Joseph Morgan revives a horror icon in Herbert West: Reanimator

Joseph Morgan is putting on the lab coat for a fresh take on Herbert West: Reanimator, with Katie Cassidy joining him in the new fantasy horror film based on H.P. Lovecraft’s 1922 short story.

Deadline reported that first-look images show Morgan and Cassidy in the contemporary reimagining, which has begun production in Alton, Illinois.

Morgan, known for The Vampire Diaries, The Originals and Titans, plays Herbert West, described in the project materials as a gifted surgeon and scientist consumed by the idea of bringing the dead back to life. Cassidy, whose credits include Arrow and 2010’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, plays a pathologist with a troubled history who becomes part of West’s work.

According to the film’s description, their experiments suggest that defeating death could come at a terrible cost.

A bloody family history

The film’s extended synopsis traces Herbert West’s obsession back to childhood. As described by the production, young Herbert sees his father, Peter, revive Herbert’s dead mother, Judith, in a hidden basement laboratory.

The experiment turns violent: Judith fatally wounds Peter and nearly kills Herbert before Peter shoots her, according to the synopsis. Herbert is left with the trauma, and with the image of his mother’s finger moving after death.

Thirty years later, the synopsis says, West has become a brilliant but guarded surgeon still pursuing the same forbidden science. Cassidy’s Kate Locke arrives in town and is pulled toward him, first at a hospital fundraiser and later inside his secret lab, where he shows her a serum that can reanimate severed tissue.

Kate, who is also keeping secrets, reacts with fascination rather than fear, according to the synopsis. She moves into West’s mansion, and the pair begin working together. Their first cadaver tests briefly work, but West decides the problem is the age of the tissue and that they need something fresher.

Cast and creative team

Michael Grossman is directing the film. Jade Sandberg Wallace wrote the original screenplay and storyline, Deadline reported.

The supporting cast 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.

Morgan and Cassidy are also executive producers, alongside producer Jeff Lewis of Woodlake Entertainment, which is financing the movie.

The Lovecraft story previously inspired the 1985 cult horror film Re-Animator, directed by Stuart Gordon and starring Jeffrey Combs.

Cassidy told Deadline she was excited to return to horror, saying she loved the original film and that the new version has “a dark twist.” Morgan said Herbert West is driven by the mysteries of life, obsessed with conquering death and haunted by ambition, calling the role one of the most rewarding experiences of his career.

This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.