MONSTER FEST ADDS NEW DIMENSION FOR HORROR FANS WITH 2023 WEEKENDER LINE-UP

Following the success of last May’s inaugural MONSTER FEST WEEKENDER, the Monster Fest team have announced the return of the three-day mini-festival to Cinema Nova in Melbourne from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th of July.

For the very first-time in Monster Fest history, the program will be completely composed of retrospective films, each one presented in head-spinning 3D, from all-time classics to unsung genre greats, spanning decades of horror cinema. Several films in the line-up will be making their Australian big screen debuts.

Once the celebration wraps in Melbourne, the MONSTER FEST WEEKENDER 3D hits the road to interstate EVENT Cinema venues in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth from Friday 14th to Sunday 16th of July. 

Despite having performed strongly at the U.S. box office, 2013’s TEXAS CHAINSAW was passed over for cinema release in Australia, providing Monster Fest with the opportunity to boast Theatrical Premiere rights on the film’s 10th anniversary. Director John Luessenhop foresaw the star power of Alexandra Daddario (pictured, right) and Scott Eastwood, casting them in early career roles, helping the film to a solid $50million global gross and re-energising the franchise.

In what could arguably be considered to be the last great sequel to 1979’s The Amityville Horror, Monster Fest will present a 40th Anniversary Screening of Richard Fleischer‘s AMITYVILLE 3-D. Along with its practical effects and eye-popping visuals, this installment in the franchise is notable for featuring America’s sweetheart Meg Ryan in an early role.

Director André De Toth’s evergreen classic HOUSE OF WAX (pictured, left) will celebrate its 70th Anniversary at the Weekender screenings. One of the first studio-produced 3D colour features, it stars Vincent Price as the malevolent and memorable Professor Henry Jarrod.

Penned by Todd Farmer (Jason X) and directed by Patrick Lussier (Drive Angry), MY BLOODY VALENTINE is one of the rare remakes that not only stands tall with its predecessor (which suffered terribly under the censor’s knife upon release) but gives you more of what you want, now with epic gore and in glorious 3D.

Lavishly bathed in garish viscera, Andy Warhol‘s FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN (pictured, right), written and directed by Paul Morrissey, is an undisputed classic of cult cinema and returns for its 50th Anniversary, restored in 4K and presented in 3D.

Lensed by Gerald Feil, the cinematographer responsible for Friday the 13th part III 3D, the 1984 slasher SILENT MADNESS remains somewhat obscure locally as it suffered distribution woes and ultimately landed direct-to-video in the late-eighties. Monster Fest will present the film for the first-time on Australian cinemas screens, in a 4K restoration and as intended in 3D.

MONSTER FEST WEEKENDER 3D screens July 7-9 at Cinema Nova in Melbourne, then July 14-16 at EVENT Cinemas George Street (NSW), Innaloo (WA), Marion (SA) and Brisbane Myer Centre (Qld). Session and ticket details can be found via the Monster Fest website.