Smack dab in the middle of the avowed cineaste’s beloved Toronto International Film Festival and the proud geek’s New York Comic Con, we find the unofficial love child of the pair: Fantastic Fest, Austin’s annual gift to any and all film nerds who’ve made a habit of reserving all their vacation days for late September. Since its inception in 2005, this foremost celebration of genre cinema has treated its eager visitors to national and global premieres of films like Zombieland, Human Centipede, Sharktopus, Antichrist, The ABCs of Death, The Congress (one of my very favorite films of the past few years), and Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterful There Will Be Blood. This year’s slate looks just as promising, and our own Dan Casey has opted to point out a few of the lineup’s highlights.

Assuming you’ve already been properly prepped for Fantastic Fest ’16 by our own Clarke Wolfe, you should be ready to dive into Dan’s quick tutorial about which movies to prioritize if you happen to be lucky enough to be on the scene in Austin, Texas. Rest assured, Dan’s recommendations are quite diverse. Among his five are an alien invasion thriller, an ennui-laden road trip drama, a (to borrow a phrase) Kaiju fever dream, an existential animated silent film, and a 1970s kung fu classic revamped with a contemporary hip hop score. Check out the video to hear more about this potpourri of big screen glory.

Of course, these are only five of the many worthwhile gems yet to be presented at this year’s Fantastic Fest. in below and let us know what’s on your radar!

Image: Paramount Pictures