of the Best Horror Feature Award at this year’s Fantastic Fest. (Tickets for this show on sale now at www.lidocinemas.com.au)
THE BANDIT – Australian Premiere
Director: Jesse Moss | USA 2016
Jesse Moss’ (THE OVERNIGHTERS) latest acclaimed documentary about the legendary friendship between Burt Reynolds and stuntman-turned director Hal Needham and the making of their unlikely box-office smash SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT.
DEAREST SISTER – Australian Premiere
Director: Mattie Do | Laos 2016
Leaving Australian audiences haunted with her 2013 feature debut CHANTHALY, Lao filmmaker Mattie Do returns with another penetrating supernatural tale about families, illness and fracturing identities.
DEAD HANDS DIG DEEP – Victorian Premiere
Director: Jai Love | Australia 2016
19-year old Sydney filmmaker Jai Love’s debut feature is the heartfelt and often grim documentary portrait of the reclusive Edwin Borsheim – notorious onstage mutilator, former backyard wrestler and frontman for extreme metal band Kettle Cadaver.
FREE FIRE – Australian Premiere
Director: Ben Wheatley | USA 2016
In his most accessible, action-packed film to date, British visionary Ben Wheatley (KILL LIST, HIGH RISE) places us in the center of a shootout of absurd proportions when an international arms deal goes horribly wrong in a 1978 Boston warehouse. Starring Cillian Murphy, Brie Larsen, Sharlto Copley and Noah Taylor. (Tickets for this show on sale now at www.lidocinemas.com.au)
ON THE SILVER GLOBE – New Digital Restoration
Director: Andrzej Żuławski | Poland 1988
An inexhaustibly inventive and absorbing film maudit that quite literally creates a new cinematic world, Andrzej Żuławski’s sci-fi epic ON THE SILVER GLOBE is perhaps the grandest expression of his visionary artistry. This rarely screened film returns in a gorgeous new digital restoration that was approved by Żuławski – best known to Monster fans as the director of POSSESSION – only days before passing away earlier this year.
SLASH – Australian Premiere
Director: Clay Liford | USA 2016
In Clay Liford’s painfully poignant Cosplay comedy, an introverted high school freshman lies about his age to post his erotic gay fan fiction in an exclusive online forum. But he finds himself at the centre of an emotional shootout when he is invited to a live-read at a nearby Comicon. Featuring an inappropriate Eddie Munster joke.
MONDO YAKUZA – World Premiere
Director: Addison Heath | Australia 2016
Presented in black and white with a grindhouse glaze, this latest from prolific Australian filmmaker Addison Heath comes on like CHOPPER mixed with a Seijun Suzuki crime film of the 60s. This screening also doubles as the book launch party for Aussie genre scribe Michael Helms’ FATAL VISIONS BOOK 2.
The 2016 Monster Fest will return to Melbourne on Nov 24-27, 2016. The complete Monster Fest Program will be released on Halloween, October 31, 2016, on the festival website and via printed guide, at the program launch party and Halloween screening of Rob Zombie’s 31 at the Lido Cinema.
To find out more click HERE
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