RKO Pictures reanimating Isle Of The Dead

You might think that being a legendary horror director and working with Boris Karloff might make you immune from the attack of the remake virus. But you would be wrong – in more ways than one.

Because RKO Pictures is giving Val Lewton’s 1945 film Isle Of The Dead a post-9/11 reboot.

The original found Karloff as a Greek military commander facing a plague on a distant island. He orders the place quarantined, but then discovers that a vampire demon might be behind the deaths. And those double demon types can be especially nasty.

Now writers Brian Horiuchi and Matt Lazarus are bringing new life to the story, with the plot shoved to Afghanistan, and a virus as the reason for the quarantine. "Val Lewton made his name by taking the horror genre to a new place," blabbed RKO chairman Ted Hartley to Variety . "Brian and Matt have the same kind of genre-bending sensibilities that will give this classic tale the perfect blend of contemporary themes and timeless scares."

They’re currently looking for a director – so let’s hope whoever snags the job realises they’ll be competing with Val Lewton…

source:( Variety )

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.