The Mad Monk (watch the trailer below) has declared that we are on the cusp of Monster Fest 2016. Now this year’s festival is packed full of so many goodies that the best thing to do is to go and grab yourself a full festival pass so you can walk around the entire festival with a special lanyard that gets you access to whatever you want whenever the hell you want. But, I hear the peasants cry, what if I can’t to part with the necessary jewels to gain myself a pass of such entitlement, so now I will take a look at the five things that are absolute must dos at Monster Fest 2016.
1. Go To Opening Or Closing Night –
While most serious film festival buffs will tell you that they like to explore every single session and pour over every film, but if you’re just a casual festival goer then you might just want to check out the Opening and Closing night films. For Monster Fest 2016 there are two gems opening and closing the festival this year.
Opening night sees the film that had the whole of Cannes talking during Critic’s week this year finally hit Australian shores. Director Julia Ducournau will be here in person to present Raw to the audience and a free drink is included with your ticket.
This year’s Closing Night film at Monster Fest will be another film that leaves people talking. The Greasy Strangler was one of the surprise hits at Sundance WTF this year and is a film that I can only describe as horrors answer to Napoleon Dynamite. It’s a weird film but one that will be loved by those who love their films a little left of centre. Closing Night will also give you a chance to run shoulders with two stars of the film Sky Elobar and Michael St. Michaels. There will also be Disco inspired drinks and a “Hootie Tootie Disco Cutie” contest (that will make a lot more sense after you watch the film).
2. Explore The Classics –
Often film festivals show classic movies as part of their program and if you a causal film goer (or part of the younger generation) it often gives you a chance to go and view classics that every film nerd talks about that perhaps you haven’t had a chance to see… Monster Fest 2016 is no different. Classics showing at this year’s Monster Fest include First Blood starring Sylvester Stallone in one of his most iconic roles – Rambo. Director Ted Kotcheff will also be at the screening. Kotcheff will also be presenting one of the world’s funniest comedies at this year’s festival – Weekend At Bernies. For those wanting to explore a local classic Monster Fest 2016 will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Aussie cult classic Romper Stomper starring the one and only Russell Crowe with not only a screening but with Festival Head Neil Foley conducting a special Q&A with Geoffrey Wright and Daniel Scharf.
3. Big Star Hunt –
If you’re worried about spending your hard earned cash on films that you may or may not enjoy why not take some of the risk out of it and take a chance on movies with bigger name stars attached to them. This year at Monster Fest you could do this by going and seeing Patrick Wilson in The Hollow Point or watching Pierce Brosnan’s son Sean make his directional debut with My Father Die. Then there is also Dog Eat Dog starring Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe as well as Safe Neighborhood starring Olivia DeJone, Levi Miller and Patrick Warburton (you know Mr. Big from Sex And The City).
4. Do The Fun Stuff –
One of the best things about Monster Fest every you is it always great , fun things to do and this year two of the best things to do will probably take you back to your childhood. The first is the Nightmare VHS Boardgame Party. Remember that scary board game from 1991, the one that had the freaky VHS with it that you remember your parents pulling you away from in Kmart? Well for seven teams to play Monster Fest will holding a special party.
If your childhood was a little more innocent this year Monster Fest will also be holding an All-You-Can-Eat-Cereal Cartoon Party that will be fun for ages. Cartoons will be classics ranging from the 1940s right through to the 1980s and there will be a chance for you to win a free pass to go Go-Karting as well.
The other fun event at this year’s Monster Fest is the now traditional Kooks And Spooks Trivia which will see teams competing in a fun trivia event for a number of various prizes.
5. Do The Marathon –
If you want to do something that sees absolute value for your buck then attempt to make it through The Cult Of Monster All-Night Marathon. This year the marathon includes the Australian Premiere of Sympathy For The Devil, the 50th Anniversary screening of Eye Of The Devl (starring the legendary Sharon Tate), the Australian Premiere of Interchange, a special screening of Guyana: Cult Of The Damned and then Ted Kotcheff hits the stage to present Split Image with a special Q&A to follow.
Well there we have it, they are just some of the special things that you can do at this year’s Monster Fest. Of course you can also check out an array of other films any day during the festival, and don’t forget the short films either.
If you want to make sure that you don’t miss any of these events then book your tickets right now, this very second… right here.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_utlIIotAk]
