Howling III (1987)

A female werewolf runs away from her family, and falls in love with a man who works in the movie business, while a sociologist who studies these creatures is looking for proof of their existence.

Director:

Philippe Mora

Writers:

Gary Brandner (novel), Philippe Mora (screenplay)

Stars:

William Yang, Deby Wightman, Christopher Pate

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Yang	...	Siberian Peasant
Deby Wightman	...	Wolf Woman
Christopher Pate	...	Agent #1
Jerome Patillo	...	Agent #2
Dagmar Bláhová	...	Olga Gorki (as Dasha Blahova)
Barry Otto	...	Professor Harry Beckmeyer
Michael Pate	...	President
Imogen Annesley	...	Jerboa
Carole Skinner	...	Yara
Jenny Vuletic	...	Goolah
Glenda Linscott	...	Bahloo
Max Fairchild	...	Thylo
Roger Eagle	...	Priest
Ralph Cotterill	...	Professor Sharp
Richard Carter	...	First Drunk (as Ric Carter)

Storyline

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. Is this a dangerous combination?

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Plot Keywords:

australia | werewolf | city | visit | opening a door | 

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Taglines:

El terror está ahora ¡en todas partes! (Mexico)

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 November 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Marsupials: The Howling III

Filming Locations:

CentrePoint Tower, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bancannia Holdings Pty. Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of the director likens Jerboa to actress Kathleen Turner after Jerboa performs several takes screaming for her role in the movie within a movie. This is an unusual reference considering Kathleen Turner is not at all known for work in horror films.

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Goofs

Jerboa goes from wearing shoes to being barefoot to having shoes and back to being barefoot throughout the movie.

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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 ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Instead of 'The End' film closes with 'Adios Amigos'

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Connections

Followed by Howling VI: The Freaks (1991)

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Soundtracks

All Fall Down
By A.J. Brown
Published by Filmtrax, PLC.
Courtesy of Black Independent Record Label Association

User Reviews

Howling down under

Found myself really enjoying the first film, an atmospheric and witty film with amazing effects, and of 'The Howling' franchise it is by far the best. Didn't find myself enjoying the sequels as much, when watching them all for franchise completest sake and as someone who appreciates horror hugely, far less as a matter of fact, while not finding them completely disposable. Werewolf films have been done well on film, 'The Howling' is a good example of that but that cannot be said for its sequels.

'Howling III' is not unwatchable and there are far worse films around. It does though have most of the same problems that the second film did to every bit as bad effect, and has problems of its own. Like 'The Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf', the sly wit and well-timed eeriness of the first film are completely gone in 'Howling III' and replaced by over-the-top camp and bizarreness, neither of which really done well and there's little charm with either too. It was like watching a completely different franchise.

The scenery is quite nice and there are some atmospheric shots.

Dasha Blahova is suitably formidable and the occasional sly dig at the horror genre was reasonably fun.

Other than Blahova however the acting is dire, with a mix of the actors not looking comfortable in their roles, having little personality or over-compensating. Dame Edna Everage's appearance felt like it was thrown in with no regard as to whether it fitted or not. The all over the place "accents" are best not mentioned but they are only a small part of the problem, it was the character writing and the lack of screen presence that made the acting as bad as it was. The characters are neither interesting or have anything to make one feel anything for them other than frustration and annoyance, some are pointless or make random appearances. The writing is very cheesy with no natural flow, the campness gets really over the top and the stupidity stops being novelty value endearing and becomes intelligence-insulting.

Pacing is erratic, mostly dull as a result of padding out a flimsy story very choppily structured. The direction not only does not make the flaws of the second film but makes them worse. As just said, the story is a mess. There is no tension or suspense here, while it also suffers from being confusing, over-stretched and really tedious from all the dragged out stretches that felt like padding. The production values are poor this time too, the effects and make-up now woefully under-budgeted and often used gratuitously. The soundtrack is very intrusive and doesn't fit the film at all, also sounding cheap, while the ending feels incredibly rushed.

Overall, poorly done but at least it didn't leave me angry. 3/10 Bethany Cox