The Resurrected

Claire Ward hires private investigator John March to look into her husband Charles Dexter Ward's increasingly bizarre behavior. As John begins his inquiry, Claire describes Charles's isolation in the carriage house and his growing obsession with their family history, hinting at something dangerous behind his facade.

John's early findings reveal Charles's isolation, his visits to an abandoned ancestral farmhouse near Pawtuxet, and his discovery of a painting of Joseph Curwen. The man bears an uncanny resemblance to Curwen, fueling John's suspicion that Charles shares a dark lineage. Charles goes so far as to purchase the farmhouse and move in.

John learns that numerous deliveries are being made to the farmhouse and that Charles evasively explains them as routine chemical tests using animal cadavers. He remains secretive about the nature of his work, hinting at something far more sinister. The atmosphere grows tense as Claire grows suspicious of her husband.

An elderly man in a neighboring home is brutally murdered, leaving only bone remnants behind. The police suspect an animal attack, but John remains skeptical about the official explanation. The incident heightens the sense that something supernatural may be at work.

Claire and John visit Charles together and find him pallid, speaking with an archaic affect. He cryptically claims he is on the edge of greatness and predicts that in six weeks, they will understand. The couple leaves unsettled, sensing a deeper danger.

Claire arranges to commit Charles to a hospital. Doctors note an inexplicably high metabolism and ravenous hunger, though they cannot explain his craving for blood and raw meat. They attribute the mood shift to hormonal issues but cannot identify a cause.

John uncovers a diary in the carriage house from Ezra Ward, Charles's fifth-great grandfather, detailing an affair with Joseph Curwen's wife Eliza and Joseph's necromantic experiments. The diary recounts catacombs beneath Curwen's property and a flood that reveals a grotesquely malformed creature, which the townspeople burn. The entries suggest Charles's biological ancestry may trace to Joseph Curwen.

John, Lonnie, and Claire search for catacombs on the farmhouse property and uncover an underground entrance to a laboratory. They find half-grown creatures in wells and a briefcase belonging to Charles. The discovery confirms there is a dark, ongoing experiment beneath the house.

Lonnie is killed by one of the creatures guarding the catacombs, forcing John to flee with Claire and the briefcase. John plants a bomb in the underground lab while they escape the burning house. They emerge from the blaze with the evidence in hand.

After their escape, John takes Claire to the hospital where she is sedated and doctors confirm she is pregnant. The trajectory of events suggests the occult experiments have affected her physiologically. John contemplates the looming consequences of the revelations.

John confronts Charles inside the psychiatric institution, presenting the briefcase of bones and accusing him of being Joseph Curwen reincarnated. Joseph admits his identity and explains that the bones in the suitcase are those of Charles, whom Joseph killed after being raised. He reveals plans to regain his health and impersonate Charles after an eventual discharge.

Joseph attempts to cannibalize John, but John pours the restorative potion over Charles's bones. Charles's skeleton reanimates and attacks Joseph, tearing flesh as they fight. The two disintegrate in a cosmic explosion, bringing the nightmare to an end.