Howling III

While some people say this is the worst entry in the Howling series, I actually think it is one of the best of the sequels following the Joe Dante classic. Let's get one thing straight, this is an intentional camp film and takes great glee in being as cheesy as humanly possible. Here we are introduced to a new breed of lycanthrope from the Land Down- Under, a were-creature based on the long extinct thylacine. I don't want to give anything in the plot away but I would of really preferred if the movie focused more on giving us lots of werewolf action instead of focusing almost entirely on a certain romance-subplot. So in closing, I feel you should sit down with your friends and have have a laugh while watching this campy film.....

Howling III (1987) was a big improvement over the last film, part two. But by all means it's not a great one either. Philippe Mora directs once again but this time with better results. The film takes place in Australia and the werewolves this time are marsupial in origin. Filled with a not of in jokes and tongue in cheek humor, this film is not that bad but the problem is that the film get's a little to glad handy and it collapses upon itself. Oh well, Mr. Mora should know better next time because he almost got it right. A plethora of aussie film stars have supporting roles as well, A big step over part two but nowhere as brilliant as part one.

Maybe next time!

Slightly recommended.

C

For some reason, the director went Mad Max and made part three P.G.-13. He should have stuck to his guns and made it an R rated flick. What happens when you take a film of this genre and try to conform it for the major market? You'll lose money and produce a mediocre film.

xxx

After the complete failure of a sequel that "Howling II" was, Philippe Mora returned for yet another installment, trying a different (more spoofy) approach this time....but it didn't work out much better. Most of the blame must go not to the direction, but to the awful, disconnected script, which makes the film feel thrown-together almost at random. The werewolf effects are mostly pathetic, though those involving Imogen Annesley's newborn "baby" somehow manage to be good (and disgusting). Obviously this film was also intended to be a spoof, but it could have used more subtlety: we know that that director is meant to be an Alfred Hitchcock - lookalike, we don't need to hear him talk about Janet Leigh and the shower scene in "Psycho", we know that "flow" is "wolf" spelled backwards, we don't need to see it reflected on a mirror, etc. Perhaps the only two good things about "Howling III" are two of its actors: Annesley (definitely the cutest werewolf I've ever seen) and Barry Otto, who gives an honest performance as the compassionate scientist. (*1/2)

I realize that this is not one of the more popular films in the howling series. I still haven't seen Howling parts 2, 4, or7, but I've read some pretty bad things about them. The Howling 3 is my favorite one. Yes, I pick it over the first one which seems to be everybody else's favorite.

It has it's flaws of course but it also has a lot of insignificant firsts like werewolf nuns. We call them insignificant firsts because nobody else ever did the same thing but they are still neat ideas. It's also one of the few werewolf movies based on the idea that werewolves are people too and at times it seems that the people hunting the werewolves are the real bad guys. I really felt something for them and the plight of the thylacine (marsupial wolf) that was wiped out decades ago.

It really seems more like an action comedy than a horror movie. The director claims that gore was the furthest thing on his mind. It also might be the only Howling movie with a PG-13 rating. My only real gripe is the dragged out ending that just keeps on going. It seems they had a hard time figuring out how to end it. All in all, I think they did pretty well with what little money they had. (1 million dollars Australian.)

Notice during Jerboa's run through the arcade you can see a Rampage arcade machine. One of the characters in that game is a giant werewolf.

This movie is very disappointing, considering that it had real possibilities to be decent. Every time you think it might start to get good, it doesn't. Most of the acting is REALLY bad. The plot wanders aimlessly. The town where the werewolves live is called "Flow" (Wolf backwards. Real creative, guys.) Why are there 3 werewolves dressed up like nuns?? Who knows. Dame Edna (Barry Humphries) has a cameo. Imogen Annesley is the only good part of this movie, for what its worth.