User reviews

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

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!"

The box says 'just when you thought it was safe to go down under.' That's got to be a reference to the pouch, right? That's no accident. No one slips on bananas.

This movie was difficult to watch. Confusing and directionless plot, strange characters that appear without warning or purpose no logical connection between scenes...its a mess.

I find it difficult to believe that this film ever saw the big screen. The effects were laughably bad. As far as acting...I caught a little schadenfreude off the quiet desperation of some bit players, particularly the announcer from the final scene. I guess Hollywood has its share of heartbreak.

This film was a disaster, just a disaster. That sad magic mix of bad and boring. I sat down tonight with a whole pile of Howling sequels. This was my first and it fills me with trepidation.

The original Howling was a fun little Werewolf flick. Nothing too serious, just a simple but original premise, some well-handled tension, cool makeup effects and a nice healthy dose of gore and violence to round things off. Compared to its most immediate rival, An American Werewolf in London though it comes up second place, so why in the name of heaven it spawned so many follow ups is something of a mystery. The series is up to its seventh entry thus far and if the diminishing laws of sequels is anything to go on, they must be unspeakably terrible because Howling 3 (the only one I've been bored/curious/stupid enough to sit through) is so bad I'd have to say it's one of the worst films I've ever seen.

The principle reason for this is the premise, as director Philippe Mora decides to do away with the original's everyday people versus rampaging monsters approach and instead, provides us with what must be the only Marsupial Werewolf Romance Epic in movie history. The script is massively overambitious, the acting so bad the cast might as well have been made of cardboard and any promise of bloodthirsty violence a la the original goes forever unsatisfied. You might get a few laughs out of it, but ultimately it's just a very poor film.

The overambitious storyline considers an anthropologist, Dr Beckmeyer (Inspector Clouseau lookalike Barry Otto) and his studies of a race of marsupial werewolf people discovered in Australia. Mixed up in all this is a Russian ballet dancer who is secretly a non-marsupial werewolf herself come to breed with the Australians, a B-movie actress from the countryside who is also a werewolf and an idiot movie talent spotter who's fallen in love with her. So blindly in love with her in fact that he doesn't bat an eyelid when he first notices how hairy she is. Dr Beckmeyer is determined to prove that the werewolves are not to be frightened of and that studying them is the best approach, the Government is not so certain and wants to destroy them and eventually, after a painfully long set up, he joins up with the lycanthropes in an attempt to lead them to safety in the outback.

You might think a film with 'Marsupial Werewolves' in might be entertaining. It isn't. The delivery is slow and tedious, with characters and subplots being introduced with no concern for cohesion and what should have been a campy, violent and fun film instead is dull, pretentious twaddle. Indeed, the only attraction to come from this is Imogen Annesley, a very attractive young woman whose career has failed to take off since the high point of stripping naked in a barn, giving birth to a rodent thing and having it crawl up her belly and into a kangaroo pouch on her abdomen. She might be gorgeous in a "I wish you weren't a hideous mutant freak monster" kind of way but she's more or less the only noteworthy thing deserving praise in the entire sorry enterprise. Oh and Dame Edna pops up at the end.

So there you have it, a werewolf movie with a humanitarian message. Great, that's just what we needed. If you're a film student looking for a lesson in how not to make a movie you might just be capable of scraping some little residue of a hint out of this, but if not, I'd advise avoiding this movie like the bubonic plague.

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

This one does not really follow in suit with The Howling 1 & Part 2 - even they were very different from one another. Howling 3 takes us on a government chase trying to find these lycanthropes. This clan can have sex with humans, they have pups that they carry in their pouches similar to a kangaroo - and why not they are an Australian clan and they have ties with a Russian clan.

The film gets scattered with it's story telling, as if they just filmed some ideas then threw them together to complete the movie. But it is a rather fun movie to watch - unintentionally funny at times.

If you are into werewolves it's worth a watch - but really for only those that are really into lycanthropes.

5/10

Howling 3 is yet another horror effort, where excellent ideas and even the mood and atmosphere of a horror classic are not cultivated or nurtured throughout the film.

I was brought up in the era of "The American Werewolf in London", definitely the classic, archetypal werewolf flick. Tough competition by anyone's standards. Yet Howling 3 has just as many good ideas, just as much depth, just as much potential... but just doesn't make it.

The basis of the film resides upon some old Cine8 footage of a werewolf's capture by some natives. Grainy, snowy, short lived images, set the scene well, and could be perceived as scary. The idea of the werewolf being a type of marsupial species, a separate development of human life is interesting, and could be scary in that they have always lived amongst us. Separate werewolf societies, driven to the bleakest habitable places on the planet, but in contact with each other spiritually and genetically... yes, yes, this is definitely going somewhere.

And then three of said werewolves dress up as Nuns, and travel to the big city to retrieve their runaway teen-wolfette, and gain entry to a fancy dress party having changed into actual habit-wearing wolf people... oh perleeease!

A serious film, even a horror, can carry some comedy, but in Howling 3 the comedy is inappropriate, badly timed, and too farcical for words. The more serious horror aspects of the film being ruined by these interruptions. I remained unconvinced by any of the man-to-wolf changes, in fact, they were equally farcical, with their obvious "fur means fear" reliance.

So, a film with potential, which obviously had serious horror intent, became a farce, even a spoof, by it's own making. A real shame and a real sham all in one. Stick to "American Werewolf in London" or even "Dog Soldiers" for that fur-fear-fix!! I rated a "3"

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)

Yeah so i made two no three mistakes with this one, the first being that i bought it, i actually spent 5 dollars on it, new, two i watched it all i got out of that was a good nap and three i did not burn it after wards please just save yourself the trouble and bypass this movie completely you will save a lot of time this way. While the movie did display an interesting if not slightly insane plot it did have some funny although under budget special effects. Also the acting in was mediocre at best you could never really tell when the actors where being serious or not. So if you decide to watch this movie do it with some friends so you can all laugh about how ridiculously stupid it really is.

Despite this being one of many sequels to an acclaimed original, don't let this fact put you off from watching this under-acknowledged film. "Howling III - The Marsupials" is a surprisingly good werewolf spoof with a twist; set in Australia (and let's face it, an Aussie horror movie is a rarity - only "Body Melt" and "Razorback" spring to mind), it deals with the plight of a dwindling pack of marsupial werewolves who are in danger of becoming extinct.

The movie focuses its attention more on character development and emotion rather than the usual random slashings that prevail in such similar movies. The premise is novel and therefore makes for some interesting watching and genuine involvement. Horror fans need not dismay, as there is also a fair share of scares and realistic (if a little corny) human-to-wolf metamorphosis sequences. Some nice welcome comic touches are present, including a Hitchcockian horror movie director played by Frank Thring, relishing every moment of the role. Barry Otto is likeable as the anthropologist who joins the werewolf clan to help save them. And let's not forget the exquisite Imogen Annesley as Jerboa, who shines as a beautiful young human marsupial, escaping from her abusive stepfather and running off to the big city (Sydney) where she finds fame and romance (no, she's not Joan Collins).

The movie comes off quite well on the whole, and has a very moralistic and humane message, dealing with the preservation of dying species.

Howling III: The Marsupials (Quickie Review) This film revolves around a group of werewolves of some sort that live in Australia and are marsupials with a backdrop where a film crew is making a really awful werewolf film. Almost as bad as this one.

The effects are sub-standard at best and poor when compared to the original, far superior, Howling. Mediocre acting carry along one of the film world's first bastard PG-13 sequels in a previously R-rated franchise. As we all know, the Robocop, Alien, and Predator franchises are just a few following instances of such creative destruction. The writing is fantastically weak and cliché at times with the movie rounding out with an ending that just screams that the writer was just in a hurry to finish up his monstrosity.

Recommended to: Not really anybody, werewolf fans may hate this as much as they tend to have hated Wolf due to it varying wildly from werewolf norms. The Marsupials could've been a good idea, but they went about it all wrong. 3/10 www.ResidentHazard.com

Saw this film on TV the other night for the first and last time. Low budget special effects and production. Saved only by some nice Sydney Harbour and Blue Mountains scenery, and the beautiful Imogen Annesley.

I think this has got to be one of the worst films to ever have been produced in Australia.... Imagine almost every Australian 70's/80's soap star celebrity thrown into one big silly mess of a script that isn't even scary or thrilling....Bad effects, bad acting and an embarrassing anticipation which emanates from the actors that they may perhaps have been starring in a huge blockbuster horror....think again. The soundtrack was bad (just think of those pointless old synth pop 80's flip sides) ....as were the costumes. The wolves looked like paper mache puppets made by pre-school children. Avoid this stinker....its not even funny in a cheesy way...its just a waste of time.

Comical Australian entry in the Howling series which has nothing to do with the first two films. In fact this is not your usual werewolf movie. These can change at any time, not just the Full Moon, and is based on a unique Australian variant of this creature. The good points: plenty of quirky Aussie humour, Imogen Annesley looks great as the main werewolf character, nice use of Sydney Harbour & outback locations, decent effects for the baby marsupial & no shortage of werewolf action. And of course an hilarious cameo by Dame Edna! The bad: much bad acting (Australians seem to really struggle doing American accents), silly script, some of the worst looking werewolves to appear on screen & an annoyingly, poor 80's soundtrack that really dates it. I can understand why this movie gets a lot of hate, it certainly is not for everybody. But, if like me, you can laugh at a bad movie then it's not all bad. Rated 18 here in the UK, seems pretty harsh as in terms of sex, language or violence it's pretty tame.

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.

Oh my God.

Hey, hey - it's not my fault - the blasphemy, I mean...it's the movie.

I had nothing better to so, so I watched this movie on t.v. - well what I could abide at any rate. And, well, all I can say is if you find yourself in a similar situation - go out of your way to FIND something better to do.

No substance, no believable props, or acting for that matter...this reeked of a low budget (which in some cases works out just fine...just not this time). I just seemed to me like they weren't even trying to make anything really fit to be watched.

Sorry guys, better luck next time...that is if there's a next time. I doubt any sane person would let this happen again.

1/10

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.

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs.

Revisited it recently.

This third part is the only PG-13 rated entry in the Howling film series and a terrible one.

It has annoying flickering lights n screamings.

The werewolves costumes are a big lol.

None of the kills are shown properly n ther is zero gore.

It has lots of shaky cam during the attack scenes n fast cut editing, that one cannot make out what is going on.

Since its a PG-13, there is zero nudity but has bushy hair on boobs n pubic side.