Lovecraft in Cinema. Herbert West Reanimator turned into Reanimator

Abstract

In 1922, the North American writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft published the Herbert West Reanimador serial. In 1985, the director Stuart Gordon adapted for the screen this story which was centred on a scientific’s unexpected events, who longs for discovering the chemical principle that separates life and death. This article establishes a comparison between both works and shows the impossibility of a full adaptation. This is due to the fact that we are facing two authors who are extremely rooted to the specific characteristics of each one’s disciplines: on the one hand, the narrative aspect; and, on the other hand, the visual approach.