Now in its 12th year, the Austin based genre-bending film festival returns next month to once again redefine what ‘genre’ means. Not only will this year’s festival lineup reach as far as South Asia in its offerings, but directors Tim Burton and Don Coscarelli have been announced as honored guests.  Tim Burton will be in attendance for the red-carpet screening of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, while Don Coscarelli will be in attendance for the world premiere of Phantasm: Ravager. This will be accompanied by a special screening of Phantasm: Remastered, which will stream live to art house theaters all across the country that are celebrating Art House Theater Day on September 24th. Coscarelli will be joined in attendance with cast members and Phantasm:Ravager director David Hartman.

Standouts from the first wave announcement line-up also includes:

A DARK SONG
Ireland, 2016
World Premiere
Director – Liam Gavin
Sophia is a determined young woman who hires a weird occultist to perform a ritual which will risk not only their lives and souls, but also the very essence of their being.
ALOYS_Filmstill_001
Switzerland, France
2016 US Premiere
Director – Tobias Nölle
Aloys Adorn is a lonely private investigator who, after the death of his father, finds himself sucked into a mysterious “telephone walking” game with a mysterious woman who might be his only hope.
BELIEF
New Zealand, 2015
US Premiere
Director – David Stubbs
The true story of the Wainuiomata exorcism provides the basis for David Stubbs’ striking debut feature, a documentary exploring the tragic death of Janet Moses in a traditional Maori exorcism ceremony.
DEAREST SISTER
Laos, France, Estonia
2016 World Premiere
Director – Mattie Do
After moving to the city, a poor woman realizes her recently blinded cousin can not only commune with the dead, but they can provide a path to much-needed wealth.
DWARVES
Thailand, 2016
World Premiere
Director – Bhin Banloerit
A Thai village of little people is attacked by evil, butt-munching, fart-tracking Krause spirits – floating heads with attached intestines – in this slapstick horror-comedy.
GREASY STRANGLER
United States, 2016
Special Screening
Director – Jim Hosking
Ronnie fears his first love affair is turning his father into a bloodthirsty monster who’s covered in grease and has an 18-inch penis that looks like a dead chicken.
JUNGLE TRAP
United States, 1990/2016
World Premiere
Director – James Bryan
Exploitation demigod James Bryan’s massively entertaining, decapitation-fueled shot-on-video horror masterpiece about a jungle hotel haunted by kill-crazy ghosts in loin cloths, shot in 1990 and unreleased until THIS VERY MOMENT.
MISS PEREGRINE
United States, 2016
Special Screening
Director – Tim Burton
From visionary director Tim Burton, and based upon the best-selling novel, comes an unforgettable motion picture experience. When Jake discovers clues to a mystery that spans alternate realities and times, he uncovers a secret refuge known as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he learns about the residents and their unusual abilities, Jake realizes that safety is an illusion, and danger lurks in the form of powerful, hidden enemies. Jake must figure out who is real, who can be trusted, and who he really is.
PHANTASM REMASTERED
United States, 1979
Special Screening
Director – Don Coscarelli
One of the most influential and important horror films of all time, Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm returns to Alamo Drafthouse’s screens in a gorgeous 4k remaster.

A giant sphere wreaks havoc on a city in Phantasm Ravager.
United States, 2016
World Premiere
Director – David Hartman
The fifth and final film in the classic Phantasm film series, Phantasm Ravager follows our intrepid everyman hero Reggie on his quest across dark dimensions as he struggles to confront and vanquish the sinister Tall Man.

PSYCHO RAMAN
India, 2016
US Premiere
Director – Anurag Kashyap
Raghavan is a cop: brutal, violent, and drug-addicted. Ramanna is a criminal: psychotic, unpredictable, and vicious. It’s only a matter of time before they meet and when they do, Mumbai’s slums will be colored deep crimson.
THE VOID
Canada, 2016
World Premiere
Directors – STEVEN KOSTANSKI & JEREMY GILLESPIE
Trapped in a hospital with a handful of people, a small town sheriff finds himself caught up in the demented plot of a death-obsessed madman.
WE ARE THE FLESH
Mexico, 2016
Texas Premiere
Director – Emiliano Rocha Minter
Somewhere within a ruined city, a man makes an offer to a pair of siblings who wander into his abandoned building: food and shelter in exchange for building a strange room…
ZOOLOGY
Russia, France, Germany, 2016
US Premiere
Director – Ivan I. Tverdovsky
Natasha is a lonely, middle-aged woman who still lives with her mother and feels insecure about her tedious life… until she grows a tail.

Details and badges for Fantastic Fest can be purchased here.