Sundance Channel announced today that it has acquired US broadcast rights to the supernatural drama “The Returned” from Music Box Films. The eight-part French series distributed by Zodiak Rights was created by Fabrice Gobert and is based on the feature film “Les Revenants” by Robin Campillo. It will premiere on Sundance Channel on Halloween, Thursday, October 31st at 9PM ET/PT. It will air every Thursday night at 9PM.

The critically received series was a smash hit for France’s Canal+ and the UK’s Channel 4. The New York Times recently profiled outstanding foreign drama series and pronounced it “fresh and unexpected.” The Independent wrote “’The Returned’…is actually one of the greatest, creepiest, most compelling shows brought to…TV screens in 2013,” and The Daily Telegraph commented, “Probably the most stylish thing you’ll see on TV this year.

“In an idyllic French mountain town, a seemingly random collection of people find themselves in a state of confusion as they attempt to return to their homes. What they don’t know yet is that they have been dead for several years, and no one is expecting them back. As they struggle to reintegrate with their families and past lovers, buried secrets emerge and new mysteries develop as they grapple with a miraculous and sinister new reality. But it seems they are not the only ones to have returned from the dead. Their arrival coincides with a series of gruesome murders which bear a chilling resemblance to the work of a serial killer from the past. The series was produced by Caroline Benjo, Jimmy Desmarais and Carole Scotta from Haut et Court.“