The Howling is the latest 1980s horror flick to hop on the remake train…or is that gravy train? You know…because dog food.
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You still don’t get it? Here, let me spell it out for you, Gen Z…
Plus, “gravy train” is slang for “trying to make money with minimal effort.”
You know what, just forget it. Your lack of culture ruined the whole joke…
The Howling
The original The Howling celebrates its 45th anniversary this year. For many moons, it has remained in the public consciousness due to the continual debate between The Howling and An American Werewolf in London.
Both films feature great transformation effects by makeup effect legends Rob Bottin and Rick Baker.
Where do you fall in the debate? I enjoy both, but I give the nod to The Howling. I enjoy its kookier, lurid pulp flair, whereas An American Werewolf in London seems to get a bit lost in its final act. But that is splitting hairs. Both are worthy of accolades.
Joe Dante directed The Howling and it grossed $18 million in its theatrical run off a $1.7 million budget. Marvel Films could make it today with the change in its couch cushions. The film went on to birth something like seven sequels.
My favorite is The Howling V, which combines Agathe Christie with a werewolf. Terribly low budget, but riffing on The Beast Must Die is always a solid idea.
A Howling Good Time
The remake is from StudioCanal, which has 13 production companies under its banner and holds around 9,000 titles in its library, including Carolco films like Terminator 2 and Basic Instinct.
Andy Muschietti (It) looked at doing a The Howling remake in 2019. No word on directors and stars for this latest attempt, however.
The recent Wolf Man from Blumhouse had some neat elements but lacked scale and did not make much of a dent in the box office. Likewise, Werewolves came and went with nary a bone to chew.
What say you? Is The Howling remake a full-moon kind of idea or just a mooning?
