If zombies are horror’s most tired conceit — and don’t even try to argue against that notion — cannibals are a nice way to side-step the issue of staleness whilst retaining the overwhelming allure of flesh-eating. As part of this initiative, we’re looking toward Mexico; ScreenDaily (via ThePlaylist) reports that Riley Keough (The Runaways, Magic Mike), Julia Garner (Quadruple M), Wyatt Russell (Cowboys & Alien), and Bill Sage (Boardwalk Empire) will star in a remake of that country’s horror hit, Somo Lo Que Hay. Here, it’s known as We Are What We Are, and Stake Land‘s Jim Mickle will be directing.

The helmer has already said he would take Jorge Michel Grau‘s original concept and “explore things from an unexpected angle”; his approach this go-round is to tell the story of a Catskills-bound family, the head of whom (Sage) makes his motherless daughters (Keough and Garner) “perform a depraved ritual, carried out by their ancestors for generations.” (I think it involves eating people.) With a police deputy (Russell) taking a liking to one of the daughters, however, things are bound to get a little complicated around those parts. Those parts are also bound to get eaten.

Someone like myself — which is to say, someone who’s spent quality time in the Catskill wilderness — can attest that they’ve got a perfect setting for this kind of story, what with its secluded environment, beautiful landscape, and chilly atmosphere. (Not that Catskill denizens are, so far as I know, wont to partake in cannibalism.) Martha Marcy May Marlene used it to great effect, for example; the presence of both acting (Garner) and producing (Andrew Corkin) alumnus adds to that level of confidence.

Production is starting at the end of this month, and the film is expected to “be delivered” come January 2013. Put two and two together, and you can figure out where this will first be seen.

Is We Are What We Are shaping up nicely, in your opinion?