By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The contemporary retelling of H.P. Lovecraft’s classic short story is currently shooting in Alton, IL.
Deadline released the first images seen above and below of stars Joseph Morgan and Katie Cassidy in HERBERT WEST: REANIMATOR, from Woodlake Entertainment. Morgan, who has been seen in THE ORIGINALS and TITANS, and Cassidy, who has plenty of horror-remake experience in the 2000s’ A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS and BLACK CHRISTMAS, are also executive producers on the film. Michael Grossman is directing from a script by Jade Sandberg Wallace, and the cast also includes Scott Aiello, Ira J. Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, 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 synopsis: “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.”
Morgan, stepping into the shoes previously filled by Jeffrey Combs in Stuart Gordon’s RE-ANIMATOR and its sequels, says, “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.”
“I am excited to step back into this genre,” says Cassidy. “It’s been a while 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.”
