Tom Savini will appear in Django Unchained

Special effects genius Tom Savini will appear in front of the camera in Quentin Tarantino's slave western Django Unchained.

Savini's playing Elvis Brittle, one of the outlaw Brittle brothers who sell Django and his wife Broomhilda into a life of slavery, instigating the circumstances that lead to Django's rampage of revenge.

Savini's worked with Tarantino before of course, acting alongside him in From Dusk 'Til Dawn , and appearing in Tarantino-related projects Planet Terror and Machete , but this is the first time QT will be calling action on his old pal.

Savini joins an already impressive cast which includes Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell and Don Johnson.

Django Unchained will be released in 2012, which is currently looking to be the greatest year in the history of cinema.