In 1986, horror didn’t just scare you - it entertained you.
It was loud, weird, sexy, funny, slimy, and gloriously unhinged. Forty years on, Monster Fest is rewinding the tape for a full-throttle 40th anniversary weekend celebration of one of the greatest years in genre history.
From Friday to Sunday in a cinema near you Monster Fest Weekender 1986 brings together eight stone-cold classics, all released in the same miraculous year and all celebrating their big 4-0 on the big screen where they belong. Join us … if you dare!
FRIDAY
Kicking things off with a double dose of thrills and chills, we begin with Fred Dekker’s NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, where Porky’s meets Aliens and no orifice is safe for the staff and students at Corman University. The carnage continues with Jim Wynorski’s CHOPPING MALL, the ultimate high-tech slasher set in a shopping centre full of killbots. It’s buy or die time, kiddies!
SATURDAY
Saturday ramps up the chaos with one of John Carpenter’s greatest films, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, a neon-drenched kung-fu spectacle of supernatural mayhem. Next, FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES sees Camp Crystal Lake’s favourite son rise from the grave to wreak havoc once again — one machete swing at a time. The night closes with genre maestro Wes Craven’s techno-horror DEADLY FRIEND, a gloriously macabre tale of suburban terror, featuring Kristy Swanson as the quintessential girl-next-door … if your next-door neighbour happened to be a homicidal robot with a rebellious streak.
SUNDAY
Wrap the weekend with a trio of unforgettable ’80s horror hits: VAMP, where teen thrills meet vampire chills when a 2000-year-old stripper sinks her fangs into three wannabe frat boys; THE FLY, David Cronenberg’s body-horror masterpiece of mutation and obsession; and FROM BEYOND, a hallucinatory plunge into science-gone-rogue in Stuart Gordon’s second tribute to H.P. Lovecraft.
Sit down, strap in, and steel yourself for a weekend of pure ’80s excitement. Three days, eight films, twelve hours of pulse-pounding pandemonium. Monster Fest Weekender 1986 is waiting for you.
LOCATIONS:
SYDNEY
Event Cinemas Burwood
BRISBANE
Event Cinemas Brisbane City
ADELAIDE
Event Cinemas Marion
PERTH
Event Cinemas Innaloo
TICKETS - $21
5 FILM PASS - $80
VIP PASS - $120
See more bangers from 1986 and save more money with a 5 Film Pass or a Weekender VIP Pass where you catch all 8 Films at the festival for less than the price of 6.
*Online booking fee applies. VIP Pass is valid for all 8 Sessions at the festival and cannot be used for multiple tickets to the same session. A VIP Pass is exclusively redeemable for Monster Fest Weekender festival sessions from March 20 - 29 (2026) at select Event locations only. Passes do not allow you to book multiple tickets for a single session or for sessions that run concurrently as they are issued for single customers only. Only valid for Monster Fest sessions. This voucher must be taken as offered and is not exchangeable, for sale, transferrable or redeemable for cash.