EXCLUSIVE: LevelFILM has picked up US rights to zombie thriller The Returned from Spanish genre hub Filmax.

Kris Holden-Reid, Emily Hampshire and Shawn Doyle star in director Manuel Carballo’s thriller from the producers behind the [REC] franchise.

The Canadian-Spanish co-production between Ramaco Media and Filmax follows a young couple hiding a long-held secret in a post-zombie world, where the infected live normal lives but their retroviral drug is running out.

The film recently had its world premiere at Sitges and also played at Busan, Strasbourg, and Trieste.

US theatrical and day-and-date VOD release is set for February 14, 2014.

Previous deals include for Canada (eOne), Japan (Shochiku), Australia (Vendetta), Latin America (Corazon), Middle East (Gulf), India (PVR), Singapore (Scorpio), Catchplay (Taiwan) and Queen (Indonesia).