My kneejerk reaction to hearing this news was to start singing that line from Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. You know the one. The part right before “Oh, mama mia!” That’s right. “No no no no no no no!” Why attempt a remake of something that is perfect already, as the original THE HOWLING is? What they should do is take the HALLOWEEN approach. Do a proper sequel all these years later, disregarding all the lousy movies that have been done in the interim. Go back to the first one and continue the story from there. Not a remake but a continuation. That’s what they *should* have done.
If they simply *must* attempt a remake, I suppose I’m glad that Andy Muschietti, director of the recent IT and IT: CHAPTER TWO, is the one overseeing it. What I’m not glad about—at all—is that the movie will go to Netflix instead of getting a theatrical release. Or, if the movie ends up blowing chunks, I suppose it will be just as well that it went to Netflix.
One surefire way to guarantee the movie will suck would be to eschew practical effects in favor of CGI. Look how well that worked out for AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS. Rob Bottin’s FX were a major component in the formula that led to the success of THE HOWLING. CGI just ain’t gonna cut it.