Back in 1985, director Stuart Gordon and his collaborators drew inspiration from author H.P. Lovecraft’s 1922 serial novelette Herbert West–Reanimator for a movie that ranks as one of the greatest horror films ever made, Re-Animator. That film was followed by the sequels Bride of Re-Animator and Beyond Re-Animator – and then, even though there were plans and ideas for further sequels, the franchise, unfortunately, sputtered out. Herbert West–Reanimator has gotten other adaptations here and there over the years and now, Deadline reports that The Haunting in Connecticut screenwriters Adam Simon and Tim Metcalfe are working on Herbert West: Reanimator, a contemporary reimagining of the story.
Lovecraft’s story plays out in six sections, titled From the Dark, The Plague-Daemon, Six Shots by Midnight, The Scream of the Dead, The Horror from the Shadows, and The Tomb-Legions. It centers on Herbert West, a brilliant but mercurial physician whose rabid obsession and pursuit of life extension succeeds to a horrifying effect. Directed by Gordon from a screenplay he wrote with Dennis Paoli and William J. Norris (based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft), Re-Animator has the following synopsis: Re-animation, the science of bringing dead creatures back to life, is Herbert West’s dream. West tests his secret life-rejuvenating potion on some cooperative corpses at a local morgue. It’s a success But only a temporary one – as the dead spring to life, reacting violently to their re-animation. Zombies are loose and now West cannot control the very beasts he has re-created. The born-again dead are unstoppable, even severed body parts take on life like so many split worms Herbert West has a serious problem – will he become the first in a new breed of headhunters or all of his woes coming to a head?
Woodlake Entertainment is fully financing Herbert West: Reanimator, with Jeffrey Lewis and Keith Previte producing for the company. The plan is for this Lovecraft adaptation to be the first in a series of elevated genre films Woodlake will be developing and financing. John Simmons and Roger Lewis will serve as executive producers alongside Andrew Trapani, who worked with Simon and Metcalfe on The Haunting in Connecticut. Trapani produced that 2009 film.
Woodlake owner Jeffrey Lewis provided the following statement: “We are very excited for Woodlake and the amazing team assembled to reinvent this classic horror literature into a contemporary frightening feature film.“
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