The man responsible for the foulest movie ever made — Lloyd Kaufman, whose epochal trash classic “The Toxic Avenger” (1985) continues to offend delicate sensibilities worldwide — will be in Tempe this weekend to help launch the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival, a three-day bonanza of chills, thrills and space-faring transvestites.

Dreamed up by Valley comic book artist Brian Pulido and film programmer Chris LaMont, the festival came into being when Pulido (a lifelong horror fan) came to LaMont (a sci-fi junkie) with the idea for a genre-themed offshoot of LaMont’s Phoenix International Film Festival.

Voila! A match made in film-geek heaven.

“Neither horror or sci-fi is typically well-represented at mainstream film festivals,” festival spokesman Jason Carney says. “Our hope was that we’d open up the market to those types of filmmakers.”

In addition to seven feature-length competition films, the festival also will include five short-film programs, a Lucasfilm-sanctioned reel of “Star Wars” fan movies and several noncompetition features, including the Team Troma schlock spectacular “Vegas in Space,” starring an all-tranny cast.

Troma founder Kaufman will receive a special commendation Saturday night prior to the screening. All events will be hosted at the Harkins Centerpoint and Valley Art theaters in Tempe.

And the star power gets brighter still: Peter Mayhew, better known as Chewbacca from “Star Wars,” will be on hand to host a Q&A session following the “SW” film reel. Which begs the question: Will he wear his Wookiee outfit?

“I hope so,” says Carney. “Otherwise, he’s just some tall guy.”

FEATURE FILM CAPSULES
A quick taste of the festival’s feature-length film selections. Key: (C) = Centerpoint theater, (VA) = Valley Art theater
“The Dark Hours”
Synopsis: A clinical psychologist is forced to take part in a series of nightmarish games by a former patient who thinks she conducted unethical experiments on him.
Screenings: 9 p.m. Fri. (C); 4:15 p.m. Sun. (C)

“The Passing”
Synopsis: Three siblings inherit a legacy of terror when they invite some friends to party at their dead grandmother’s mansion. Filmed in Arizona.
Screenings: 2:15 p.m. Sat. (C); 1:15 p.m. Sun. (VA)

“The Curse of El Charro”
Synopsis: Haunted by her sister’s suicide, a young woman finds herself hunted by a vengeful demon in the remote New Mexican dessert.
Screenings: 11:15 a.m. Sat. (C); 7:15 p.m. Sun. (C)

“Insecticidal”
Synopsis: College girl Cami’s experiment in insect intelligence goes awry, causing giant mutant insects to feast on her scantily clad sorority sisters.
Screenings: 5 p.m. Sat. (VA); 10:15 a.m. Sun. (C)

“Experiment”
Synopsis: A pair of amnesiacs scour a futuristic foreign city for clues to their lost identities in this bleak psychological thriller.
Screenings: 9:15 p.m. Fri. (C); 1:15 p.m. Sun. (C)

“Messengers”
Synopsis: When her physician father dies, a woman suspects that he may have subjected his patients to terrifyingly unconventional treatment.
Screenings: 5:30 p.m. Sat. (C); 4 p.m. Sun. (C)

“The Phoenix Lights”
Synopsis: Valley-based documentary filmmaker Dr. Lynne D. Kitei investigates unexplained nighttime phenomena in the Arizona sky.
Screenings: 11:30 a.m. Sat. (C); 10:30 a.m. Sun. (C)