Howling III (1987)

Director:

Philippe Mora

Writers:

Gary Brandner (novel)
Philippe Mora (writer)

Release Date:

13 November 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Down Under

Plot:

A strange race of human-like marsupials appear suddenly in Australia, and a sociologist who studies these creatures falls in love with a female one...

Plot Keywords:

Sociologist | Australia | Skull | Third Part | Skeleton

Cast

Barry Otto	...	Prof. Harry Beckmeyer
William Yang	...	Siberian Peasant
Imogen Annesley	...	Jerboa
Deby Wightman	...	Wolf Woman
Leigh Biolos	...	Donny Martin
Christopher Pate	...	Agent #1
Max Fairchild	...	Thylo
Jerome Patillo	...	Agent #2
Dagmar Bláhová	...	Olga Gorki (as Dasha Blahova)
Ralph Cotterill	...	Prof. Sharp
Michael Pate	...	President
Carole Skinner	...	Yara
Frank Thring	...	Jack Citron
Jenny Vuletic	...	Goolah
Glenda Linscott	...	Bahloo

Also Known As:

Howling III: The Marsupials
The Marsupials: The Howling III (UK)

Runtime:

USA:94 min | Finland:98 min (DVD) | Argentina:94 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Denmark:15 | Norway:18 | Sweden:18 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1988) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (2004) | Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Norway:18 (video premiere) | UK:18 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Bancannia Holdings Pty. Ltd.

Trivia:

The only Howling sequel as of 2008 with no character seen in any other Howling entry (Stirba, Werewolf Bitch served as a direct sequel to the first film, with Karen White reviving in her tomb; while 5,6,7 all have Elisabeth She as Mary Lou and other common characters). An oblique reference to the previous two entries occurs when Barry Otto's character asks the Russian woman if other groups of werewolves live elsewhere; she says "Africa....China....maybe California". This may reference the varied groups of werewolves who attended to Stirba in Howling II, and Howling I and II took place in California.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the man is thrown from the hospital building, the following scene shows his body coming from the roof, but the room is not on the roof.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Agent #1: Hey, have a look at this. Another K.G.B. intercept meaning "wolfman."
Agent #2: It has to be a code for *something.*
Agent #1: Doubt it is. Unless they know we're intercepting. "Werewolf was sighted near village of Leovich. Three villagers killed. Special army team are tracking monster." Well. Do we tell the powers that be?
Agent #2: Werewolves loose in the Soviet Union. I'm not telling them! Call Beckmeyer in Los Angeles and get his opinion. He's damn good on unexplained phenomenon. He knows how to deal with the White House and this weird shit.
Agent #1: Weird shit! I've got a weird feeling...
Agent #2: Indigestion?
Agent #1: No. Fear.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Beast Within (1982)

Camp or campy?

Misunderstood and ultimately quirky little entry in the HOWLING series. Absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the original film, being simply an antipodean tale of lycanthropic maladjustment!

Way better now than upon its release, the full low-budgetry inanity of Mora's little pet works quite well if you can get on its wavelength, that is, down to a primordial level. Beautiful redhead, Miss Annesley (shame she can't speak as well as she looks) is the aptly named Jerboa, a girl with a rare secret. Biologically er, different, she has the cutest little pouch just above her more "R" rated parts, which following a night of passion, soon gains the tiniest of new inhabitants in a scene one can only describe as "different!"

A subject of extreme interest to the medical profession, trivia buffs may notice none other than film historian and TV presenter Bill Collins making his rather pedestrian debut here as a hospital doctor, somewhat enamoured with Jerboa's never-seen-before physiology.

Played strictly for laughs and non-conformist fun, the budget constraints were such that at the point of anyone actually being attacked by a werewolf, all the viewer ever gets to see is a back-pedalling actor with varying expressions of laugh-out-loud fright. In hindsight I think this adds to the quirkiness rather than detracts!

Ever reliable Barry Otto (first up on anyone's list with a fully left-field flick in the offing) is Professor Harry Beckmeyer who takes it upon himself ultimately to protect Jerboa from those who would harm her. Michael Pate and son Christopher make a suitably stilted (as in "What the hell am I doing in a film like this?) contribution and Australia's grandest thespian Frank Thring, camps it up shamefully as a Z-Grade horror-movie director. Pontius Pilate (In Ben Hur) to THIS???? Hmmm, its a worry!

IN the wash-up, what we have here a one-off film experience, one anyone can miss and be none the worse off for! If you ARE unavoidably entrapped one night, well at least you can say, "Yeah I've seen HOWLING III, my life is now fulfilled!"