New Adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘Herbert West: Reanimator’ in the Works

A new, contemporary adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is in the works from The Haunting in Connecticut screenwriters Adam Simon and Tim Metcalfe, Deadline reports tonight.

The new adaptation is said to be the first in a series of “elevated genre pics”  developed and financed by Woodlake Entertainment.

Herbert West: Reanimator centers on “the brilliant but mercurial physician West, whose rabid obsession and pursuit of life extension succeeds to a horrifying effect.”

The news arrives as the short story’s first feature adaptation, Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator, turns 40 this year. This loose retelling of H.P. Lovecraft’s Herbert West-Reanimator goes for the jugular in terms of gore and laughs thanks to director Stuart Gordon, producer Brian Yuzna, and actor Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West. 

Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. 

“We are very excited for Woodlake and the amazing team assembled to reinvent this classic horror literature into a contemporary frightening feature film,” said producer Jeffrey Lewis, owner of Woodlake. It sounds as though this new adaptation will adhere to the source material and opt for a more serious approach over Gordon’s splatstick humor.

Simon and Metcalfe may be best known for The Haunting in Connecticut, which grossed $78.8 million worldwide and received a sequel, but the scribes also penned ’90s cult horror movie Bones. Simon also wrote Books of Blood and “Salem.”

Keith Previte also produces. John Simmons and Roger Lewis will executive produce with Andrew Trapani. 

Stay tuned for more.

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