Ahoy, squirts! Quint here.

Now, I wish Harry was writing this piece. I'm not a dullard. I've seen my fair share of classic cinema, but, without sounding like a total kiss-ass, Harry's by far the most educated AICN writer when it comes to vintage film, especially classic genre.

In fact, Harry gave me the Val Lewton Collection on DVD for Christmas a couple years back. So, I wish he was writing this piece, but since he's up to his elbows in redneck sweat enjoying him a Burt Reynolds marathon, I'll have to fill in.

The basic story is that the legendary RKO has been taking slow steps to become a production house again and now they've signed up for a remake of ISLE OF THE DEAD, a classic Val Lewton produced flick about a plague that breaks out on an island. The original flick starred Boris Karloff as a Greek general who quarantined the island. As the people begin to die off there is a suspicion that there might be something other than a plague going on.

The remake is being scripted by relative unknowns Brian Horiuchi and Matt Lazarus and the early word is that the film will be set against a viral outbreak in Afghanistan. Hrmm... I can actually see a really decent remake of this film coming about, but something about updating it to the Middle East doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it's that even when the 1945 original came out, it was still a period film and that's just more of an interesting idea to me. Maybe it's the color palate that comes along with setting a film in the Middle East and I don't want another desert horror movie like the HILLS HAVE EYES remake.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. We'll see what comes out of this deal soon enough. I'd love to see RKO's radio tower sending out good stuff again. Hopefully we'll start to see them do their own originals and not just pilfer their library.