Fans have been waiting to see what the latest take on one of horror’s most influential stories would look like, and now the first images from Herbert West: Reanimator have arrived, courtesy of Deadline.
Production is now underway in Alton, Illinois, with The Vampire Diaries and The Originals star Joseph Morgan leading the film as the brilliant but dangerously obsessed Herbert West. Joining him is Arrow and A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) actress Katie Cassidy, who plays pathologist Kate Locke. The film is a contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s 1922 serial Herbert West–Reanimator, the same source material that inspired Stuart Gordon’s 1985 cult classic Re-Animator.
Morgan stars as
“brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead. When a pathologist (Cassidy) with a troubled past joins his efforts, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.”
Both Morgan and Cassidy are also serving as executive producers alongside Woodlake Entertainment producer Jeff Lewis, whose company is financing the project. Jade Sandberg Wallis wrote the original screenplay and story, while Michael Grossman (Drop Dead Diva) is directing. We had previously heard that The Haunting in Connecticut screenwriters Adam Simon and Tim Metcalfe were working on the script, but they weren’t mentioned in Deadline’s latest report.
The supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J. Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagel, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A. Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
The film’s extended synopsis reads:
“As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession. Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Lovecraft’s story was famously adapted into Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator in 1985, with Jeffrey Combs delivering an iconic performance as Herbert West. The film later spawned the sequels Bride of Re-Animator and Beyond Re-Animator.
Cassidy said:
“I am excited to step back into this genre. It’s been awhile since I have done horror. I loved the original film and this has a dark twist, which I am excited to sink my teeth into.”
Morgan added:
“I’m beyond excited to be taking on the role of Herbert West, a man inspired by the mysteries of life, obsessed with conquering death, and haunted by the consequences of his own ambition. Inhabiting this emotionally complex character is truly one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Alongside the undeniable creative satisfaction I’m discovering every day on set, it’s also turning out to be a hell of a lot of fun.”
The original Re-Animator remains one of the most popular Lovecraft adaptations ever made, so expectations are high for this new interpretation. Whether Herbert West: Reanimator can carve out its own identity while honoring Stuart Gordon’s cult classic remains to be seen, but these first images offer fans their first glimpse at the film’s modern take on the infamous mad scientist:
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