MHFS Halloween #2 - Tremors (1990)

Date: Wednesday 28th October 2026
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

For our extra special Halloween screening this year, we are absolutely thrilled to have our good friend Holly Hughes presenting one of her fave films - TREMORS!

Rather than us waffle on, hear from our awesome guest presenter instead:
"Hello! I’m Holly, longtime watcher and first time presenter! I’ve been a horror fan for as long as I can remember - my earliest memories are of begging my parents to let me stay up to watch “Chucky” movies and summer vacations spent scanning the Sci-Fi channel for Critters or Puppet Master and wearing out my recorded-from-cable VHS tapes of Creepshow and of course, Tremors.

When my partner Jim and I moved from the states to Melbourne almost 3 years ago, I immediately went to work trying to find other horror nerds like ourselves, which led us to MHFS and all the great people that make up this awesome community. Since then, Jim and I have become regulars of MHFS, where you’ll find us posted up outside Champagne Video before screenings, partaking in friendly debates, and usually winning a raffle prize

It’s an honour to be presenting a film at MHFS, especially a film I’ve loved since childhood and have seen so many times I could probably quote it from start to finish. I can’t wait to take you all on a trip to Perfection, Nevada: the sun-soaked small town setting of 1990’s cult classic Tremors!

Starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward as down-and-out handymen just trying to get out of town, Tremors is a delightful horror/comedy/adventure about a quirky ensemble cast of desert outcasts coming together to face off against a common enemy - giant maneating worms! Inspired by drive-in double-features of Westerns and atomic monster B-movies, Tremors is a genre-mash bonanza. It’s got memorable characters, charming humour and amazing practical creature effects. With it’s sunny daytime setting and frequent comedic beats, Tremors isn’t the scariest horror movie, but it is a fucking great time - pardon my French.
And if you want to dig a little deeper...just beneath the surface, you may find unexpected themes in this silly monster movie homage: a shifting American frontier for the working poor at the end of the ‘80s, a surprisingly progressive gender roles for a genre film, and you could even do a Freudian analysis on the particular shape of the monsters - actually, no, don’t do that.

But honestly, it’s just an incredibly fun monster movie and if you’ve never seen it before, there’s no better way to watch it than with the MHFS crew! There’s so much to love about Tremors, I’m sure something will grab ya!"

If you come to our screenings, you already know Holly and you know how much fun this night's going to be, so come get Spooky-licious with us on Wednesday 28th! We start gathering at Champagne Video from 5pm before the screening kicks off officially at 7:30. They're always full these days so feel free to bring a cushion in case you end up with us on the floor!

Memberships are available on the night - $20 for three screenings or $60 for twelve and we very much appreciate cold hard big ones

Can't wait to see you there!
MHFS crew

MHFS Halloween #1 - Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Date: Wednesday 21st October 2026
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

Join us for Spooky Season Screening #1 on the 21st of October for Godzilla Minus One in preparation for Minus Zero's release in November! This movie is good, okay? IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes both have it on the same level as the original movie. Don't take resident Godzilla fan Andrew's word for it though, come see for yourself! Movie starts at 7:30, but come early (or bring a beanbag), because seats fill quick!

Memberships are available for cash purchase on the night at $20 for three screenings or $60 for twelve.

See you there!
MHFS Crew

MHFS September: Cannibal Mukbang (2023)

Date: Wednesday 30th September 2026
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

And now for something to... whet your appetite..

For this months screening we here at Melbourne Horror Film Society are super stoked to present the feature film debut from writer/drector Aimee Kuge - Cannibal Mukbang!

Also produced and co-edited by Kuge, Cannibal Mukbang is very much her baby. It follows the story of Mark, a down on his luck loner who happens to fall in love with the beautiful magnanimous Ash. Unfortunately for Mark, Ash has some rather quirky eating habits.

What ensues is an uproarious, yet weirdly sentimental horror themed rom com that is sure to satisfy your tastes (see what I did there) and will charm and disgust in equal measure.

If that sounds like your thing, get on down to Champagne Video on Wednesday 30 September. The screening starts at 7:30 but as always we recommend getting there early to get a seat, have a drink and get your membership card punched. They sell on the night for $20 for three screenings or $60 for twelve (cash, please!).

Looking forward to our dinner date!
MHFS Crew

MHFS August: American Psycho (2000)

Date: Wednesday 26th August 2026
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

Join us for our August screening of Mary Harron’s American Psycho (2000) with guest intro by Nik McGrath.

A decade after Bret Easton Ellis’ book was published American Psycho was released in cinemas. Screenplay by Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner, and directed by Harron. Set in 1980s New York, it highlights a shallow, vain and narcissistic world of investment bankers, and the hollow entrapment of their lives. The cut-throat lifestyle attracts sociopaths, and masks a serial killer in their circle.

The start time is 7:30pm in the cinema room, but please come along early to sort out your membership and grab a drink from the bar. Our screenings have been very busy of late, so it's definitely a good idea to get in and get your seat to ensure that you don't miss out. Regular members generally start arriving from 6pm.

Memberships will be available to purchase with cash on the night for $20 for three screenings or $60 for twelve screenings.

See you there!
MHFS Crew

MHFS July: JURRASIC PARK (1993)

Date: Wednesday 29th July 2026
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

We, like we know many, many of you were absolutely devastated last week to hear of the passing of the one and only Sir Sam Neill and, I think it was the quickest we've ever made a decision as a group, to pivot our screening for July, away from our usual schlock and gore to something to celebrate Sam Neill.. and in words that we rarely say at MHFS.. we're going to be screening an objective masterpiece - the perfect JURASSIC PARK (1993).

Our screenings of late have been very busy, and we expect this one to be much the same, so we suggest getting to Champagne Video early if you can. Bring something to save your seat in the cinema room and then head to the bar for a drink and hang out with our lovely peeps. We'll be available from 6:45/7 to sort out memberships, which are only available on the night (cash is the preferred payment method), with the options of three screenings for $20 or twelve screenings for $60.

The actual screening then starts at 7:30 with giveaways and introduction proceeding the film. Champagne Video's address is 318 St George's Road, Fitzroy North.

And finally from the MHFS team, "Welcome to Jurassic Park"

MHFS June: Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993)

Date: Wednesday 24th June 2026
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

Love never dies, it just comes back hungry!

We sincerely hope you can join us for June's screening of Brian Yuzna's practical gore-fest, Return of the Living Dead 3 - we don't recommend breathing in the mysterious green gas though.

The film, starring Melinda Clarke and J. Trevor Edmond is one part Romeo and Juliet and one part military grade nonsense.
Think doomed romance with ah... well, with zombies mixed in with some early 90s gooodness!
It's bona fide cult hit and a genuine favourite of ours.

So if that sounds like your thing, then head on down to Champagne Video, 318 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North on Wednesday 24th of
June from 5pm onwards, with a film start time of 7:30pm.

Memberships will be available on the night, $20 for three screenings or $60 for 12, with cash being the preferred method of payment.

Seating is limited, and unlike the undead, we unfortunately cannot keep bringing people back once the room is full!
So please get on down early to secure your spot.

We hope to see you there, exposure to Trioxin 245 is not required, but enthusiasm and good vibes are very much encouraged.

MHFS Crew.

MHFS May: Night of the Demon (1957)

Date: Wednesday 27th May 2026
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

Join us this May for a classic black and white British horror, NIGHT OF THE DEMON, also known as Curse of the Demon, from 1957.

Directed by Jacques Tourneur, known for Cat People (1942) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943), and starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis, Night of the Demon was adapted from the short story written by British author M.R. James’, “Casting the Runes” (1911). It features American psychologist and supernatural skeptic Dr Holden, who travels to London and unwittingly discovers a satanic cult led by Dr Karswell. Death and mayhem follow!

Head along to Champagne Video Bar and grab a drink from 5pm onwards, before we kick off at 7:30pm with an introduction before the movie. Our screenings have been very busy of late, so we suggest getting in early and saving a seat if you can. We sell memberships on the night at $20 for three screenings, or $60 for twelve and we'll be in the cinema room from 7 to sort those out - please bring cash to purchase!

See you there!
MHFS Crew

MHFS April: Edge of the Axe (1988)

Date: Tuesday 28th April 2026
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

We may have fooled you once this month, but we kid you not, there's a second screening coming up in April! Join us this time for a lesser known slasher film...

'Edge of the Axe' was released at the tail-end of the 80s slasher boom, but it still packs a punch. Featuring a trenchcoat and mask wearing axe murderer who terrorises a small North Cali mountain community, while two young computer-obsessed adults attempt to solve the killings. Edge of the Axe was a co-production between the US and Spain, and filmed mainly in Madrid, which gives it a transatlantic atmoshere akin to Pieces, from a prolific director who dipped his toes into horror films during this period.

Head along to Champagne Video on Tuesday, April 28th - *please note this screening is on a TUESDAY night, not Wednesday.* The start time is our normal 7:30pm in the cinema room, but please come along early to sort out your membership and grab a drink from the bar. Our screenings have been very busy of late, so it's definitely a good idea to get in and get your seat to ensure that you don't miss out. Regular members generally start arriving from 6pm.

Memberships will be available to purchase with cash on the night for $20 or $60, which gets you into three or twelve screenings respectively.

See you there!
MHFS Crew

MHFS April Fool's Day (1986)

Date: Wednesday 1st April 2026
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

Well, well, well, what do you know.. April Fool's Day happens to fall on a Wednesday this year (this may come as news to all of you but Mel has been counting down the year's for this one.. I know, I know, I need to get a life). So, we're pushing our traditional last Wed of March screening back one week for Mel to show Fred Walton's, APRIL FOOL'S DAY!

We promise, there's no gotcha's here - Muffy invites us all to head along to Champagne Video on April 1st. The screening will get started in the cinema room at 7.30pm but please come along early to sort your membership out and grab a drink from the bar. Our screenings have been very busy of late, so it's definitely a good idea to get in and get your spot to ensure that you don't miss out.

Memberships will be available to purchase with cash on the night for $20 or $60, which gets you into three or twelve screenings respectively.

Remember, no pranks after midday.. see you there!
MHFS Crew

MHFS: February: Intruder (1989)

Date: Wednesday 25th February 2026
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

This month, we're reminding everyone why going to the supermarket is a bad idea, with 1989's gore-fest, Intruder! If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend NOT looking at posters or trailers for it, as quite a few ruin the mystery. If you've seen it and don't remember it being gory, well... There was about 5 minutes of gore cut from it to be able to be released back in the day, but WE'RE UNCUT BABY!

Memberships will be available at Champagne Video on the night for $20 or $60 cold hard cash. That gets you into three or twelve screenings respectively. We'll be in the cinema room between 7 and 7.30 to organise those, with the screening getting started at 7.30. Come along early for a drink / eat / hang before the show!
Can't wait!
MHFS Crew

MHFS January: Fanatic (1965)

Let's try this again! Our Fanatic screening was originally scheduled in November but we were up against a group of daters and datees that were accidentally given our cinema room. We've triple checked and said group are going to spend January 28th on Tinder instead (is that still a thing?), so we can get back to our date in the attic with a crazy biddy! Yay!

Back by popular demand, guest presenter Carina Hayden-Skok returns to MHFS with another Hagsploitation Classic: Hammer Films' FANATIC (1965), also known by its American title, DIE! DIE! MY DARLING! And yes, for those familiar, it did go on to inspire a Misfits song

The legendary Tallulah Bankhead - who inspired Cruella de Vil with her scandalous lifestyle - delivers her final screen performance as Mrs. Trefoile, a severe religious fanatic (and Tallulah's complete opposite).

When young Patricia (Stefanie Powers) pays a courtesy visit to her late fiancé's mother, a simple condolence call turns into a claustrophobic nightmare.

This modern (for its time) psychological thriller marks Hammer's departure from Gothic monsters and their first colour suspense film - also a first for the genre! Director Arthur Ibbetson paints a striking visual descent with hues that shift from gorgeous to increasingly garish.

With a screenplay adapted by horror legend Richard Matheson (from Anne Blaisdell's 1961 novel Nightmare), a very young Donald Sutherland in an early role and some powerhouse female performances, you're sure to be in for a treat.

Join us for 97 minutes of prime "psycho biddy" cinema - captivity, religious mania, and one Hollywood icon's unforgettable swan song.

Memberships will be available at Champagne Video on the night for $20 or $60 cold hard cash. That gets you into three or twelve screenings respectively. We'll be in the cinema room between 7 and 7.30 to organise those, with the screening getting started at 7.30. Come along early for a drink / eat / hang before the show!

Can't wait!
MHFS Crew

MHFS CHRISTMAS: SILENT NIGHT (2012)

Date: Wednesday 17th December 2025
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

It's festive season, friends! So let MHFS put the ho ho horror into your Christmas with a screening of 2012s, SILENT NIGHT!

With the new Silent Night Deadly Night remake/requel/re-imaging about to hit cinemas, we thought, what better time to show this Steven C. Miller reinterpretation.. which really has nothing to do with the OG (more about that on the night), apart from ofcourse, its Santa on a rampage, punishing anyone he deems as naughty(?).

As usual, the sleigh bells will officially start to chime at 7.30pm in the cinema room at the back of Champagne Video but please come along early and celebrate this crazy year with us! Memberships will be available on the night for $20 cashola, which gets you a 3 screening pass, or $60 for 12. Very good as gifts to put under the Christmas tree, hint hint!

Tinsel, Santa hats and reindeer ears allowed!
MHFS Crew

MHFS November: Fanatic (1965)

Date: Wednesday 26th November 2025
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

Back by popular demand, guest presenter Carina Hayden-Skok returns to MHFS with another Hagsploitation Classic: Hammer Films' FANATIC (1965), also known by its American title, DIE! DIE! MY DARLING! And yes, for those familiar, it did go on to inspire a Misfits song

The legendary Tallulah Bankhead - who inspired Cruella de Vil with her scandalous lifestyle - delivers her final screen performance as Mrs. Trefoile, a severe religious fanatic (and Tallulah's complete opposite).

When young Patricia (Stefanie Powers) pays a courtesy visit to her late fiancé's mother, a simple condolence call turns into a claustrophobic nightmare.

This modern (for its time) psychological thriller marks Hammer's departure from Gothic monsters and their first colour suspense film - also a first for the genre! Director Arthur Ibbetson paints a striking visual descent with hues that shift from gorgeous to increasingly garish.

With a screenplay adapted by horror legend Richard Matheson (from Anne Blaisdell's 1961 novel Nightmare), a very young Donald Sutherland in an early role and some powerhouse female performances, you're sure to be in for a treat.

Join us for 97 minutes of prime "psycho biddy" cinema - captivity, religious mania, and one Hollywood icon's unforgettable swan song.

Memberships will be available at Champagne Video on the night for $20 or $60 cold hard cash. That gets you into three or twelve screenings respectively. We'll be in the cinema room between 7 and 7.30 to organise those, with the screening getting started at 7.30. Come along early for a drink / eat / hang before the show!

Can't wait!
MHFS Crew

MHFS Saturday Special: Willy's Wonderland

Date: Saturday 22nd November 2025
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Champagne Video 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

“It’s your birthday and we want you to have fun…!”

On Saturday, November 22nd it’s all of your birthday’s and spoiler alert, we’re giving you the best present imaginable - a screening of Willy’s Wonderland!!!

Willy’s Wonderland could best be described as a Nic Cage experience. He plays The Janitor, a silent drifter, who comes to town and ends up facing off (yep..) against a bunch of evil animatronics with the assistance of ‘Punch’ energy drinks, in what seems like a hopped up LSD trip. Perfect, 5 stars!

In an MHFS first, Willy’s Wonderland is being presented by the trio of Andrew, Mel and Ruben (in his first intro.. he’s 7, it’s totally fine). Memberships will be available with cash payment on the night at $20 for three screenings, or $60 for twelve. The screening will get started at 7:30pm but please come along early for pre-drinks / eats - ‘Punch’ may or may not be on the menu.

“It's your birthday, so, let's party everyone!”
MHFS Crew

MHFS October: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

Date: Friday 17th October 2025
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Wildflower Video Bar 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

This Halloween (or, more accurately, Halloween Eve, Eve) join us at Wildflower Video Bar for safety in numbers as Michael is back!

After what was at the time, the most maligned installment of the franchise, Halloween III: Season of the Witch (David Gordon Green says, "Hold my beer"), Halloween 4 sees the return of everyone's favourite Shape, Michael Myers!

- Ten years after his original massacre, Michael Myers awakens on Halloween Eve and returns to Haddonfield to kill his seven-year-old niece. Can Dr. Loomis stop him?

Now, there's no need to stress if you haven't seen the first three movies (but you really, really should). Season of the Witch was a stand-alone story and everyone knows the main players from the first two, right? You'll be fine.

Memberships will be available on the night at $20 for three screenings, or $60 for twelve. Cash, please, like it's 1988. Our screenings have been extremely busy of late, so make sure you get in early to save yourself a seat in the cinema and then head to the bar to enjoy some food and drink before we get started at 7.30pm.

Finally, we definitely encourage dressing up on the night - it's a good opportunity to try out your costume for Halloween!

Boo to you,
From the MHFS crew

MHFS Friday Special: Grindhouse (2007)

Date: Friday 17th October 2025
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Wildflower Video Bar 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

With Spooky Season about to hit, we've of course hit up Wildflower Picture Bar to schedule another special screening, this time of the 2007 Rodriguez / Tarantino double, GRINDHOUSE. We'll be showing this as originally intended to be seen in cinemas, complete with fake trailers (some of course ended up being not so fake). Despite the successful careers of both directors, Grindhouse completely tanked in cinemas. Audiences didn't understand or didn't want the throwback 70s vibes.. but this is a tale that we know well.. and.. well.. people are idiots.

Come along on Friday, October 17 for your chance to see Grindhouse in all its glory and watch it with an appreciative crowd (if you saw it back in 2007, there was likely no crowd at all). Let's get eyes on these shoulda-been classics!

Kick off will be at the normal time of 7.30, so come along early for a drink, feed and to get your membership sorted so that we can start right on time (as it'll be a longy). Memberships are available for cash payment on the night at $20 for three screenings, or $60 for twelve screenings.

Drive safe!
MHFS crew

MHFS September: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

Date: Wednesday 24th September 2025
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Wildflower Video Bar 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

Skreeonk!!!

For our September screening, we're dipping into the ever-expansive Godzilla well (and tying into an upcoming Friday Fright Feature at FoMo), with 1995s GODZILLA vs. DESTOROYAH!

MHFS' resident Godzilla maestro, Andrew, will be introducing the film. He says: "Big monsters go roar. Come watch." He may elaborate on this on the night but you'll have to come along to hear..

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is closer to traditional horror than the majority of Goji films but if you were at our last Godzilla screening, you'll know it was an absolute hoot, and also a packed house, so make sure you get in early to grab a seat in the cinema and enjoy some food and drink at the bar before go time at 7.30pm.

Memberships will be available on the night at $20 for three screenings, or $60 for twelve. Cash continues to rule our Monster Island.

See you there!
MHFS crew

Saint Maud: a modern horror masterpiece

Article by Nik McGrath

Saint Maud was filmed in Scarborough, a seaside town in North Yorkshire in 2019, and because of COVID had a limited release in cinemas in the UK and US in 2020, then streamed from 2021. In 2022 ACMI screened Saint Maud as part of their New British Cinema film season. 

Writer director Rose Glass was born in London in 1990. Glass knew she wanted to be a director when she was 12 years old. As a kid, she experimented making amateur films with her friends. 

Her first short she wrote and directed when she was 20. Moths was her 2010 graduation film from London College of Communication for her Film and Video BA. You can watch it on her Vimeo channel, along with a number of her other shorts. The film is about a man and woman who live next door to each other but never speak. They voyeuristically watch each other through a hole in the wall. It’s a sad and lonely character study of two people who clearly like each other, but are incapable of meeting in person. 

Her next short film Storm House she submitted in her application to the National Film and Television School in 2011. A couple live in a house in a remote rural setting. Again Glass tells the story through the actions of her central characters rather than dialogue. This film has a dark romance and fantasy elements. Perhaps a precursor to her later work. 

The Silken Strand, was another short she made in film school in 2013. I’ve only seen a trailer on Vimeo, and from what I’ve seen appears to have fantasy and dark romance elements. Themes which thread through her body of work. 

She graduated from film school in 2014. In her final year she created her longest short to date, Room 55. A beautiful exploration of female empowerment. Her filmmaking and storytelling had matured in her years of experience in film school. Room 55 is set in the UK in the 1950s, about a woman who is a TV cook, dutiful wife and mother. The story takes a turn during an unplanned overnight stay at a hotel. A liberating night of sensual awakening and independence with a mysterious woman in the hotel empowers our protagonist to assert herself back in her own life. 

She made a final short Bath Time in 2015, part of a six short compilation A Moment of Horror. Her first genre work. It’s available in the UK on Channel 4. Haven’t seen it, so can’t comment further. It’s a 4 minute short in a compilation which I would love to get my hands on!

Writer director Rose Glass on set

With the experience of writing and directing five shorts, Glass then made her first feature - Saint Maud in 2019. It’s a slow burn psychological horror. I’m going to be very careful how much I share about the story. I want you to go into this dark with no spoilers. 

My immediate reaction when I saw this film on streaming in 2021 was breathtaking. I was almost left speechless after the first time I saw this modern masterpiece. Yep, I said masterpiece. Expectations are high now. I hope you agree with me. 

Saint Maud is perfection in every respect - storytelling, cinematography, performance, score…  Glass’ feature directorial debut is a revelation. She wrote the screenplay, the story had been developed from an initial concept when she was in film school in 2014. 

Glass stated in an interview: “I started coming up with a version of the idea a while ago, when I was finishing my M.A. at National Film and Television School, in 2014. A couple of years later, I started writing the script. The initial premise was the idea of a love story between a young woman and a voice in her head. At the time I was reading about people who hear voices, and the various conditions that can lead to that. I also wanted to make the kind of films that I like, which are very subjective. We all live in the same world, but we’re all confined to our bodies and all experience reality subjectively. You never really know what’s going on in someone else’s head”. 

When I was little, about 5, I used to imagine myself sitting cross-legged in my head with a huge volume open on my lap where all my thoughts, memories and ideas were kept in the pages of my own mind. I’ve always been fascinated what it might be like to walk in somebody else’s shoes. It’s hard to be human sometimes, it’s a struggle. What if I was born into another body and life? What would that be like? When I start thinking about this, which is often, I have to stop before I start going mad with all the what if’s. This curiosity of mine of what it might feel like to walk in someone else’s shoes is one of the reasons Saint Maud got under my skin. 

When women write and direct films they often create complex and layered female protagonist’s who are floored and relatable to female audiences and audiences who want to see diverse perspectives. Glass wrote two strong central female characters, and produced knockout performances in Morfydd Clark who plays hospice nurse Maud and Jennifer Ehle who plays former dancer and terminally ill patient Amanda Köhl. 

If you love this film like I do, I recommend listening to Modern Horror Podcast’s episode on Saint Maud by authors Tony Black and Hugh McStay who agree with me that this is a modern horror classic. Their Modern Horror Podcast is taking deep dives into horror films from 2010 onwards. Lots of spoilers, so don’t listen to any episodes if you haven’t already seen the film. They’ve recently done an episode on Doctor Sleep which I want to check out after Jack’s screening.  

Also check out The Evolution of Horror podcast interview with Rose Glass. Glass describes her film as a psychological horror, but says she’s not concerned about genres, she’s more interested in the dread created by this character study, and stated that although she loves the horror genre and Rosemary’s Baby is one of her favourite films, the main influence behind Saint Maud is Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. Both Taxi Driver and Saint Maud create dread through a story solely told from a central character’s point of view, and the tension builds as they reach breaking point. 

Glass went to a Catholic school but isn’t religious herself. Her firsthand knowledge of Catholicism brings authenticity to the story. Glass is interested in the psychology of faith. What it is that gives some people faith, and the difference between an atheist, and someone who is religious. Interestingly Glass says in the interview that she is less of a staunch atheist than she was before making Saint Maud, but more about the idea that there is the unexplained and things that bind us together. Glass doesn’t agree with the moral controls religion puts on people. She states the film isn’t anti-religion, more a study in where mental health and Maud’s own version of religion meet. 

Still: Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian in Love Lies Bleeding

Glass’ second feature a romantic thriller Love Lies Bleeding she co-wrote with Polish director and screenwriter Weronika Tofilska, released in 2024. It stars Kristen Stewart as a gym manager who meets bodybuilder Katy O’Brian, and a passionate love dark romance ensues. In so many ways, Love Lies Bleeding is almost unrecognisable as a film made by the same director as Saint Maud. However, parrels between the two films can be drawn. Glass has produced another powerhouse performance out of her two female leads. A theme in common between the films is seeing the world through the eyes of a disturbed woman’s psyche. Queer love is another thread. Both films have elements of body horror. Love Lies Bleeding is set in New Mexico in the 1980s, it couldn’t be further stylistically and culturally from her first film set in a seaside town in the UK. 

I simply cannot wait to see what Glass does next. She is a refreshingly original writer-director. I hope she revisits genre, but who knows what other stories and films she has in store for us. 

Saint Maud didn’t get the hype at the time that it deserved mainly because of COVID, but it has received critical acclaim. Hopefully in time it will reach horror audiences. So spread the word! 

MHFS August: Saint Maud (2019)

Date: Wednesday 27th August 2025
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Wildflower Video Bar 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

Join us for our final Wednesday in August August screening of Saint Maud (2019) with guest intro by Nik McGrath.

Modern horror masterpiece. It’s perfection in every respect - storytelling, cinematography, performance, score… Rose Glass’ feature directorial debut is a revelation. Glass wrote the screenplay from a story she developed in film school.

Knockout performances by Morfydd Clark playing hospice nurse Maud and Jennifer Ehle playing former dancer and terminally ill patient Amanda Köhl.

Memberships will be available on the night for $20 for three screenings or $60 for twelve and please bring cash. The screening will start at 7:30pm in the cinema at the rear of Wildflower Video Bar. Come along early for a pre-drink and to get a good seat.

See you there!
MHFS Crew

MHFS Sunday Special: House (1977) aka Hausu

Date: Sunday 10th August 2025
Time: Screening starts at 7:30pm
Location: Wildflower Video Bar 318 St. Georges Road Fitzroy North

Come and fight the Sunday scaries with us on August 10 at Wildflower Video bar, as we screen 1977s HOUSE (aka Hausu).

For his film selection, Andrew says:

"What can be said about House, that would truly do justice to the sheer insanity presented within?
The story revolves around a teenage girl inviting a group of her friends to her Aunts' house in the countryside. What follows can best be described as a psychedelic fever dream in which the house claims each of the girls, one by one.
With striking visuals, a banger soundtrack and that damned cat, this movie really needs to be seen to be believed."

Maybe we'll be getting the Sunday scaries, rather than fighting them.. but we'll be together so that's what matters!

Our special weekend screenings are open to all, with the normal MHFS membership options at play - $20 for three screenings or $60 for twelve. Please bring cash to pay for memberships and maybe some extra pocket money to hit up the bar for a pre-drink / get yourself a meal from the new menu!

Meet you in the cinema room from 7 before we get started officially at 7.30!

MHFS crew