We learned exclusively that Transition Entertainment is shooting a pilot presentation next April that will bring RE-ANIMATOR's Herbert West back as "a teenage Dr. Frankenstein for the new millennium". Entitled HERBERT WEST: RE-ANIMATOR THE SERIES, the pilot episode was written by Meredith Red and William Butler, with a director yet to be named. Beyond the break you'll find the exclusive casting breakdown that was sent into us by a requested 'anonymous' B-D regular.
[HERBERT WEST] (18) – is a teenage Dr. Frankenstein for the new millennium. He's a dark, shy, somewhat sexy and narcissistic young man obsessed with finding the secret to life and learning the formula that will reanimate the dead. His philosophy, “Sometimes you have to cause death to lay the foundation for life” leaves him often-criticized by his young contemporaries. His unconventional theories about life and death make him a legend early on at Miskatonic University, yet he is respected as a brilliant young man of science. It takes him a while to see that his fellow classmate Harley is quietly developing feelings for him. There are many layers to Herbert’s complicated personality and little by little we will reveal each layer, learning about his past and what drives him to discover the secret of reanimation.
[RANDY CARTER] (18) – Arkham local and Herbert West’s good-looking roommate as well as his moral compass, sometimes struggles to understand that Herbert is conducting his experiments for the greater good. While trying to keep Herbert in check, Randy is slowly convinced there’s more than meets the eye going on at the University campus. Eventually he begins a secret investigation into the scientific and paranormal phenomenon on campus and surrounding area, often getting himself and his comrades into serious trouble. Yet slowly convinced that he himself is possibly onto some kind of scientific breakthrough, he keeps the clues and phenomenon experience between himself and his friends. Randy comes to believe that the young man that went berserk on the campus was driven by a force unknown. Randy is always tinkering with his motorcycle.
[HARLEY WARREN] (18) – is nerdy-hot, sexy, smart, slowly begins to show that she secretly longs for Herbert’s approval and affection. Even though her experiments are bold and her desire to help him on his journey are clear, Herbert fears she doesn’t have the constitution and foresight for his kind of work. Constantly pushing to be an accepted member of the team, Harley sometimes takes things too far and has to go to Herbert and Randy for help to clean things up – that’s if she can get away to call for help.
[CRAWFORD TILLINGHAST] (18) – Miskatonic’s resident stud and bad boy. He’s cocky, competitive and highly intelligent, but his jealousy of Herbert could be his downfall if he’s not careful. A student whose research revolves around metaphysics and time manipulation and is also fascinated by the possibility of multi-dimensional planes of existence. Early on, he learns of Herbert’s goal and he immediately begins to plot and scheme to find and fine tune the formula before Herbert does – sometimes with disastrous results. His obsession often leads to trouble where he too is forced to ask the others for help. Somewhere in season two, we will slowly learn that Crawford is secretly Dean Halsey’s pawn as the old man, who claims to be the gangs’ mentor and friend is really the cause of all the strange goings on at the university.
[MEGAN ARMITAGE] (18) – A smoking hot young psych student and the daughter of Henry Armitage, the university librarian. Skeptical of all of the supposed goings on at Miskatonic, Megan often loses her patience with her boyfriend Randy, using her sexuality to pull his focus. Though her tantrums, shameless flirting and arrogance can sometimes appear humorous, we will later find that Megan is not who she seems as she teams with others who intend to cause the gang harm. This is only foreshadowed as she eventually leaves Randy for Crawford.
[DEAN JONATHAN HALSEY] (50’s) – After surviving the horrible event at Miskatonic that still haunts him, Dean Halsey befriends the newcomers, fascinated by their growing curiosity for the unexplored avenues of science. He secretly supports Herbert and the gang, often providing them with supplies and information as well as covering for them when things get a bit out of control. It won’t be till later that we realize, through Carter’s driving curiosity and amateur detective work that Dean Halsey has an agenda of his own, having conducted his own experiments in the unknown sciences and supernatural…the true cause of all of the trouble on campus – both old and new. Once he believes he no longer needs Herbert and the rest to attain his true goal – to find the key to opening another dimension, he plans to dispose of them all. “This is a vortex for activity, let this be our secret.”
[STACI CARTER] (17) –Randy’s younger sister. A cute young thing who goes to the local high school and works at their hangout…a rundown café where the gang often meets late at night to makes plans or sometimes recover from them. Stacy has a mad, unrequited crush on Crawford, so is always trying to hang around to be near him. Her desire to connect with him, sometimes gets her involved in the action.
[ADAM CHADWICK] (17) – Staci’s handsome and closeted gay male friend. Confused why her friend never responds to her subtle flirting and advances, Staci eventually realizes that it’s males he’d rather be with as he confides in her. Smart and fearless, Adam has uncanny ability to find a joke even in the most harrowing of situations. We will slowly find that he has a secret crush on Crawford – a crush that will eventually get everyone into a terrible mess, when Crawford manipulates him into helping him get what he wants.
[HOWIE PETERSON] (18) – aspires to be a science fiction writer and sometimes accidentally comes up with a clue or possibility by making reference to the tons of literature he has poured through in his life. It turns out his last name is really Lovecraft, but he doesn’t use it because his father left he and his mother at a very young age.
[BURKE AND HARE] (20’s) The Silent Bob and Jay of the show. The boys are local swindlers who Herbert befriends early in our story and that will do almost anything for a buck. Whether it be keeping Herbert in touch with the freshest specimens or risking their lives to find occult oddities that Carter requests – they are fearless and at their service. Sometimes they unwittingly save the day.
Re-Animator was a great horror flick. I think a prequel showing Herbert West as a teenager becoming the mad doctor could be cool. I like it as a single movie idea, I'm not sure about a tv series. But what the hell, I'll certainly check it out.
They forgot to include JOEY CURWEN, the domineering professor who harbors an age-old secret while he moonlights as a crazed, cannibalistic murderer.
I'd be interested in seeing a pilot, but I don't see it going past the first season if it was lucky enough to get even that. Sounds like Smallville meets Frankenstein, really.
Sounds ok, but ther's one thing that I don't get. Why does it say that Dean Jonathan Halsey survied the "event" that happened at Miskatonic if this is a prequel, set before the first film? The one thing that I would love is for the original "Re-Animator" movie theme to become the TV show's theme.
Hmn.
Is it going to be on basic cable, or premium channels (Like Showtime, my favorite! Man I love Dexter.)
It'd probably be a ton better if it was hosted on Showtime, they're pretty lenient with content, the only downside is you'd have to pay to watch the show.
Seriously, why all the hatred on this? Not once did I see anywhere this was being presented as a prequel. There's no reason this can't exist as a seperate entity from the film franchise. Don't ridicule something before you've even seen it, or really know anything about it.
This actually sounds like a good idea. Just hope it airs on cable. That way, it wouldn't be limited to so much. Still, there's only so much you can do with a show about a teenage scientist learning the secrets to bringing back the dead. How about a new horror variety show?!
William Butler is a cool guy and I am sure he will do a good job on this. Do not blame him for "Return Of The Living Dead 4" and "5" as him and the other writer said Sci Fi changed most of both of them after they sold it to them.
What happened to that guy that copyrighted the re-animator name and is suing the Hack/slash comic and Stuart Gordon for use of the name even though he used it 20 years ago?
was that story fake? and if it wasn't how are they going ahead with this project unless the copyright and lawsuit was laughed out of court?
I have mixed feelings about this. It might turn out to be a decent series if it is done correctly, but along the same lines it turn out really terrible.
House of Re-Animator isn't happening...the one angle that Stuart Gordon was going in (resurrecting Dick Cheney) was too risky for them to be able to find financing on it. Too bad, I would've liked to see that. Considering that Re-Animator was originally going to be a miniseries (according to The Making of Re-Animator) this could work, though it won't be quite the same without Jeffrey Combs.
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