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Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the cinema, Australia\u2019s darkest genre film festival returns with a wild and savage bite! Get ready for Volume 2 of the Dark Nights Film Fest, coming to Sydney\u2019s Ritz Cinemas from October 9 to October 12, 2025.<\/p>\n
Voted one of Dread Central\u2019s Top Genre Film Festivals on Earth, this year\u2019s festival will host nine features having their Australian Premieres, a vintage bona fide cult classic, and 22 new short films, from Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Denmark, Serbia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Mexico, New Zealand, and Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cDark Nights champions immersive cinema,\u201d says festival director Bryn Tilly, \u201cAnd dark genre filmmaking demands a big screen, a dark room, and an audience being pulled to the edge of their seat, whether it be a full-throttle, blood-soaked shocker or a creeping, unshakeable sense of cosmic or existential dread. Dark Nights Film Fest\u2019s Volume 2 has all the nightmare boxes ticked.\u201d<\/p>\n
The festival\u2019s Opening Night-mare is Stephen Cognetti\u2019s latest,\u00a0Hell House LLC: Lineage<\/em><\/strong>. This will be its only Australian theatrical screening. Send in the clowns!<\/p>\n From Germany comes\u00a0Bark<\/em><\/strong>, a nail-biting thriller set in a remote forest that sees a desperate city man, tied to a tree, and the mysterious, taunting outdoors man gradually pulling the wicked truth from his captive right up until the shocking end.<\/p>\n For fans of the surreal vibe of David Lynch and the desolate allure of Michelangelo Antonioni comes Joshua Erkman\u2019s twisted and brutal neo-noir,\u00a0A Desert<\/em><\/strong>, following the dangerous plight of a lone photographer into the treacherous heart of America.<\/p>\n Stephen Biro, from Unearthed Films, delivers a fascinating, unfiltered look at the creation and legacy of one of cinema\u2019s most controversial movies of the past fifty years in\u00a0A Serbian Documentary<\/em><\/strong>, likely to be one of the hot buttons of the festival.<\/p>\n The Serbian double-whammy continues with\u00a0Karmadonna<\/em><\/strong>, a savage satire, and the debut feature from Aleksandar Radivojevi\u0107, the co-screenwriter of A Serbian Film<\/em>. A blistering, profane thriller that lights all manner of cultural and religious fuses and torches them with ferocity.<\/p>\n The masterpiece of gory hilarity, Peter Jackson\u2019s legendary\u00a0Braindead<\/em><\/strong>, hits the screen in a superb new 4K restoration. Not seen on Australian screens in thirty years, this ingenious display of low-budget filmmaking features the wildest zombie carnage ever committed to celluloid. Miss this at your peril!<\/p>\n Mexican filmmaker Lex Ortega (Atroz<\/em><\/strong>) delves deep into nightmarish fears and repulsion with\u00a0Necromorphosis<\/em><\/strong>\u2014narrated by horror queen Gigi Saul Guerrero\u2014that traces the survivalist extremes of an entomologist trapped in the subterranean filth of the city.<\/p>\n In the year\u2019s most original dark genre movie,\u00a0Sun<\/em><\/strong>, a dancer searches desperately for his missing wife through a nocturnal NYC and his own personal hell. Dominic Lahiff\u2019s unique hybrid of sound, movement, and fury bursts from the screen.<\/p>\n Four interconnected tales, from four Danish directors, are adapted from the macabre, ghoulish works of master storyteller Hans Christian Andersen in the superb anthology\u00a0Adorable Humans<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Closing Night heralds the brilliant debut feature from US filmmaker Todd Wiseman Jr,\u00a0The School Duel<\/em><\/strong>, a harrowing, dystopian thriller that burns hard with the evils of gun culture and a dysfunctional future-is-now society, wielding a powerful central performance from its young star.<\/p>\n Ten of the best new Australian short films form the\u00a0Aussie Shorts Showcase, where the audience can vote for their favorite. Then, there will be 12 international shorts\u00a0paired with the features, showcasing some of the most thrilling emerging filmmakers from around the world.<\/p>\n The weekend also sees the return of the popular\u00a0Movie Boutique, where friendly merchants sell rare high art and deep trash Blu-rays, DVDs, VHS, books, magazines, posters, CDs, vinyls, and other collectibles. <\/p>\n And the cherry on top is a casual Filmmakers Discussion Panel, with four local filmmakers, Josh Reed, Hannah Barlow, Jack Dignan, and Jennifer Van Gessel. They\u2019ll discuss the hurdles and rewards of micro-to-low-budget feature filmmaking and offer advice. It\u2019s an essential talk for those ready to leap into filmmaking.<\/p>\n Get your tickets to Dark Nights Film Festival here<\/a>!<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBut Wait! There\u2019s more!<\/h3>\n