Adam Marcus, director of the underrated, if erroneously titled, Friday The 13th sequel, Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday, is finally making a return to horror after over fifteen years away.
The 40 year-old director has signed on to direct the remake of RKO’s cult classic, I Walked With A Zombie.
Directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton in 1943, the original was a creepy, eerie affair that isn’t a typical zombie film, at least, not in the way that we understand the term now. There are no flesh-eating ghouls here – just a dark and macabre tale involving a Caribbean island, voodoo, and a patient stricken by an apparent illness which seems to involve zombie-like symptoms.
The original was also only 69 minutes long, so there’s plenty of room for Marcus’ remake to expand, and hopefully, improve upon what’s gone before.
Indeed, he’s already begun, retooling the premise so that it now revolves around a private tutor who stumbles upon a terrifying secret while working at the New Orleans home of a wealthy businessman. The relocation to New Orleans instantly brings the likes of** Angel Heart **to mind, so this could be a very serious, atmospheric affair.
Marcus co-wrote the script with Debra Sullivan, his writing partner on last year’s Conspiracy. RKO’s Ted Hartley will produce, along with Twisted’s Mark Burg, Oren Koules, and Carl Mazzocone. Andy Fickman, the **Race To Witch Mountain **director who can’t stay out of the news today, will executive produce.